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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?

1

What do we mean by plagiarism?

Read the following definitions of 'plagiarism' and decide which is the most accurate.

a)
b)
c)
Correct, well done!

The answer is c).

If you use the ideas and wording of someone else, whether intentionally or not, without giving a full reference to the source, you are guilty of plagiarism.

Although both a) and b) are elements of plagiarism, they are not complete definitions.

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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.

2

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)?

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

Correct, well done!

In order to avoid any risk of plagiarism, the student needs to do options i), ii) and iii).

Incorrect, the answer is c).

In order to avoid any risk of plagiarism, the student needs to do options i), ii) and iii).

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3

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:

a)
b)
c)
Correct, well done!

Incorrect, the answer is b).

The student is guilty of plagiarism because the phrase 'that any two individual, selected randomly from almost anywhere on the planet, are connected via a chain of no more than six intermediate acquaintances' has been copied directly from the original but it is not in quotation marks. There are two ways to report other people's work in a situation like this. Firstly you can quote directly, that is take the phrase and put quotation marks around it so that it is clear that they are not your words. However, unless the original author has found a particularly memorable way of expressing and idea, it is better to rephrase it in your own words (paraphrase). For example, you could say

The small planet phenomenon described by Watts (1999) is the notion that everyone on the planet is connected to everyone else via a chain of no more than six acquaintances.

In this way you make it clear that it is Watts' original comment but that you are using it to support your own argument.

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How to avoid plagiarism

4

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.

a)
b)
c)
d)
Correct, well done!

Incorrect, the answer is a).

All these activities are necessary to avoid plagiarism.

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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.

5

Referencing and citation

Is the following statement true or false?

Citation and referencing mean the same thing.

a)
b)
Correct, well done!

Incorrect, the answer is 'false'.

'Citing' means acknowledging, within the body of your own writing, that you are using the work of someone else (in-text citation). 'Referencing' is a broader term which covers both in-text citations and the more extensive information about your source material which you put in the bibliography (reference list) at the end of your work.

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6

Referencing and citation

Is the following statement true or false?

The only acceptable citation system is Harvard.

a)
b)
Correct, well done!

Incorrect, the answer is 'false'.

Harvard is one of the most commonly used referencing system (the other being Vancouver) but there are many acceptable systems. (See the Academic Writing Handbook: http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/edu/studyskills.html for more information on this topic).

In the Harvard style, the author's surname and year of publication should be quoted in the text.

e.g.

"as confirmed by Abrams (1969)"

"as confirmed by another study (Gillespie et al. 1983)"

In the Harvard style, the reference list at the end should be arranged by alphabetical order of the first author's name

An example (for a journal article) would be:

Abrams A. (1969), 'Leprosy in Malawi', BMJ 3: 3-8.

Ganapati R., Naik S.S., Acharekar M.Y. and Pade S.S. (1976) 'Leprosy endemicity in Bombay: an assessment through surveys of municipal schools', Leprosy Review 47: 127 - 31.

In the Vancouver style, each citation should be numbered sequentially in the text, either in brackets or as a superscript.

e.g.

" as confirmed by Abrams (3) "

" as confirmed by another study (4) "

In the Vancouver style, the reference list at the end should give references in numerical order, i.e. the order they appear in the text.

An example (for a journal article) would be:

2. Ganapati R, Naik SS, Acharekar MY and Pade SS. Leprosy endemicity in Bombay: an assessment through surveys of municipal schools. Leprosy Review 1976; 47: 127-31.

3. Abrams A. (1969), 'Leprosy in Malawi', BMJ 3: 3-8.

4. Gillespie K., Jones C., Cox J and Smith P. (1983) 'Another leprosy reference', JAMA 47: 127-31.

If you are writing for publication you will need to follow the publisher's referencing system but in general the most important point to remember is to decide on a recognized referencing system and use it consistently throughout your text. It is not acceptable to 'mix and match' different referencing systems.

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7

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.

a)
b)
Correct, well done!

Incorrect, the answer is 'true'.

You must acknowledge others' work at the point in the text where you use it and again in the bibliography when you provide a full reference. The point of this full reference is to enable the reader to locate the source of the idea and an inaccurate or inadequate reference will mean they are unable to do this.

