Plagiarism - Leeds Beckett University



PlagiarismDo you plagiarise?Plagiarism means passing other people's work off as if it were your own. This includes copying from other students or, indeed, from any other sources - written, CD-ROMs, audiovisual media etc. The University defines plagiarism as "the substantial unacknowledged incorporation in a student's work of material derived from the work (published or unpublished) of another.”Work" includes internet sources." (Leeds Metropolitan University, 2001 C9. 2.8)Reasons why you don't plagiarise.It is easier just to copy other peoples' ideas than to use their ideas correctly or think of my own.This is easy in the short term but you will be missing an opportunity for intellectual growth as well as making your academic study harder for yourself in the future. Copying someone else's academic work is like asking someone else to play sport for you. Your substitute gets the practice but when it comes to the big game, whether a sporting cup final or academic exams, it will be your 'substitute' that is better prepared and more likely to succeed.Cut-and-paste plagiarism saves time. It is easier to 'assemble' an essay from copy and pasted internet information rather than write one after consulting a wide variety of information sources.The answer to number one applies here. Further, beware of using only the internet as a source of information. You need to be discerning in the information resources that you use. Learn how to identify quality information and evidence this in your bibliographies.I don't understand what plagiarism is, so it cannot affect me.It will affect you! Whether intentional or unintentional plagiarism is academic misconduct and the penalty can be high.Other people express themselves in writing better than I do, so there is no point in trying to express the ideas in my own words.Is copying other people's work a good way to improve your own writing skills? You are unique; you have your own unique experiences and perspectives. While you are at university you will be learning to understand and express ideas in your own way (and to your best advantage).Because I can. And I can get away with it.Is it worth risking your personal and professional reputation? Any academic work that does not cite references may create suspicion of plagiarism. Once a suspect is identified there are lots of tools to catch them e.g. there is specialist software designed to track plagiarism.How do you avoid plagiarising?Study at HE level requires you to be able to provide evidence that you have read widely without plagiarising. To be able to use (assess, critique, digest, evaluate, report, understand, etc.) other peoples' ideas in your essays, reports, presentations etc., you will need to develop a variety of skills. Some are listed below:Practice good note taking habits.When making notes from a book, do not have the open book in front of you. Read what you need then close the book and try to summarise in your own words what you have read. You could do this after each paragraph or each page. By the time you come to use them you will have forgotten from which source you got your notes. Therefore, when making notes, make sure you include a reference to the source of your material, and use quotation marks when necessary, to indicate a direct quotation from the source. Remember to write down the page numbers as you make your notes as you will need to include these in your reference. Develop the skill of paraphrasing To paraphrase is to express a statement or text in your own words. Consult at least one of the following resources to learn how to spot the difference between acceptable and unacceptable paraphrasingLearn how to cite your referencesCite your references in order to give credit where it is due, to add weight to your argument, and to provide the correct bibliographic details so that other students/researchers can follow up the sources of the ideas that you use. Improve your information skillsAvoid basing your work on just one textbook or one journal article. You will be less likely to plagiarise if you evaluate and synthesise information from multiple sources.Anti-plagiarism resourcesCopyChecker is software available to students on the student network.? It enables you to check your written work (in an electronic format such as Word or HTML) against any electronic material, for example text on a web site.? It can be used as a writing tool to help you develop writing skills and avoid plagiarism and incorrect paraphrasing.?University staff also have access to other software such as CopyCatch and Turnitin for the detection of plagiarism.SummaryPlagiarism is a term used in academia for passing off other peoples ideas as your own. Including in your own work exact extracts from another person's work without the use of quotation marks and acknowledgement of the sources is also plagiarism. Summarising or paraphrasing another person's work without acknowledgement is also plagiarism. Plagiarism is regarded as serious misconduct. To avoid plagiarising there are a number of skills that you can develop. Most importantly you should be careful when taking notes and need to be able to correctly cite and reference any ideas that are not your own. At Leeds Met the Harvard style of referencing is used. The law about copyright and the ethical rules of plagiarism are two separate issues that you need to consider when you use other peoples' ideas/work. ................
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