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Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Student Information

Niagara College

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What is in this presentation

This information is designed to: Ensure students are aware of our policy on Student Academic Misbehaviour Clarify what is and isn’t plagiarism; both INTENTIONAL and UNINTENTIONAL Provide students with key strategies to minimize UNITENTIONAL plagiarism

Topics covered include:

What is Academic Integrity? 3-4

Niagara College policy on Student Academic Misconduct 5-11

What is plagiarism and why do students plagiarize 12-15

Academic writing – essays and assignments 16-18

What is and isn’t plagiarism (more detail) 19-22

Seven strategies to help prevent unintended plagiarism 23-36

References and links to more detailed online resources 37

Interactive Quiz

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What is Academic Integrity?

The commitment, even in the face of adversity, to five fundamental values: (Center for Academic Integrity ) Honesty, Trust, Fairness, Respect, and Responsibility.

“Theses values go beyond simply not cheating or plagiarizing. They mean that you are responsible for your own learning andhave an obligation to be honest -- with yourself and others; and aresponsibility to treat other students and your professors withrespect and fairness.”

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Why is it important?

ICAI conference guests discuss the importance of academic integrity.

Filmed during the ICAI 2008 International Conference in Myrtle Beach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSfmWIlEhSg

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Let’s look at the Niagara College Policy on Student Academic Misconduct

The Niagara College policy (1999)provides examples

of student academic misconduct related to:

A: Exams and Tests See policy here:

B: Laboratory Work

C: Essays and Assignments

Student Academic Misconduct

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A: Exams and Tests – Misconduct

Impersonation of a candidate in an examination or test

Copying from another student or making information available to other students knowing that this is to be submitted as the borrower's own work

Possession of unauthorized material during a test or exam

Submission of a take-home examination written by someone else.

These behaviours are always INTENTIONAL Often called CHEATING

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B: Laboratory – Misconduct

Copying a laboratory report or allowing someone else to copy one's report

Using another student's data unless specifically allowed by the Faculty

Allowing someone else to do the lab work Faking a report or fabricating data.

Using direct quotations or sections of paraphrased material in a lab report without acknowledgment

These behaviours are always INTENTIONAL Often called CHEATING

These behaviours may be INTENTIONAL Often referred to as PLAGIARISM

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C: Essay and Assignment – Misconduct

Submitting an essay written in whole or in part by someone else as one's own

Preparing an essay or assignment for submission by another student Copying an essay or assignment, or allowing one's essay or assignment

to be copied by someone else The buying or selling of term papers or assignments Submitting the same piece of work in more than one course without the

permission of the faculty Submitting all or part of a computer program without major modifications

of one's own.

Using direct quotations or sections of paraphrased material without acknowledgment

These behaviours are always INTENTIONAL Often called CHEATING

These behaviours may be INTENTIONAL Often referred to as PLAGIARISM

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Note:Collaboration and Group Assignments

Student academic misconduct should be distinguished from co-operation and collaboration.

Students may be permitted/expected to work on assignments collectively and to present results either collectively or separately.

This is not a problem as long as it is clearly understood whose work is being presented, e.g. formal acknowledgment by footnoting.

Remember: academic misconduct rules apply to group assignments. Make sure the final submission has been vetted and approved by all groups members to avoid consequences that could occur as a result of plagiarism…..Plan enough time for this to happen effectively.

Watch out for collusion!Acting with another person with intent to deceive

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What are the formal consequences identified in our policy?

Student academic misconduct is a serious offence and will not be tolerated.

The minimum penalty for a first offence is a mark of “0” for the work involved.

Second incident could result in removal from course

A formal process is involved, including information that goes with your student record at Registrars’ Office and stays for two years

Informal but significant consequenceYour Personal integrity and reputation. Is it worth it?

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Note:

“The college reserves the right to assess academic misconduct penalties up to and including course, program or college suspension depending on either the nature of the incident or the cumulative effect of a subsequent incident.”

Niagara College Student Academic Misconduct Policy 1999

The student will be formally notified of any suspensions.

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What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is using the words or ideas of others and presenting them as your own.

Plagiarism is a type of intellectual theft.

It can take many forms, from deliberate cheating to accidentally copying from a source without acknowledgement.

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We generally associate Plagiarism with Assignments and Essays

Why?

In any post-secondary institution, students are expected use intellectual thinking process as a critical component of producing their own “original work”.

