PLAGIARISM:
WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO AVOID IT.
CONTENTS
Plagiarism: Some Examples
Good Practice
How to Avoid Plagiarism
Plagiarism and the Net
A Final Warning
Plagiarism is a much misunderstood concept. In essence, it is about the use of other peoples words and ideas . Simply to quote someone else's work or use their ideas, provided this is acknowledged, is perfectly proper and a normal part of scholarship. Equally, to borrow someone else's words or ideas without acknowledgement constitutes plagiarism even if you are unaware that you are so doing and have no dishonest intention. Most plagiarism by students falls into this latter category and comes from poor note making techniques. The following guidelines are designed to clarify what constitutes plagiarism and to offer some advice on how to avoid it. Since some forms of plagiarism are more blatant than others and there may be grey areas between what one examiner would deem plagiarism and another simply bad practice the guidance here should not be read to constitute a legal definition of the problem. The advice here is solely to help you develop good practice.
An alternative site providing like advice is provided by Princeton University.
The text that follows is taken from a
published source. There follow a series of reworkings that depend to a greater
or lesser degree on this text. Some are acceptable, some are unacceptable or at
least to be avoided.
|
If judicial responsibilities came late to the burgesses of Doncaster, responsibility for maintaining the public fabric of the borough probably dates to at least the late twelfth century. The cost of maintaining the bridge over the Don, known in time as St Mary's bridge from the dedication of the chapel that was built upon it, must have constituted a continual drain on borough resources. The bridge, originally of wood, was probably rebuilt in five arches of stone sometime after 1247 when a special three-year toll on carts using the bridge was granted to 'the good men of Doncaster'. It is likely that the bridge chapel and gate tower were integral to the new structure. Offerings at the chapel would be used to support the bridge. The new bridge was clearly in need of repair by 1279 as forty days' indulgence was granted in that year to those who contributed to its upkeep. A further royal grant of tolls for three years was made in 1311. P.J.P.Goldberg, 'From Conquest to Corporation', in B.Barber, ed., Doncaster: A Borough and its Charters (Doncaster, 1994), p. 53 |
The following reworkings of this text would
be UNACCEPTABLE:
|
If judicial responsibilities came late to the burgesses of Doncaster, responsibility for maintaining the public fabric of the borough probably dates to at least the late twelfth century. The cost of maintaining the bridge over the Don, known in time as St Mary's bridge from the dedication of the chapel that was built upon it, must have constituted a continual drain on borough resources. The bridge, originally of wood, was probably rebuilt in five arches of stone sometime after 1247 when a special three-year toll on carts using the bridge was granted to 'the good men of Doncaster'. It is likely that the bridge chapel and gate tower were integral to the new structure. Offerings at the chapel would be used to support the bridge. The new bridge was clearly in need of repair by 1279 as forty days' indulgence was granted in that year to those who contributed to its upkeep. A further royal grant of tolls for three years was made in 1311. |
Reasons:
|
Goldberg argues that if judicial responsibilities came late to the burgesses of Doncaster, responsibility for maintaining the public fabric of the borough probably dates to at least the late twelfth century. The cost of maintaining the bridge over the Don, known in time as St Mary's bridge from the dedication of the chapel that was built upon it, must have constituted a continual drain on borough resources. The bridge, originally of wood, was probably rebuilt in five arches of stone sometime after 1247 when a special three-year toll on carts using the bridge was granted to 'the good men of Doncaster'. It is likely that the bridge chapel and gate tower were integral to the new structure. Offerings at the chapel would be used to support the bridge. The new bridge was clearly in need of repair by 1279 as forty days' indulgence was granted in that year to those who contributed to its upkeep. A further royal grant of tolls for three years was made in 1311. |
Reason:
|
If judicial responsibilities came late to the burgesses of Doncaster, responsibility for maintaining the public fabric of the borough probably dates to at least the late twelfth century. The cost of maintaining the bridge over the Don, known in time as St Mary's bridge from the dedication of the chapel that was built upon it, must have constituted a continual drain on borough resources. The bridge, originally of wood, was probably rebuilt in five arches of stone sometime after 1247 when a special three-year toll on carts using the bridge was granted to 'the good men of Doncaster'. It is likely that the bridge chapel and gate tower were integral to the new structure. Offerings at the chapel would be used to support the bridge. The new bridge was clearly in need of repair by 1279 as forty days' indulgence was granted in that year to those who contributed to its upkeep. A further royal grant of tolls for three years was made in 1311.1 1. Goldberg in Barber, ed., Doncaster: A Borough and its Charters, p. 53 |
Reason:
In the following examples
changes to the original text are marked in red.
