Students as Authors

The Student Authorship Project www.writenow.ac.uk/student_authorship.html

Outline

• What does it mean to be the author of something?

• What does a writer have to do to be the author?

• Some cases of unintentional plagiarism

• What about being the author of a university assignment?

Definitions

Author: “The person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like…” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/authors)

Authorship: “an explicit way of assigning responsibility and giving credit for intellectual work” (http://www.hms.harvard.edu/integrity/authorship.html)

Fay Weldon on authorship

“You write because you think you know something that others don’t and you read because you are hoping to find out something. Writers have to provide that – they have to add something.”

“I remember how exhausting it was getting words on to a page. It’s like exercising a muscle that you build up until it gets easier”

(Times Higher Education Supplement, 22 Sept, 2006)

‘Authorial decisions’

• What the message is

• What secondary material to use

• How much importance or emphasis to put on different parts

• How to interpret the material

• What words to use to express the ideas

• What conclusions to reach

A piece of journalistic-style writing

Eating disorders show how the culture of an affluent society can damage the health of its most vulnerable members. In western countries life is very stressful, almost everyone is dissatisfied with their body, and there is an epidemic of dieting. When emotionally vulnerable people try to get some control over their lives, the result can be anorexia or bulimia, which were once rare disorders but are now increasingly common. Psychological theory can explain what is going on in people’s minds, but the problem won’t go away until there is a change in western values and culture.

What did that author decide?

• To announce the conclusions right at the beginning of the piece

• To adopt a very bold style• To place emphasis on cultural factors• To present some ‘facts’ that will need

supporting with evidence• To use certain words and phrases

…emotionally vulnerable people……epidemic of dieting……going on in people’s minds…

A piece of academic (psychology) writing

Eating disorders make up a relatively new category of psychological disorders, and reflect the fact that psychological or emotional problems can manifest themselves as severe disturbances in eating behaviour. The most prevalent of these disorders are anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). These are normally considered as separate disorders, although both are associated with an obsessive fear of gaining weight and the individual’s dissatisfaction with their own body shape (as compared, for example, with media projected ideal images of body shapes). Prior to the 1960s, both AN and BN were relatively rare disorders, but have since become considerably more prevalent in western societies.

(From Davey, 2004, Complete Psychology, p. 586)

What did that author decide?

• To begin in a much more measured way • To use a more cautious style• Not to reach such a strong conclusion• To focus more on psychological factors• To use more moderate words and phrases

…considerably more prevalent……psychological or emotional problems can manifest

themselves as……both associated with…

Being an author is difficult for students

• Students know less about the subject

• They rely on a lot of other sources for your material

• They are not sure what their own position is

• They are probably writing under extreme time pressure

Things students said about writing

“If you make a claim, you get an article or a book that you can say proves your point. It’s like it’s not off the top of my head, someone else has found this.”

“They want everything backed up by previous research and journal articles. You can’t just make a point and leave it at that, you need to show the evidence is out there. This has been said and it is in this journal or this book.”

(From Norton et al. (2006). Writing essays in higher education: a guide for students by students. Assessment Plus Project)

Things a tutor said about students’ writing

“I don’t think they get what they’re asked to do…. I think they think they’ve got to show they’ve read stuff and so they paraphrase and plagiarize.”

(From Norton et al. (2006). Writing essays in higher education: a guide for students by students. Assessment Plus Project)

Extract from a student essayHow do different psychological theories explain the

development of eating disorders?

“Bulimia patients typically binge when they encounter stress and experience negative affect. Patients with bulimia nervosa are low in self-esteem” (Garner, Olmstead & Polivy, 1983, p. 1). “Many young women with an eating disorder come from families that demand ‘perfection’ and extreme self-control but do not allow expressions of warmth or conflict” (Rosman & Baker, 1978, p. 1). “With regard to bulimia, there may be a deficiency in the neurotransmitter serotin, which plays a role in both mood regulation and appetite” (Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology, p. 1).

(From www.assessmentplus.net)

What a student said about using quotes

“I think it is sometimes difficult to choose exactly what quote you’re going to put in and also kind of like making it relevant, as you said, and sort of putting in why you’ve chosen that particular quote, because I know that the feedback I’ve had on my essays – ‘don’t use so many quotes and establish why you use them’, basically. ‘What was the point? Why was what that person said better than something else?’”

(From Norton et al. (2006). Writing essays in higher education: a guide for students by students. Assessment Plus Project)

Is this an improvement? How do different psychological theories explain the

development of eating disorders?