This is ACADEMIC WRITING

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Academic writing involves

INTELLECTUAL THINKING PROCESSES

Researching, understanding, selecting, summarizing, interpreting, organizing and expanding on the work of others

REWORKING the information and

INTEGRATING it into your own original thoughts and insights

ACKNOWLEDGING the work of others

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What is the intellectual challenge of Academic Writing?

BUT You must develop a topic based on what

has already been said and written

Write somethingnew and original

You must rely on the opinions and work of experts and authorities

Improve or disagreeWith those thoughts

You must give credit to the work of others

Make your own adequate contribution

BUT

BUT

You must improve your language skillsto mirror “academic style” BUT Use your own words

and voice

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Why is plagiarism a concern?

Prevents the development of academic skills

Does not recognize the work of others

Often a sign of underlying academic weaknesses – so sometimes is unintentional

Bigger issue:

It’s unethical

Undermines and devalues the credibility and worth of the course

Unfair to the students who have taken the time to produce their own work

and/or study for assignments

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Why do students plagiarize?

Weak Writing and Research Skillse.g. Lack of research skills, confusion with paraphrasing

Misunderstanding key concepts e.g. Confusion about what is and isn’t plagiarism, common knowledge

External factors e.g. Competition for scholarships, family pressure

Internal Factorse.g. Poor time management and procrastination

Cultural Factors e.g. Different values related to plagiarism in different cultures

http://guides.library.ualberta.ca/content.php?pid=62200&sid=457755

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How not to plagiarize?

Then use these key strategies:

1: Plan your work

2: Work on weak academic skills

3: Learn how to acknowledge your sources

4: Learn how to incorporate the work of others

(summarizing and paraphrasing)

5: Use quotations correctly

6: Learn to take notes effectively from other sources

7: Use best practices for research and drafting (summary of most of the above strategies)

First: Be aware of what is and isn’t plagiarism

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Be aware of what is and isn’t plagiarism

Plagiarism is using the words or ideas of others and presenting them as your own.

Plagiarism may vary in terms of– INTENT ( whether the student is consciously trying to cheat)– EXTENT (how much of the content is plagiarized)

Many students plagiarise unintentionally.

Unintentional plagiarism can result from not knowing how to acknowledge/incorporate sources of information, careless note-taking, or cut/past from electronic sources.

However, both intentional AND unintentional plagiarism are violations of Niagara College Academic Honesty policy

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Some common forms of plagiarism

Submitting the following as your own work– Downloading an assignment from an online source– Buying, stealing or borrowing an assignment – Copying a section of a book, article or website – Copying, cutting and pasting text from electronic sources

Not acknowledging the work of others – Using exact sentences/paragraphs from others without acknowledgement– Putting someone’s ideas into your words without acknowledging source– Using your ideas, but heavy reliance on others without acknowledging– Relying too much on other people’s material

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Take one of these tests to see if you know what plagiarism is

A quiz on Plagiarism and Collusion–Deakin University

University on New South Wales – Sydney, Australia

http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study-support/study-skills/plagiarism-test/index.php

http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism/plagquiz.html

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Once you know what plagiarism is

Use these

strategies

to

Reduce UNINTENTIONED PLAGIARISM

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Strategy 1: Plan your work

Plan ahead and begin writing your assignments well before they are due.

Leaving work until the last minute doesn't give you enough time to read, digest, form your own ideas and write information in your own words.

When students rush to meet a tight deadline, they are more likely to plagiarise unintentionally or succumb to the temptation to 'cut and paste' information directly from electronic resources.

Here’s some suggestion to improve time management http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism/how_2.html

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Strategy 2: Improve weak academic skills

Many incidents of plagiarism occur because of underdeveloped

academic skills

For example:Lack of confidence in using your own wordsDifficulty focusing your answer Lack of critical and analytical skillsInadequate note-taking, research and referencing skills Poor writing skills

Here’s some suggestions for strategies that might help

http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism/how.html

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Strategy 3:Learn how to reference work of others

Make sure your assignments are referenced correctly. Cite and reference the words, ideas or information from other sources used in

your assignments - acknowledges their contribution

Why? Acknowledges contribution of others Provides credibility to your work and supports your insights Demonstrates adequate research and reading on your part

Must be accurate – so reader can find information

Must use acceptable styles – usually APA or MLA

http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study-support/study-skills/handouts/why-reference.php

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What do you need to reference?