|
Judicial responsibilities came late to the burgesses of Doncaster and responsibility for maintaining the public fabric of the borough probably dates to at least the late twelfth century. The cost of supporting the bridge over the Don, known in time as St Mary's bridge from the dedication of the chapel that was built upon it, must have been a continual drain on borough finances. The bridge, originally of wood, was probably rebuilt in five arches of stone sometime after 1247 when a special three-year toll on carts using the bridge was granted to 'the good men of Doncaster'. It is likely that the bridge chapel and gate tower were integral to the new structure. Offerings at the chapel were used to support the bridge. The new bridge was clearly in need of repair by 1279 as forty days' indulgence was granted in that year to those who gave to its upkeep. A further royal grant of tolls for three years was made in 1311. |
Reasons:
|
Responsibility for maintaining the fabric of Doncaster probably dates to the late twelfth century. The cost of maintaining St Mary's bridge over the Don must have constituted a steady drain on borough resources. The wooden bridge was rebuilt in five arches of stone after 1247. The bridge chapel and gate tower were part of the new structure. Offerings at the chapel were used to support the bridge. The new bridge needed repair by 1279 and in 1311. |
Reasons:
|
The cost of supporting the bridge over the Don must have been a continual drain on borough finances. The bridge, originally of wood, was probably rebuilt in five arches of stone sometime after 1247 when a special three-year toll on carts using the bridge was granted to 'the good men of Doncaster'. Offerings at the chapel, dedicated to St Mary, were used to support the bridge. The new bridge was clearly in need of repair by 1279 as forty days' indulgence was granted in that year to those who gave to its upkeep. A further royal grant of tolls for three years was made in 1311. (Goldberg) |
|
Goldberg argues that responsibility for maintaining the fabric of Doncaster probably dates to the late twelfth century. The cost of maintaining St Mary's bridge over the Don must have constituted a steady drain on borough resources. The wooden bridge was rebuilt in five arches of stone after 1247. The bridge chapel and gate tower were part of the new structure. Offerings at the chapel were used to support the bridge. The new bridge needed repair by 1279 and in 1311. |
Reason:
These two last examples might
not necessarily be considered to be plagiarised in so far as there is little or
no attempt to present the ideas as the student's own and equally some attempt
has been made to rework the material, but the words used are still highly dependent on the original text. Such work would not be regarded with any favour by
an examiner and would normally result in the deduction of marks. (The second
example is more acceptable than the first.)
The following examples illustrate acceptable
ways of using the original text.
|
'If judicial responsibilities came late to the burgesses of Doncaster, responsibility for maintaining the public fabric of the borough probably dates to at least the late twelfth century. The cost of maintaining the bridge over the Don, known in time as St Mary's bridge from the dedication of the chapel that was built upon it, must have constituted a continual drain on borough resources. The bridge, originally of wood, was probably rebuilt in five arches of stone sometime after 1247 when a special three-year toll on carts using the bridge was granted to "the good men of Doncaster". It is likely that the bridge chapel and gate tower were integral to the new structure. Offerings at the chapel would be used to support the bridge. The new bridge was clearly in need of repair by 1279 as forty days' indulgence was granted in that year to those who contributed to its upkeep. A further royal grant of tolls for three years was made in 1311.'1 1. P.J.P.Goldberg, 'From Conquest to Corporation', in B.Barber, ed., Doncaster: A Borough and its Charters (Doncaster, 1994), p. 53 |
Reason:
In practice it is very
unusual to quote secondary writing at such length. An essay containing numbers
of lengthy quotations from secondary writers would normally be marked down.
This is not because there is anything dishonest about such work, but rather
because the student's own understanding of issues would not be apparent. In
general, avoid lengthy
quotations from secondary literature.
|
Goldberg argues that 'if judicial responsibilities came late to the burgesses of Doncaster, responsibility for maintaining the public fabric of the borough probably dates to at least the late twelfth century'. He goes on to argue that the expense of maintaining the bridge was burdensome. The earlier wooden bridge 'was probably rebuilt in five arches of stone sometime after 1247' since 'a special three-year toll on carts using the bridge was granted to "the good men of Doncaster"'. There is evidence that repairs were needed to the new structure in 1279 and 1311. |
Reason:
Note that not all tutors like frequent use of even short
quotations from secondary writers and would prefer students to use their own
words wherever reasonable.
|
Goldberg argues that the burgesses of Doncaster were spending money on public buildings by the late twelfth century. He suggests that the expense of maintaining the bridge was burdensome. An earlier wooden bridge seems to have been replaced by a stone structure by the middle of the thirteenth century. There is evidence that repairs were needed to the new structure in the subsequent half century. |
Reason:
This last example could be said to represent best practice where the purpose is to communicate another's research findings or interpretations, but to do so in a way that is entirely honest and clearly demonstrates the student's own understanding of the material.
