LAW 1232

LEGAL METHODS,
RESEARCH AND WRITING II
2022-2023
WELCOME to LMRW II!

Website:
Course Director: Dr. Antonius R. https://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/Law
Hippolyte /faculty-staff/dr-antonius-r-
hippolyte.aspx

Email:
Office hours: Mondays and
antonius.hippolyte@cavehill.uwi.e
Wednesdays 3-4 PM
du

Phone: 1 246 417 4226

2
PLAGIARISM
Academic Integrity
 • Academic Integrity refers to the:
• honest and
• responsible
pursuit of scholarship and learning.

• Academic Integrity is an essential value of any university community

• Both the work and the reputation of the university are dependent on
the maintenance of high standards of academic integrity.

What is • What do I mean by that?

• The University’s reputation is fundamental in its ability to attract students and academics

Academic
• Its ability to commercialize the research it produces depends on the integrity of its research
• Its ability to attract research grant funding is dependent on the integrity of its research
• The accreditation of the university is dependent on it being able to demonstrate academic integrity

Integrity?
• The recognition of its degrees is dependent on it being able to maintain its integrity

• This trickles down to the student who shares in the responsibility to

uphold the university’s academic values.

(The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus Sidney Martin
Library, ‘Academic Integrity: The Hallmark of a Successful Academic &
Professional Career’ [Online] Available from:
<https://slideplayer.com/slide/10222456/> Accessed 23rd January 2022.)
What is your Responsibility?
As a student you need to ensure that:

• As a key stakeholder, the University continues to be regarded

as an institution whose reputation is built on the integrity of
the work produced by the members of its community.

• The degree you earn at the end of the process is a testament

to honest effort and genuine learning.

• You are fully conversant with the academic policy of the

University regarding PLAGIARISM.
Plagiarism!
What is Plagiarism

• The first attempt to address plagiarism was:

• in 1992 in the USA by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI)

• then in 1997 in the UK by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

• Both these organisations gave guidelines for research, scientific

integrity and a set of principles to detect and present plagiarism.
 What is Plagiarism?

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, to "plagiarize" means:

• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own and not
credit the source
• ie the persons from whom the idea or words originated
• to use (another's production) without crediting the source
• to commit literary theft (of particular importance to students)
• to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing
source.
• ‘Plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else’s work and
lying about it afterward.

Plagiarism.org, ‘What is Plagiarism?’ (18th May 2017) [Online] Available from: <
https://www.plagiarism.org/article/what-is-plagiarism > Accessed on 12th
February 2021
What is Plagiarism?
According to Oxford University:

• plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without
their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement.

• All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or

electronic form, is covered under this definition.

• Plagiarism may be intentional or reckless, or unintentional”.-

Oxford University ‘Plagiarism’ [Online] Available

from:<https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism>Acces
sed on 12th February 2021.
 What is Plagiarism?
• Plagiarism is defined as “The unacknowledged and unjustified use of words, ideas or creations of
another, including unacknowledged quotation and unjustified unattributed borrowing...”
(University Regulations on Plagiarism (First Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates) (The University of
the West Indies Cave Hill Campus)

• The principal categories of unacknowledged use are:

• unacknowledged quotation, which is failure to credit quotations of another person’s spoken or written words;
and
• unattributed borrowing, which is failure to credit another person’s ideas, opinions, theories, graphs or diagrams.
• Unattributed borrowing also includes the failure to credit another person’s work when
paraphrasing from that work. – Reference!
• Cosmetic paraphrasing is also plagiarism. This occurs when, even with acknowledgment, the words
are so close to the original that what is deemed to have been paraphrased is, in fact a modified
quote, but is not presented as such. - You still need to make it clear it is a quote and reference.
• A more technical form of plagiarism is wrongly attributed borrowing, where one does not
acknowledge the work from which one obtained an idea, but quotes, instead, the original source
without having read it. This may well convey a broader research effort than that actually expended
and may perpetuate misinterpretation.  - If you have not read the original work DO NOT CITE IT!
• University of the West Indies St.Augustine Campus, ‘Policy for Staff and Students for Plagarism’
(2010)
Forms of Plagiarism
 Verbatim (word for word) quotation
without clear acknowledgement

• This is an extreme but common form of plagiarism!

• Quotes MUST always be identified as such by the use of either quotation

marks (“”) or indentation, and with full referencing of the sources cited.

• It MUST always be apparent to the reader which parts are your own
independent work and where you have drawn on someone else’s ideas and
language.
Cutting and Pasting from the Internet
• Information derived from the Internet must be adequately referenced and
included in the bibliography.