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8

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.

a)
b)
Correct, well done!

Incorrect, the answer is 'false'.

You must acknowledge the work of others whether it has come from informal communication, written text, a website or any other source.

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9

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.

a)
b)
Correct, well done!

Incorrect, the answer is 'true'.

You either paraphrase another's work or quote directly. It is only a direct quotation that needs quotation marks.

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10

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.

a)
b)
Correct, well done!

Incorrect, the answer is 'false'.

Even if you paraphrase someone else's work, you must supply both in in-text citation and a detailed reference.

for example:

Here is the original text, within quotation marks, followed by a citation to the authors.

"One of the most important issues that remain controversial is whether 6 months of treatment with regimens that include rifampin can effectively and safely treat HIV-related tuberculosis" (El-Sadr et al, 2001).

You may paraphrase the original text or idea in your own words, without quoting directly - but if so, you must always clearly cite the source.

There remains debate as to whether HIV-related tuberculosis can be treated with short course regimens that include rifampin (El-Sadr et al. 2001).

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11

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.

a)
b)
Correct, well done!

Incorrect, the answer is 'false'.

As noted above, you need to supply both an in-text citation e.g. 'this argument is supported by Shulman's work on anaemia and malaria in pregnancy (Shulman et al, 1999)' and a full bibliographical reference at the end of your work:

Shulman, C.E., Dorman, E.K., Cutts, F., Kawuondo, K., Bulmer, J.M., Peshu, N., Marsh, K. 'Intermittent sulphadoxine-pyrimethadmine to prevent severe anaemia secondary to malaria in pregnancy: a randomized placebo-controlled trial' Lancet, 1999, 353: pp 632-636.

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12

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.

a)
b)

Correct, well done!

but remember, what is common knowledge among a specialist group may not be common knowledge amongst a wider audience. It is always better to err on the side of caution and provide a citation if in doubt.

Incorrect, the answer is 'true'.

If something is common knowledge you do not need to supply a reference but be careful - what is common knowledge among a specialist group may not be common knowledge amongst a wider audience. It is always better to err on the side of caution and provide a citation if in doubt.

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13

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.

a)
b)
c)
Correct, well done!

Incorrect, the answer is c).

It is a typical book reference. An easy way to spot a book reference is that it will have the publisher's name at the end, and often the city as well.

Again, authors are generally written with their surname first followed by their initials. If there are lots of authors, "et al" is added. The year of publication should always be quoted. Note that books can be updated and re-published in different editions; the publication year and the edition number will help you to find the correct version. If no edition number is quoted in the reference, you can assume that the first edition is the one you want.

A full reference will also give the title of the book.

At the end are details of the publisher - which should include both the name of the publisher and the city they are based in. The city may sometimes be left off in reading lists.

Examples of some of the different types of references follow:

Journal articles

Creese A et al. (2002) Cost-effectiveness of HIV/AIDS interventions in Africa: a systematic review of the evidence. The Lancet 359: 1635-1642.

Book chapters

Collier, S.J. and A. Ong (2005). Chapter 1: Global assemblages, anthropological problems. Global Assemblages. Technology, Politics, and Ethics as Anthropological Problems. A. Ong and S.J. Collier. Oxford, Blackwell: 3-21.

Reports

Statistics for Wales (2008). Health statistics Wales 2008. Welsh Assembly Government.

Web pages and online documents

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB). Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Atlanta GA; April 2010 [online: accessed 27 September 2010]; www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/drtb/mdrtb.htm

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14

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).

a)
b)
c)
d)
Correct, well done!

Incorrect, the answers are as follows:

a) web page

b) book

c) journal article

d) book chapter

We can tell the first reference is a web page because we are given the url (www.nice.org.uk) and because it tells us the date it was accessed.

We know the second reference is a book because it tells us the 'edition' number, the place of publication (London) and the name of the publisher (WB Saunders).

We know the third reference is a journal article because it gives us the journal title (Bull World Health Organ) and the volume number.

We know the fourth reference is a book chapter because there are two sets of authors: the book editors and the chapter authors. The word 'In' always indicates a work within another work.

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