Plagiarism
One of the most difficult challenges in academic writing is avoiding plagiarism. There is a lengthy section in the Academic Writing Handbook http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/studyskills.html on what plagiarism means and how to ensure that you do not break any rules. Many of the examples in this section are taken from the Academic Writing Handbook so they may seem familiar is you have already read that text.
First of all, it is important to ensure that you understand what is meant by 'plagiarism'.
What is plagiarism?
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What do we mean by plagiarism?Read the following definitions of 'plagiarism' and decide which is the most accurate. |
In addition to the LSHTM Academic Writing Handbook http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/studyskills.html, the Leeds University website has an excellent section on avoiding plagiarism. With their permission, we are using two questions from their 'Avoiding plagiarism' quiz www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/plagiarism and recommend you do the full quiz if you are unsure about what constitutes plagiarism.
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Leeds Plagiarism Quiz (i)
In the example below the student's version exhibits plagiarism of the original material. Original source material "... one of the principal justifications of streaming media is its use in asynchronous, distance modes. Ironically the nature of the web as a distribution medium at the moment is also digital video's main limiting factor. This does not invalidate the use of streaming media in these circumstances, but means that the competing education values of image and interactivity have to be carefully balanced." Taken from Thornhill, S., Asensio, M & Young, C., 2002, "Video streaming a guide for education development", The JISC Click and Go Project, UMIST, Manchester, UK, pp 12-13. Student Version The bandwidth limitations affecting most web users means that in the design of education streaming video resources the values of image and interactivity have to be carefully balanced. Which of the following things should the student do to ensure they do not plagiarise (more than one may apply)? |
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Leeds Plagiarism Quiz (ii)
Look at the following question, also from the Leeds University plagiarism quiz. "The small-world phenomenon (Milgram 1967; Pool and Kochen 1978) has long been an object of popular fascination and anecdotal report. The experience of meeting a complete stranger with whom we have apparently little in common and finding unexpectedly that we share a mutual acquaintance is one with which most of us are familiar - "it's a small world!" we say. More generally, most people have at least heard of the idea that any two individuals, selected randomly from almost anywhere on the planet, are "connected" via a chain of no more than six intermediate acquaintances, a notion made popular by the Broadway play (and later movie) Six Degrees of Separation (Guare 1990)." Taken from "Network, Dynamics, and the Small-World Phenomena", Duncan J Watts, 1999, American Journal of Sociology, Volume 105, Number 2, September, pp 493-527. Student Version The concept of the small world phenomenon is widely recognised as the notion that any two individual, selected randomly from almost anywhere on the planet, are connected via a chain of no more than six intermediate acquaintances. Reference "Network, Dynamics, and the Small-World Phenomena", Duncan J Watts, 1999, American Journal of Sociology, Volume 105, Number 2, September, pp 493-527. In this example the student is: |
How to avoid plagiarism
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How to avoid plagiarism
Read the following suggestions and decide which are necessary to avoid plagiarism. Activities: i) Whenever you use or mention the work of others, make sure that you acknowledge it fully. ii) If you use a direct quotation, acknowledge the originator of the work. iii) If you paraphrase (rewrite in your own words) the work of others, acknowledge the originator of the work. iv) If your work is the result of collaboration with others, make sure that you acknowledge their input. v) If you refer to your own past work, supply a full citation for it. |
The Academic Writing Handbook http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/studyskills.html provides detailed advice on avoiding plagiarism and some this is given in the feedback below but the most important thing to remember is to always provide citations for other people's work.
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Referencing and citation
Is the following statement true or false? Citation and referencing mean the same thing. |
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Referencing and citation
Is the following statement true or false? The only acceptable citation system is Harvard. |
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Referencing and citation
Is the following statement true or false? A full reference includes both an in-text citation and a detailed reference in a bibliography at the end of your essay/article. |
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Referencing and citation
Is the following statement true or false? If a colleague passes on information informally, it is not necessary to provide a reference for it. |
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Referencing and citation
Is the following statement true or false? If you paraphrase a statement written by someone else, it is not necessary to put the words in quotation marks. |
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Referencing and citation
Is the following statement true or false? If you paraphrase a statement written by someone else, it is not necessary to provide a reference for it. |
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Referencing and citation
Is the following statement true or false? It is not necessary to provide an in-text citation for an idea taken from someone else's work if you include the work in your bibliography at the end of your essay/article. |
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Referencing and citation
Is the following statement true or false? If an idea is 'common knowledge' (e.g. Nigeria is in Africa) or 'indisputable' (e.g. Andhra Pradesh is the fourth largest state in India) you do not need to provide a reference. |
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Understanding references
Read the following reference and decide what type of document it refers to. Hahn, R. (1999) Anthropology in Public Health. Oxford, Oxford University Press. |
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What type of reference?Read each reference and decide whether it is a journal, webpage, book or book chapter. (You will need to make all four choices before you check your answer). |