University of Algiers 2 Research Methodology (L3)

Department of English Ms. Daghi

Plagiarism

Definition:

One of the aims of citing and acknowledging sources is to avoid plagiarism. The latter
refers to presenting a work, ideas and words from other sources as one‟s own by
incorporating them into your own work without full acknowledgement. The university
of Manchester (1997, p. 1) as cited in Bell (1999) defines plagiarism as “the theft or
expropriation of someone else‟s work as if it were one‟s own” and warns that
“plagiarism is a serious academic offence and the consequences are severe”.

Plagiarism can take place in form of using others‟ works as in re-using one‟s own
work without citation. It can be applied on texts and also on other materials such as
computer code, illustrations and graphs. Plagiarism can be applied on either published
texts drawn from books and journals or on unpublished texts and data from lectures,
theses and students‟ essays.

Forms of plagiarism: (from ox.ac.uk)

Verbatim: it is a word for word quotations without acknowledging and giving the
author credit.

Cutting and pasting from the internet without clear acknowledgement.

Paraphrasing the others‟ work by altering few words and changing their order
without acknowledging the source is also regarded as plagiarism.

Inaccurate citation: citing correctly according to the conventions of the research

discipline as well as listing the sources (bibliography) is required. If you fail to achieve
them even when unintentionally, it will be regarded as committing plagiarism.

Over-dependence on other sources: to explain this, the University of Manchester

(1997, p.2) as cited in Bell (1999) has stated that it is “… to put together
unacknowledged passages from the same source or from different sources linking
these together with a few words or sentences of your own and changing a few words
from the original text….”.

Plagiarism matters because:

-It is unethical and can have serious consequences (penalties) for the future career.
For this, Bell (1999) used the term „sin‟ to describe plagiarism.
-It is a principle of intellectual honesty.

-Committing plagiarism represents failure to complete the learning process and it is a

sign of poor scholarship.

Why should I avoid plagiarism?

As university students, you have to know how to speak your mind and express your
ideas, you are not supposed to reproduce the opinions of others. It seems to be difficult
at first, but it is necessary to develop your voice and know how to analyse and evaluate
others‟ ideas.

To avoid plagiarism:

-You need to learn how to employ the principles of good academic practices.

-When writing, it is necessary to clearly indicate the quote, the paraphrase and one‟s
own thoughts and ideas.

-Particular attention must be given to the acknowledging sources.

-Follow the updated version of the guidelines on plagiarism (Bell, 1999).

So, since plagiarism is a severe matter, you will ask yourself if you should cite.

The answer is; you have to cite in your writings because it aims and helps to situate
your writing within the intellectual debates of the discipline. In addition, academic
essays must involve discussions of others‟ materials and with due acknowledgement
and referencing which is distinct from plagiarism.

References:

Bell, J. (1999). Doing Your Research Project. UK, OUP

University of Manchester, (1997). Plagiarism. (mimeo)

https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism