Plagiarism Prevention

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Plagiarism PreventionUCQ Learning Commons



What is plagiarism?



New Definitions:

The incorrect use of source material

The incomplete acknowledgement of words, ideas, information, images or anything else you use from a source



Why avoid plagiarism?

To display your professionalism and honesty

To demonstrate your own abilities

To get good grades and support your academic performance



Several forms of plagiarism

Intentional cheating

Unintentional rule-breaking

Self-plagiarism

Group work



Intentional cheating

Trying to find shortcuts

Presenting someone else’s ideas or words as your own

Deceiving your instructor



Intentional cheating examples

Copy-pasting from the internet

Copying from any other source (print, electronic, audio, video, etc.)

Pretending you wrote something when you did not

Inventing sources or information

Copying a paper, or sections of a paper, from someone else



Preventing intentional cheating

Just don’t do it



Unintentional plagiarism

Do not know all the rules

Forget something or make a mistake

Do not keep track of your sources

Cannot write well so you insert someone else’s “better” writing



Unintentional plagiarism examples

Not using your own words for summaries and paraphrases

Not putting quote marks around source material

Not giving an in-text citation and reference at the end of your paper

Copy-pasting small sections

Copy sections of other writing, but change some of the words



Preventing unintentional plagiarism

Paraphrase, summarize and quote correctly

Include citations after every time you use ideas or words from a source

Proofread you work to make sure you have not missed anything, like “quote marks”

Keep track of your sources

Write as well as you can

Do not use too much source material



Citing source materialEvery single source you use must be cited in your paper and referenced in the bibliography

This includes:Information from books, reports, articles

Class notes and lectures

Any information from any website

Photos, images, movies, songs

Statistics, graphs, charts



Citing exceptionsThere are only two types of information that do not have to be cited:

1. Your own ideasHowever, if you find similar ideas somewhere else, you must

acknowledge them

2. Common knowledge

Not controversial

Found in several sources without a citation

Not the focus of your paper



Why is referencing important?

It makes it clear where the words and ideas in your paper came from

It enables your readers to find and explore the information for themselves

It allows your professor to evaluate your ideas and see which sources you use

It protects your academic integrity by showing that you are honest about where the ideas you present come from



Self-plagiarismExamples:

Handing in the same assignment to more than one instructor

Copying sections of work you have done before into a new assignment

Why it is wrong:

It is dishonest because you have not done the work required for the class



Group work1. When group work is assigned:

All members are responsible for the work submittedIf one person plagiarizes, the whole group can get in trouble

2. When working in unassigned groups:

• The work you hand in may be similar to another student’s

• Both students can get in trouble for it



How do instructors know?Instructors are experts in their field and can often identify the source of certain ideas

Instructors know the abilities of their students, especially in small classes

The quality of your writing varies when you copy-paste sections

They can check with Google or other tools

On a small campus, all instructors talk to each other all the time



What can happen?Even if you do not know the rules you can still get in trouble and lose your good standing at UCQ

There are several possible penalties:

Rewrite the assignment

Fail the assignment

Fail the class

If the problem is significant or persistent, you can be dismissed from the University

All University of Calgary students should know the penalties on the U of C Calendar

http://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/current/k-2.html



Plagiarism Quiz: True or False

1. You can copy information without giving credit to a website if there is no clear author.

2. You can hand in the same assignment to two different instructors because it is your own work.

3. You can use any information from a source as long as you put the reference in the bibliography.

4. Your instructor cannot fail you for plagiarizing.

5. If you do not know the rules, you cannot get in trouble for plagiarizing.



Plagiarism Quiz: True or False

1. False – even if there is no author, you still need to acknowledge the source.

2. False – that is self-plagiarism.

3. False – you also need to give the in-text citation.

4. False – you can fail the paper or the class.

5. False – you can get in trouble whether or not you know the rules.



UCQ Learning Commons Writing Support

Come to the Writing Centre at any stage of the writing process

for help and advice.

In the Learning Commons, or contact Martin at

[email protected]

Plagiarism Prevention

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