Ahsgs plagarism abridj2012

AHSGS 3rd Colloquium 15122012

UNDERSTANDING PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Azlina Murad Sani

University Teaching & Learning Centre &

Dept of Language Studies, SEML

[email protected]

AHSGS 3RD COLLOQUIUM FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS

©The intellectual rights of the original sources are asserted.

mailto:[email protected]

AHSGS 3rd Colloquium 15122012 2

Objectives

At the end of this talk, you should be able toidentify the different types of plagiarismdistinguish between acceptable and

unacceptable forms of attribution


What is Plagiarism?Latin: plagiarius, kidnapper, literary thiefTo take (ideas, writings, etc.) from (another) and pass them off as one’s own.

American Heritage Dictionary

“…the use of pre-existing material by the author of a new work in such a manner that it appears to be claimed to be an original contribution by that author, in particular because of the absence of a citation of the original work.”

(Davison et al. cited in Clarke, 2005, p.5)

“Academic plagiarism occurs when a writer repeatedly uses more than four words from a printed source without…reference to the original… in a work presented as the author’s own research and scholarship.”

(Hexham, 2005, p.2)


Plagiarism by students A study of 23 U.S colleges: 38% students

admitted to some form of internet plagiarism. Almost 50% did not even consider it to be cheating. (New York Times, 2003)

American survey: 70 % of students admitted to some cheating; 2005 40% admitted to internet plagiarism (Center for Academic Integrity, 2005)

An assistant professor shares her thesis with her PhD student. The student not only plagiarized passages from her, but submitted work that was basically her thesis. (Chronicle of Higher Educ, 2004)


Consequences An estimated 10,000 students a year are

subjected to disciplinary action across Australian universities, mostly for plagiarism (University World News, Dec 2010)

A British university withholds the degree of an English major who admits to plagiarism throughout his academic career, but claims he did not know that his “cut and paste” techniques were a problem. (Chronicle of Higher Educ, 2004)


Plagiarism by academics The Guardian, UK; Oct 30 2007 reported:

Durham University: former dean investigated for plagiarism, resigned

Wolverhampton University: senior lecturer dismissed for plagiarism

Southern Illinois University: University President accused of lifting sections from original works, ruled unintentional

University of Colorado: professor dismissed for plagiarising & falsifying research

All India Institute of Medical Sciences: 6 professors & a director accused of fraudulent journal publications

Kock (1999):In a prestigious US university: Foreign assistant

professor of Information Systems published data plagiarised from a counterpart’s PhD; resigned.


Why the big fuss? Centrality of writing in academia

Students: demonstration of scholarship deserving the award of the degree○ No false claims of idea contribution

Academics: obligation to advance knowledge○ Gives false ‘aura of expertise’○ Career—accelerated progress of ‘less fit academics’,

sometimes at the expense of the truly deserving ones.○ Affects the image of academia

(Clarke, 2005)

Respect and trust as honour code in academic writing valuing and respecting not just knowledge itself but

contributors to the body of knowledge.


Plagiarism as violation of implicit trust

As members of the global academic community, scholars/ researchers trust that:

When we express ideas that are a product of careful thought, then we have the rights of intellectual ownership

Someone will use our ideas, and/or build on them for the advancement of human knowledge.

Those who choose to do so will have the intellectual integrity/honesty to give credit to us as the originator of the idea, opinion, data or words.

(Hexham, 2005; Clarke, 2005)


Challenge of academic writing culture for junior scholarsNegotiating knowledge advancement: Ideas have to be ‘original’, but based on

something read. Expert opinion has to be included, but they

should be critiqued and expanded. Credit should be given to other writers, but

your own voice should be clear Build upon what you read, but use your own

words (Purdue Online Writing

Lab)


Is it plagiarism when you do this..?

Adaptation:

Plagiarism Quiz, Learning Centre, UNSW


1. You have an interesting opinion, but you can’t put it into words very well.

Then you come across some sentences in an article that say exactly what you want to say. You borrow some of the wording.

