ELS – Writing

Lecture 1
 What is plagiarism?
– taking another person’s ideas and pretending
they are yours
– a type of intellectual theft
– the result of ignorance or deliberate intention

Plagiarism has serious consequences

Plagiarism
How Does Plagiarism Happen?
• Plagiarism happens for a number of reasons
- one is because some students decide consciously to gain credit for
the work of others. However, most incidents of plagiarism are not
the product of deliberate cheating but of underdeveloped academic
skills.

• Plagiarism, in these cases, is a consequence of a lack skills needed

to be successful in a learning environment. If you develop these
skills, your chances of being accused of plagiarism will be greatly
reduced
 How to avoid plagiarism?

- Citation

- Quotation

What’s the difference?

 Citation? & Quotation?

• citation: when you use the idea of the author

You refer to particular resource. For example, you read a paragraph
or a chapter from a or book journal and write it with your own
words. 

• quotation: when you use the exact words of the author

You write the paragraph from a particular resource word for word.

but
in either case, you have to refer to the author
 Citation vs. Quotation
• Examples:

CITATION:
The author explained clearly in his text that the reason why
flowers aren’t pretty is because they remind them of her
(Unknown author, unknown year)

QUOTATION:
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to
keep and miles to go before I sleep and miles to go before I sleep”
(Frost 1922)
 Why is it wrong to plagiarise?

Plagiarism is unethical for three reasons:

• Firstly, it is unethical because it is a form of theft. By taking the

ideas and words of others and pretending they are your own, you
are stealing someone else’s intellectual property.

• Secondly, it is unethical because the plagiariser subsequently

benefits from this theft.

• Thirdly, a degree is evidence of its holder’s abilities and knowledge.

If a student gains employment on the basis of a qualification they
have not earned, they may be a risk to others.
Examples of plagiarism

Using the same or very similar words to the

original text or idea without acknowledging
the source or using quotation marks. This
includes copying materials, ideas or concepts
from a book, article, report or other written
Copying document, presentation, composition,
artwork, design, drawing, computer program
or software, website, internet, other
electronic resource, or another person's
assignment without appropriate
acknowledgement.
 Changing a few words and phrases while
mostly retaining the original structure
and/or progression of ideas of the
original, and information without
acknowledgement.
Inappropriate
paraphrasing This also applies in presentations where
someone paraphrases another’s ideas or
words without credit and to piecing
together quotes and paraphrases into a
new whole, without appropriate
referencing.
1
Presenting work as independent work when it has
been produced in whole or part in collusion with
other people.
Collusion includes:
•students providing their work to another student
before the due date, or for the purpose of them
Collusion plagiarising at any time
•paying another person to perform an academic
task and passing it off as your own
•stealing or acquiring another person’s academic
work and copying it
•offering to complete another person’s work or
seeking payment for completing academic work.
 Citing sources which have not been read
Inappropriate without acknowledging the 'secondary'
citation source from which knowledge of them has
been obtained.
 ‘Self-plagiarism’ occurs where an author
republishes their own previously written work
and presents it as new findings without
referencing the earlier work, either in its
entirety or partially.
Self- Self-plagiarism is also referred to as 'recycling',
plagiarism 'duplication', or 'multiple submissions of
research findings' without disclosure. In the
student context, self-plagiarism includes re-
using parts of, or all of, a body of work that has
already been submitted for assessment without
proper citation.
 • Did the student plagiarize?  Pick the statement below that best describes
what the student did.

1) The student did not plagiarize because

• the writing is in the student's words

• the source is included in the Works Cited

2) This is plagiarism because

• the source is not included in the Works Cited

3) This is plagiarism because

• the quote is not in quotations marks

4) This is plagiarism because

• the student just changed some words

• Did the student plagiarize?  Pick the statement below that best describes
what the student did.

1) The student did not plagiarize because

• the writing is in the student's own words

• the source is included in the Works Cited

2) This is plagiarism because

• the student used a quote and didn't put it in quotation marks

3) This is plagiarism because

• the source in not included in the Works Cited

4) This is plagiarism because

• the student just changed a few words

• Did the student plagiarize?  Pick the statement below that best
describes what the student did.

• The student did not plagiarize because

• the writing is in the student's own words

• the source is included in the Works Cited

• This is plagiarism because

• the student just changed a few words

• This is plagiarism because

• the source is not included in the Works Cited

• This is plagiarism because

• the student used a quote that is not in quotation marks

• Did the student plagiarize?  Pick the statement below that best describes
what the student did.

• The student did not plagiarize because

• the writing is in the student's own words

• the source is included in the Works Cited

• This is plagiarism because

• the student used a quote and did not put it in quotation marks

• This is plagiarism because

• the student just changed a few words

• This is plagiarism because

• the source is not included in the Works Cited

• Did the student plagiarize?  Pick the statement below that best
describes what the student did.

• The student did not plagiarize because

• the student's writing is in his/her own words

• the source is included in the Works Cited

• This is plagiarism because

• the source is not included in the Works Cited

• This is plagiarism because

• the student just changed a few words

• This is plagiarism because

• the student used a quote and didn't put it in quotation marks

• Did the student plagiarize?  Pick the statement below that best describes
what the student did.

• The student did not plagiarize because

• the writing is in the student's own words

• the source is included in the Works Cited

• This is plagiarism because

• the source in not included in the Works Cited

• This is plagiarism because

• the student just changed some words

• This is plagiarism because

• the student quoted the original text and didn't put the words in quotation marks.
• Did the student plagiarize?  Pick the statement below that best
describes what the student did.

• The student did not plagiarize because

• the writing is in the student's own words

• the source is included in the Works Cited

• This is plagiarism because

• the student just changed a few words

• This is plagiarism because

• the source is not included in the Works Cited

• This is plagiarism because

• the student quoted text and did not put the words in quotation marks