• it is FUNDAMENTAL that you include a bibliography at the end of your weekly

tutorial prep tasks and the end of semester research assignment

• It is important to evaluate carefully all material found on the Internet, as it is

less likely to have been through the same process of scholarly peer review as
published sources.
• No Wikipedia
• No Lawteacher
• Please note that Turnitin flags these sources
Paraphrasing
• Paraphrasing the work of others by altering a few words and changing their order,
or by closely following the structure of their argument, is plagiarism if you do not
give due acknowledgement to the author whose work you are using.- Reference!

• A passing reference to the original author in your own text may not be enough;
you must ensure that you do not create the misleading impression that the
paraphrased wording or the sequence of ideas are entirely your own.

• It is better to write a brief summary of the author’s overall argument in your own
words, indicating that you are doing so, than to paraphrase particular sections of
his or her writing.

• This will ensure you have a genuine grasp of the argument and will avoid the
difficulty of paraphrasing without plagiarising.

• You must also properly attribute all material you derive from lectures.
• Name of lecturer, topic, course name and code, year, institution
 Collusion
• This can involve:
• unauthorized collaboration between students,

• failure to attribute assistance received, or

• failure to follow precisely regulations on group work projects.

• It is your responsibility as a student to:

• ensure that you are entirely clear about the extent of collaboration permitted, and
•
• which parts of the work must be your own.
Inaccurate Citations
• It is important to cite correctly, according to the conventions of your
discipline. In your case this is OSCOLA!

• In addition to listing your sources (i.e. in a bibliography), you must indicate,

using a footnote, where your research comes from.

• Additionally, you should not include anything in your references or

bibliography that you have not actually consulted.

• If you cannot gain access to a primary source, you must make it clear in your
citation that your knowledge of the work has been derived from a secondary
text
Failure to acknowledge assistance
• You must clearly acknowledge all assistance which has contributed to the
production of your work, such as:
• advice from fellow students,
• laboratory technicians, and
• other external sources.

• This need not apply to:

• the assistance provided by your tutor or supervisor
• or to ordinary proofreading,

• However, it is necessary to acknowledge other guidance which leads to

substantive changes of content or approach.
 Use of material written by professional agencies or
other persons
• You should neither make use of professional agencies in the production of your
work nor submit material which has been written for you even with the consent
of the person who has written it.
• For instance Law Teacher!

• It is vital to your intellectual training and development that you should undertake
the research process unaided.
 Auto-plagiarism

• You MUST NOT submit work for assessment that you have already
submitted (partially or in full), either for your current course or for
another qualification.

• Where earlier work by you is citable, ie. it has already been published,
you must reference it clearly. 

• Identical pieces of work submitted concurrently will also be considered

to be auto-plagiarism.
In a Nutshell

You plagiarize when you:

• Rewrite information from books, articles, documents etc. without
giving credit
• Copy and paste from web pages and online sources to create
‘patchwork’ writing
• Buy, download or borrow a paper
• Recycle an old paper also known as self plagiarism
 Plagiarism: Why Does it Matter?

• Plagiarism is a breach of academic integrity.

• It is a principle of intellectual honesty which all members of the academic
community should acknowledge their debt to the originators of the ideas,
words, and data which form the basis for their own work.
• Passing off another’s work as your own is not only poor scholarship, but also
means that you have failed to complete the learning process.
• Plagiarism is unethical and can have serious consequences for your future
career; it also undermines the standards of your institution and of the degrees
it issues.
Consequences of
Plagiarism
 Destroys Student’s Reputation

• Plagiarism allegations can cause a student to be suspended or expelled.

• Their academic record can reflect the ethics offense, possibly causing the
student to be barred from entering college from high school or another
college.

• Schools, colleges, and universities take plagiarism very seriously.

• Many schools suspend students for their first violation. Students are usually
expelled for further offences.
Destroy’s Professionals Reputation

• A professional business person, politician, or public figure may find

that the damage from plagiarism follows them for their entire career.
• Not only will they likely be fired or asked to step down from their
present position, but they will surely find it difficult to obtain another
respectable job.
• Depending on the offense and the plagiarist’s public stature, his or
her name may be ruined, making any kind of meaningful career
impossible.
 Destroy’s Academic Reputation

• The consequences of plagiarism have been widely reported in the world of

academia.

• Once scarred with plagiarism allegations, an academic’s career can be ruined.

• Publishing is an integral part of a prestigious academic career.