Since you had the idea in your mind even before you found the article, you don’t need to cite the reference.


2. You found an idea that fits in well into your proposal.

You use it, but you rewrite the idea in a better way than the original. It’s now in your own words, so you don’t need to provide the source.


3. You borrowed some sentences from a book. You don’t use quotation marks to indicate the words you borrowed, but you provided the reference in your bibliography list.


4. After weeks of struggling, you have come up with a conceptual framework for your study. You create an original figure to show proposed relationships between your variables. To explain the relationships, you rely on phrases that have come from your readings. As your framework is original, you haven’t referenced the phrases.


5. You have done a lot of reading on your topic. You submitted a paper where almost every line is a direct quotation or paraphrase. You double checked to ensure that all sources are properly cited, using quotation marks. You also provided a comprehensive reference list.


You have read a document related to the topic of your study in your native language. In writing your paper, you used several ideas from that source, translating them into English. You don’t cite the source. Your lecturer doesn’t know your native language.

Plagiarism includes translating into another language: original words or paraphrase of ideas opinions, recommendations, speculations, insights, arrangement of ideas

without attribution to the original work and/or intentionally passing off as one’s own.


What doesn’t need documentation? Common knowledge and undisputed facts,

including those in your specific fieldCommon sense, myths, events in history (unless

specifically derived from historical documents) Rule of thumb: information that is found

undocumented in at least five reliable sources, or easily found in general

references.(Purdue OWL)


Distinguishing between acceptable and unacceptable forms of borrowingRefer to Handout


Source text

Although teachers at all levels are traditionally considered as knowledge managers, the field of education has not embraced Knowledge Management (KM) with the same enthusiasm shown by other fields, particularly those in business organizations pursuing “business intelligence”. While people in academia do conduct cross disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies, the preference still seems to be towards disciplinary specializations and integrity of traditional academic disciplines.

Source:Bajunid, I.A. (2004). Preliminary explorations of knowledge management initiative in higher education institutions. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, 1 (1) p.5


Borrowed idea: Example 1Education seems to be rather conservative compared to other fields. While people in academia do conduct cross disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies, the preference still seems to be towards disciplinary specializations and integrity of traditional academic disciplines. This practice should be reconsidered. The need to look outwards, and take advantage of the benefits of interdisciplinary work is crucial if educationists intend to keep up with the knowledge demands of the 21st century.

TYPE: Straight plagiarism— borrowing exact sentences

Correction?


Example 1Education seems to be rather conservative compared to other fields. Bajunid (2004) observed that “ while people in academia do conduct cross disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies, the preference still seems to be towards disciplinary specializations and integrity of traditional academic disciplines” (p. 5). This practice should be reconsidered. The need to look outwards, and take advantage of the benefits of interdisciplinary work is crucial if educationists intend to keep up with the knowledge demands of the 21st century.

------------

Bajunid, I.A. (2004). Preliminary explorations of knowledge management initiative in higher education institutions. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction,1(1), 1-30.

Quote marks

Pg no.

In ref list


Example 2

Although traditionally, teachers are considered as “knowledge managers”, the field of Education has not embraced knowledge management with the same enthusiasm shown by other fields, particularly business organizations, particularly those with the pursuit of business intelligence.


Example 2

Although traditionally, ^ teachers are ^ considered as “knowledge managers”, the field of Education has not embraced knowledge management with the same enthusiasm shown by other fields, particularly business organizations with the pursuit of “business intelligence”.

TYPE: Straight plagiarism○ Change of capitalization, punctuation, substitution

with synonym, addition/deletion of one or two words

REMEDY: Copy exactly

If original has an error, use (sic) CITE source and page no at the end of the quoted part Ref list


Example 3

In his 2005 article published in the Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, eminent educationist Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid proposed that although teachers at all levels are traditionally considered as knowledge managers, the field of education has not embraced Knowledge Management (KM) with the same enthusiasm shown by other fields. He observed that while people in academia conduct cross disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies, the preference seems to be towards disciplinary specializations and integrity of traditional academic disciplines.