Bulimia has been associated with stress and negative emotional states, and Garner et al (1983) claimed that many patients with bulimia have low self-esteem. Family factors may also be important, especially in terms of the demands they may place on young women and the opportunities they provide for expressing emotions. For example, demanding perfection and self control, but not allowing expressions of warmth or conflict, were said to characterise the families of many young women with eating disorders (Rosman & Baker, 1978). There is also evidence that neurophysiological factors are important mechanisms in the development of eating disorders. For example, deficiencies in serotonin, which regulates both mood and appetite, may be part of the cause of bulimia (Hilgard, 1999).

Author of novel accused of plagiarismHISTORIANS APPEAL DA VINCI PLAGIARISM VERDICT DAN BROWN's bestseller THE DA VINCI CODE is to face the courts again as two historians appeal against the not guilty verdict in the novel's plagiarism case earlier this year (APR06). A judge previously ruled the central themes which the historians said Brown had copied from their 1982 book THE HOLY BLOOD AND THE HOLY GRAIL were "too general" to be protected by copyright law even if they had been reproduced.

http://contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/historians%20appeal%20da%20vinci%20plagiarism%20verdict_1002177

Labour’s ‘dodgy dossier’ on Iraqi WMD

Government dossier: (page 13), published Jan 2003

"Saddam appointed, Sabir 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Duri as head during the 1991 Gulf War. After the Gulf War he was replaced by Wafiq Jasim al-Samarrai.

After Samarrai, Muhammad Nimah al-Tikriti headed Al-Istikhbarat al-Askariyya in early 1992 then in late 1992 Fanar Zibin Hassan al-Tikriti was appointed to this post.

These shifting appointments are part of Saddam's policy of balancing security positions. By constantly shifting the directors of these agencies, no one can establish a base in a security organisation for a substantial period of time. No one becomes powerful enough to challenge the President."

http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/02/week_1/06_dossier.html

From a PhD thesis on the web al-Marashi document: Section: "MILITARY INTELLIGENCE“, published

Sept 2002 - relevant parts have been underlined

Saddam appointed, Sabir ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Duri(80) as head of Military Intelligence during the 1991 Gulf War.(81) After the Gulf War he was replaced by Wafiq Jasim al-Samarrai.(82)

After Samarrai, Muhammad Nimah al-Tikriti(83) headed Military Intelligence in early 1992(84) then in late 1992 Fanar Zibin Hassan al-Tikriti was appointed to this post.(85) While Fanar is from Tikrit, both Sabir al-Duri and Samarrai are non-Tikriti Sunni Muslims, as their last names suggest.

Another source indicates that Samarrai was replaced by Khalid Salih al-Juburi,(86) demonstrating how another non-Tikriti, but from the tribal alliance that traditionally support the regime holds top security positions in Iraq.(87)

These shifting appointments are part of Saddam’s policy of balancing security positions between Tikritis and non-Tikritis, in the belief that the two factions would not unite to overthrow him. Not only that, but by constantly shifting the directors of these agencies, no one can establish a base in a security organization for a substantial period of time, that would challenge the President.(88)

Psychologist accused of plagiarism

“He had taken paragraphs from my work, word for word” – Thomas Blass

“Journal retracts article after US scholar complains”

“Raj Persuad says credits ‘inadvertently omitted’”

(Guardian, 7 November, 2005 )

Raj Persaud’s explanation

‘I am happy to apologise for this error, which occurred whereby when I cut and pasted the original copy, the references at the end were inadvertently omitted. We only became aware of the error after publication’

‘He [Persaud] said he didn’t see the final version before it goes to press, and said the subeditors must have taken out the quotation marks and citation at the bottom’

(Guardian, 7 November, 2005)

The verdict‘[Persaud] admitted plagiarism but denied claims he had

been dishonest …’ (Guardian, 20-6-08)

‘He [Persaud] told the GMC: “I realise I should have been much more careful when I started writing the book. At the time, given the stress I was under, given the deadlines and my other work, I thought I was adequately attributing work”’ (Times, 21-6-08)

“[Persaud] brought his profession into disrepute by cutting and pasting experts’ papers into his articles and a book, the General Medical Council found yesterday” (Guardian, 20-6-08)

Plagiarism expert accused of plagiarism in report about plagiarism!

“An expert on plagiarism has himself been accused of copying material ‘verbatim’ from another source without properly acknowledging it.

The allegations have divided the UK’s plagiarism experts over what actually constitutes plagiarism and how strictly even minor lapses should be punished.

In a further twist, the academic paper under the spotlight is itself about the overzealous policing of plagiarism in higher education.”

(Times Higher Education Supplement, 16 June, 2006 )

Students helping each other

• Group work often means students work closely together

• It is fine to collaborate in the preparation for a written assignment

• But there must be one author for each piece of writing submitted

• Make sure the written work you submit is you own

Authorship and essays

• Essays are the most traditional form of university writing

• Risk of accidental plagiarism is probably greater than for any other type of assignment

Authorship and critical reviews

• Critical reviews begin with a secondary source – the ‘target’ article

• Decide how much of that you want to include in your review

• Where will the rest of the material come from?