• To lose the ability to publish most likely means the end of an academic
position and a destroyed reputation.
Legal Repercussions

• The legal repercussions of plagiarism can be quite serious. Copyright laws are
absolute.
• One cannot use another person’s material without citation and reference.
• An author has the right to sue a plagiarist. Some plagiarism may also be
deemed a criminal offense, possibly leading to a prison sentence.
• Those who write for a living, such as journalists or authors, are particularly
susceptible to plagiarism issues.
• Those who write frequently must be ever-vigilant not to err. Writers are well-
aware of copyright laws and ways to avoid plagiarism.
• As a professional writer, to plagiarize is a serious ethical and perhaps legal
issue.
 Monetary Repercussions
• Many recent news reports and articles have exposed plagiarism by journalists,
authors, public figures, and researchers.
• In the case where an author sues a plagiarist, the author may be granted
monetary restitution.
• In the case where a journalist works for a magazine, newspaper or other
publisher, or even if a student is found plagiarizing in school, the offending
plagiarist could have to pay monetary penalties.
How to Avoid Plagiarism

• Plagiarism is a common but avoidable malpractice prevalent in the

world.

• It affects all from students to senior teachers and from developing to

developed countries.
How to Avoid Plagiarism?

• By using proper documentation methods in your academic writing.

What is Documentation?

it is how you explain where you got the information you

used in your paper.

• As a university student documentation will therefore be

an essential component of every academic paper you are
required to produce.
Why does documentation matter?

Documentation enables you to –

• Distinguish your original ideas from borrowed ideas

• Help readers to locate information for further research

• Add authority and context to your own writing

• Acknowledge the work of others

• Avoid committing plagiarism

When do you need to Document?

• Use of someone’s ideas, opinions or theory irrespective of the

medium of the content.

• Use of information gained from interviewing someone or from an

interview whether you use their exact words or paraphrase.

• Use of statistics, graphs, charts, diagrams or any form of visual

whether obtained from a printed source or electronic source.
When don’t you need to Document?

• Writing of your own experiences, observations, insights, thoughts or

conclusions about a subject.

• Use of “common knowledge”- facts which can be found in numerous

places i.e. you can find the same information undocumented in at
least five sources; you think it is information that readers already
know; or a person can easily find the same information using general
reference sources.

• Write up of your own experimental results.

How Do You Document?

• In-text citation i.e. footnotes and endnotes - provide a brief

reference of the source found at the end of your paper. It is a quick
way to let readers know that you have used outside information.
• Reference or Works Cited List - provides complete bibliographic
information for all the sources you cited in-text. Comes at the end of
your paper and is generally organised alphabetically.
If You Fail to Document?

You risk a failing grade and/or expulsion from the University.

Therefore :

• Make sure you know how to document correctly using the

documentation style of your respective faculty.

• Make it a habit to practice documenting as a normal course of your

daily routine when you conduct research in addition to writing.

• Make sure you are fully conversant with The UWI’s policy on
Plagiarism.
How to Avoid Plagiarism In a Nutshell:

• The best way of avoiding plagiarism is to learn and employ the principles of good
academic practice from the beginning of your university career.
• Avoiding plagiarism is not simply a matter of making sure your references are all
correct or changing enough words so the examiner will not notice your
paraphrase.
• It is about deploying your academic skills to make your work as good as it can be.
• Strict adherence to academic guidelines and being honest can help to reduce
this burden on the scientific society.
• Proofreading your work
• Giving credit where credit is due
• Citing accurately
• Use a plagiarism checking software e.g. Turnitin
• Severe punishment to the guilty, blacklisting the authors, worldwide notice of
their activity, are some ways to address this problem
What should I reference?

• The necessity to acknowledge others’ work or ideas applies not only

to text, but also to other media, such as:
• computer code,
• illustrations,
• graphs etc.
• It applies equally to published primary sources such as cases and
legislation as well as secondary sources such as texts and data drawn
from books and journals, and to unpublished text and data, whether
from lectures, theses or other students’ essays.
• You must also attribute text, data, or other resources downloaded
from websites.
 References

• Oxford University ‘Plagiarism’ [Online] Available

from:<https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism>Accessed on 12 February
th

2021.
• Plagiarism.org, ‘What is Plagiarism?’ (18 th May 2017) [Online] Available from: <
https://www.plagiarism.org/article/what-is-plagiarism > Accessed on 12 th February 2021
• Ithenticate, ‘6 Consequences of Plagiarism’ [Online]Available
from:<https://www.ithenticate.com/resources/6-consequences-of-plagiarism> Accessed on 12 th
February 2021
• Yam Bahadur Roka ‘Plagiarism: Types, Causes and How to Avoid This Worldwide Problem’ , (2017) 14
Nepal Journal of Neuroscience pp. 2-6
• The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus Sidney Martin Library, ‘Academic Integrity: The Hallmark of
a Successful Academic & Professional Career’ [Online] Available from: <https://slideplayer.com/slide/10222456/>
Accessed 23rd January 2022.