Example 3

In his 2004 article published in the Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, eminent educationist Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid proposed that “although teachers at all levels are traditionally considered as knowledge managers, the field of education has not embraced Knowledge Management (KM) with the same enthusiasm shown by other fields.” He observed that “while people in academia conduct cross disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies, the preference …seems to be towards disciplinary specializations and integrity of traditional academic disciplines” (p.5).

TYPE: Simple plagiarism using a citation Borrowing exact sentences/paragraph with incomplete

acknowledgement (not using quotation marks and page numbers properly)

Praise

Quote marks

Close quote and reopen

Page no


Example 4

Although educators, whether at primary or tertiary levels, are traditionally considered as knowledge managers, the field of education itself has not embraced the idea of Knowledge Management with the same enthusiasm shown by other fields, such as in business. “While educators in academia do conduct cross disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies, the preference still seems to be towards disciplinary specializations and integrity of traditional academic disciplines.” (Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid, 2004, p.5)


Example 4Although educators, whether at primary or tertiary

levels, are traditionally considered as knowledge managers, the field of education itself has not embraced the idea of knowledge management with the same enthusiasm shown by other fields, such as in business. “While educators in academia do conduct cross disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies, the preference still seems to be towards disciplinary specializations and integrity of traditional academic disciplines.” (Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid, 2004, p.5)

TYPE: Plagiarism with hanging quotations Delay inserting quote marks, and/or continuing to copy after closing

the quote

Student modifies original here and there without

citing

Properly cites

this part


Example 5

Surprisingly, knowledge management has not gained popularity among educators, despite the fact that they traditionally manage knowledge on a daily basis.


Example 5

Surprisingly, knowledge management has not gained popularity among educators, despite the fact that they traditionally manage knowledge on a daily basis.

TYPE: Illegitimate paraphrase

Idea is taken with no acknowledgement to original source

(Bajunid, 2004)


Main Types of Plagiarism

StraightSimpleHanging quotationIllegitimate paraphrase/paraphrasing as

plagiarism

(terms from Hexham, 2005)


Other Types: Complex plagiarism:

Taking a selection of material from more than one page of one author’s work, without citations.

False leads: Using material from one source and citing another

that is somewhat relevant, with the purpose of steering reader away from plagiarized material.

Quoting a primary source from a secondary source, giving the false impression that you actually read the the primary source .

Plagiarising a paraphrase from secondary source without citing, giving the impression that you paraphrased the primary source yourself.


Review: Common manifestations of plagiarism

Direct copying of a single sentence or significant parts of a sentence, paragraphs or a sentence without quotation marks.

Copying of ideas, concepts, research results, images, designs, text or any combination.

Paraphrasing with minor changes but maintaining essential meaning, form and/or progression of ideas


Review: Common manifestations of plagiarism

Relying on a specific interpretation that is not one’s own, without identifying whose idea/interpretation it is.

Cutting or pasting statements from multiple sources and/or piecing together work of others, and representing as original work, without own contribution/voice.

Source: University of Melbourneacademichonesty.unimelb.edu.au


Why does it happen? An intentional attempt to imply originality? Unintentional?

Lack of analytical skills, therefore unable to find your own voice?

Lack of language/writing skills?Ignorance of academic referencing

conventions?Sloppy note taking?


When does plagiarism require serious action?

When it occurs in a scholarly work and/or refereed, published work

When it makes or implies a claim of originality throughNot taking attribution seriously, don’t bother Deliberate attempts to hide the origin of

materials When it involves taking a large amount, or

significant parts of one or more work. (Clarke, 2005. p.19)


Basic Tips

Google Purdue OWL (online writing lab) and APA Style

Systematic note taking/writing○ to distinguish between your ideas/wording

from others from the startProper documentation keeping with style

manual/style sheet from the start ○ In text citation○ Reference/bibliographic entry


End

Nothing gives an author so much pleasure as to find his works respectfully quoted by other learned authors.

Benjamin Franklin