When you are using words or ideas from: Books and Journal articles;

Newspapers, Magazines, Pamphlets or Brochures;

Films, Documentaries, Television programs or Advertisements;

Web pages or computer-based resources;

Letters or emails;

Personal interviews or lecturers

Any reprinted diagrams, illustrations, charts or pictures.

FAQ

http://www.uts.edu.au/teachlearn/avoidingplagiarism/faqs/index.html#11

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What don’t you need to reference?

Writing your observations/experiment results (e.g. field trip report)

Writing about your own experiences (e.g. a reflective journal);

Writing your own thoughts, comments or conclusions in an assignment;

When you are evaluating or offering your own analysis;

When you are using 'common knowledge' (facts found in numerous places/likely to be known by many people) or folklore;

When you are using generally accepted facts or information

Check out this tutorial “You Quote it, You Note it!”http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/plagiarism/

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Strategy 4: Learn how to incorporate

the work of others into your own work

In addition to knowing rules for referencing, you also need to understand how to effectively integrate material in your writing.

Why? Expressing information or ideas in your own words demonstrates that you have understood, absorbed, and have interpreted the information.

Important writing skills that avoid plagiarism areParaphrasing and Summarizing

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Paraphrasing

A paraphrase is usually on a short section of text. It keeps the

meaning of the text but uses different words.

It is an alternative to using direct quotations and helps students to integrate evidence and source material into their assignments.

Paraphrasing is also a useful skill for: Making notes from readings, Note-taking in lectures, and Explaining information in tables, charts and diagrams.

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How to paraphrase

Check out this link to find out How to paraphrase ( Six steps) Paraphrase examples and exercises

From Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/1/

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because...It helps you control the temptation to quote too much

It helps you to flow your words more effectively The intellectual processes involved help you to understand the original work

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Plagiarism by Paraphrasing Risk Quiz

“ The most common form of college-level plagiarism is not produced by intentional theft of another's ideas. For predictable reasons, it happens when students try to paraphrase published scholarly sources.”

(Goucher College writing program)

Take this interactive quiz to see if you can distinguish paraphrasing from plagiarism

http://faculty.goucher.edu/writingprogram/sgarrett/Default.html

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Summarizing

A summary is an overview of a text.

The main idea is given, but the details and examples are left out – thus reducing the text to it’s most important ideas

Summarizing is a useful skill for making notes during lectures or from readings, writing an synopsis and incorporating materials

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Key steps in summarizing

How to summarize? Read the text and highlight the main points as you read Reread the text, make notes of the main points but leave out any

examples or specific details.. Finally, without the text, rewrite your notes in your own words; restate

the main idea plus major points

When to summarize? To identify the main points of someone else's work in your own words,

without the details or examples. To reduce author's ideas into fewer words than original To briefly give examples of differing points of view on a topic. To support the ideas that you are presenting in your own writing

Summaries will vary according to the length of the original text, how much information you need and how selective you are

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Strategy 5: Use quotations correctly

A quotation is an exact reproduction of spoken or written words.

Direct quotes can provide strong evidence, act as an authoritative voice, or support a writer's statements.

Check this link to determine how and when to quotehttp://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/sumpara.html#sumpara2

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Strategy 6:Make effective notes from sources

Unintentionally plagiarism often occurs when students take 'word-for-word' notes then reproduce these in their assignments.

Minimize accidental plagiarism by take notes carefully.

Develop a system to distinguish between:– what you have copied directly from a source, – what you have noted in your own words, – your own comments about the material.

Effective Note making from Written Text

http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/notemake.html

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Strategy 7: Use Best practices for Research and Drafting

Good practices not only help avoid plagiarism, but improve the efficiency and organization of your research and writing.

Check this link for Best Practice for Research and Drafting

Topics include: Reading and note-taking Interviewing and Conversing Writing, Paraphrasing and Summarizing Writing Direct Quotes Writing about other’s ideas Maintaining Drafts Revising, Proofreading and Finalizing your paper

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/03/

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Key ReferencesMaterials have been developed from these resources

1: Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.A. Online Writing Lab (OWL) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/1/

2: The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Learning Centre http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism/index.html

3: Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study-support/study-skills/handouts/why-reference.php

4: International Centre for Academic Integrity, Clemson University Center for Academic Integrity

5: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta

Library Guide http://guides.library.ualberta.ca/content.php?pid=62200&sid=457755

Explore these links to get detailed information related to plagiarism concepts