Authorship and problem-based learning (PBL) assignments

• PBL is sometimes used to prevent plagiarism

• The starting point is usually a case description

• Care still needs to be taken– When using the results of your research on

the background issues– If you are working on the same case as your

friend

Authorship and your research project

• Don’t get accused of plagiarism in your final piece of work

• Make sure every section is your own writing

• Just because you are describing an original study does not mean you can reproduce someone else’s writing in your introduction or discussion

Tips on being a genuine author

• Think about what your own position (opinion) is before you start writing

• When working from other sources:– Read, think, then put the book or journal on

one side before writing about it in your work– Think about what you have added to the

points made in the source work– Use the source material to support what you

are saying in your work – refer to it to make a point of your own

More tips…

• When including quotations from other work:– Think about what point you are making with

the quote– Use the quotation to make a point of your own– Keep the quotation as short as possible– Make sure the other person’s words are in

quotation marks– Make sure you indicate the source

Final tips

• When you think you have finished, ask yourself…– What decisions did I take?– How many of the sentences did I compose?– Can I take responsibility for this writing?– Can I really take the credit for it?

• If the answers are not clear, perhaps this version is not your final draft …

Useful web sitesThe Assessment Plus project web site, with many downloadable resources for

student and staff on writing for assessment: http://www.assessmentplus.netAn interactive site on essay writing at James Cook University, Australia:

http://www.jcu.edu.au/studying/services/studyskills/writing/index.htmA site at the Open University with advice on writing and assessment generally:

http://www.open.ac.uk/study-strategies/A site at the University of Teesside with a wide range of advice on essays,

exams, academic writing and plagiarism: http://dissc.tees.ac.uk/Reference Psyte, an excellent website on referencing for psychology students:

http://www2.hud.ac.uk/hhs/ref_psyte/The Royal Literary Fund’s essay writing advice:

http://www.rlf.org.uk/fellowshipscheme/writing/essayguide.cfmA guide to using English for academic purposes:

http://www.uefap.com/vocab/vocfram.htmThe Institute of Education’s site with advice on writing essays, reports, critical

reviews and dissertations: http://www.ioe.ac.uk/caplits/writingcentre/index.htm

Write Now, a web site for students devoted to writing for assessment: http://www.writenow.ac.uk/

Clanchy, J. (1997). Essay writing for students: a practical guide. Melbourne: Addison Wesley Longman.

Cottrell, S., (2003) The Study Skills Handbook. (2nd Ed.) Palgrave.Creme, P. & Lea, M.R. (1997). Writing at university: a guide for students, 2nd ed. Buckingham:

Open University.Fairbairn, G.J. & Fairbairn, S. (2001). Reading at University: A Guide for Students.

Buckingham: Open University.Fairbairn, G.J. & Winch, C. (1996). Reading, Writing and Reasoning: A Guide for Students.

Buckingham: Open University.Greetham, B. (2001). How to write better essays. Basingstoke: Palgrave.Hennessy, B. (2002). Writing an Essay: Simple Techniques to Transform Your Coursework and

Examinations (Student Handbooks). Oxford: How To Books.Levin, P. (2004). Write Great Essays! Reading and Essay Writing for Undergraduates and

Taught Postgraduates. Buckingham: Open University.Lewis, M., & Reinders, H., (2003) Study Skills for Speakers of English as a Second Language.

Palgrave.Norton, L. et al. (2006). Writing essays in Higher Education: A Guide for Students by Students.

Available from http://www.writenow.ac.uk/assessmentplus/Peck, J. & Coyle, M. (2005). The student’s guide to writing: grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Basingstoke: Palgrave.Peck, J. & Coyle, M. (2005). Write it right: a handbook for students. Basingstoke: Palgrave.Redman, P. (2001). Good Essay Writing: a Social Sciences Guide. London: Sage.Turley, R.M. (2000). Writing Essays: A Guide for Students in English and the Humanities.

London: Routledge.

Books about writing for students

Guides to writing for psychology students

Collins, S.C. & Kneale, P. (2001). Study skills for psychology students: a practical guide. Chapter 9. Effective essay skills.

Heffernan, T. M., (2006). A Student’s Guide to Studying Psychology. (3rd Ed.) Psychology Press.

Parrott, L. (1999). How to write psychology papers (2nd Ed). Harlow, Longman.

Scott, J. M., Koch, R., Scott, G. M., & Garrison, S. M., (2002) The Psychology Student Writer’s Manual. Prentice Hall.

Stevenson, A. (2001). Studying Psychology. Palgrave.