It is not always necessary to indicate the
source from which material has been derived other than in a bibliography. This
is especially true of tutorial essays, but less true of dissertations. The
following example illustrates the point.
|
The need to build and maintain bridges sometimes brought leading townsmen together and so acted as a stimulus towards collective identity and self government. In 1247, for example, the king granted 'the good men of Doncaster' a toll on traffic specifically to help with the cost of the bridge there. |
The example used here comes from Goldberg's
chapter, but the information is purely factual, deriving ultimately from the
Patent Rolls, and does not represent Goldberg's ideas as such. In a
dissertation, however, the expectation would still be for this piece of
evidence to be referenced. The proper reference would be to Goldberg and not to
the Calendar of Patent Rolls unless the student had checked the
reference, in which case it would be appropriate to cite both. (If in doubt,
cite your source!)
Most plagiarism found in students' work is the product of poor working practice rather than wilful dishonesty. The most common reason for the problem arising is poor note taking methods. Some students make very extensive and detailed notes when reading and then draw from this material verbatim when compiling essays. The result is that substantial parts of the texts read can be transferred barely changed into an essay.
Some advice:
If you make very extensive notes, you need to think carefully why you are doing this. Sometimes students write out parts of a text simply because they do not fully understand it. Writing it out verbatim will not help you to understand the text. Moreover, if you are busy making extensive notes it can become hard to keep sight of the underlying argument. This last is in fact the most important thing to be gained from any book or article. It is far more important to know that X argues Y than to know 'facts' A, B, C, D, E, F etc. The argument deploys the 'facts', but the 'facts' themselves do not make the argument.
When reading you should try to focus on what is being argued. Use your notes to capture the main line(s) of argument briefly. You can also use your notes to record a few specific examples ('facts') used to make or illustrate particular stages in the broader argument, but do not record 'factual' evidence for the sake of it or because you feel it might be important. If you have grasped the broader argument, you will know what is important and what is not. If you have not grasped the argument, look again at the text, especially the introductory and concluding sections and try not to be distracted by the detail. If you are still unenlightened, cut your losses and try another text. (Article literature can sometimes be particularly helpful in that the first few paragraphs often summarise broader debates.)
You will also get more out of your reading if you are not asking one specific question (the essay question), but rather a number of related questions. For example, the essay question might be 'Was King John a Bad King?' There is a literature on John, Magna Carta etc., but no one has written a book with that title. You might find Holt's Magna Carta on your bibliography, but if you read this with only the question 'how bad a king was John?' in mind, you will get little from it. The art is in opening the question up. Thus you would want to ask questions about the nature of kingship and what different groups in society expected of a king. You would want to distinguish between contemporary perspectives and expectations, which could be quite partisan, and modern historical perspectives. You would want to ask if John's approach to rule changed during the course of his reign. You would need to locate John within a wider context of kingship in the High Middle Ages. You would need to explore the resources of government and kingship. Armed with questions such as these it would then be easier to see that Holt's study reveals something of the very different expectations and ambitions of John as king and his barons as the political elite.
The ever increasing volume of material on the net and the relative ease with which documents can be copied has made plagiarism from the net a big issue in academia. In fact such plagiarism is relatively easy to detect.
Not all material on the net is clearly identified by an author. You should in fact be suspicious of material that is not so identified, but this is not in itself a reason for failing to acknowledge such a source. The usual convention is to provide (where possible) author and title, but in any case the correct URL (web address) and the date the site was consulted. (The web is a rather ephemeral source and sites can change, relocate, or disappear comparatively quickly.)
Although it is perfectly acceptable to print material off from a web site in much same way as you might photocopy an article or some pages from a book, you should be very wary of copying secondary material electronically. To copy material electronically with a view to reworking it in an essay smacks of dishonesty and is very likely to lead to actual plagiarism. It is a practice that should be absolutely avoided.
Note that the quality of material on the web varies enormously. A lot of web pages contain inaccurate and superficial digests of readily accessible scholarship (or worse). There is a danger that in reproducing ideas from internet texts you are unwittingly reproducing other people's unacknowledged scholarship. You should beware of sites of dubious authority. So long as the web site it properly cited, however, you cannot readily be held to have committed plagiarism.
See Guide to Using
Historical Sources on the Internet
If you plagiarise, whether accidentally or knowingly, this constitutes academic misconduct. Where this occurs in assessed work, the university lays down some quite stringent penalties. In the very worst cases students are liable to have their degree lowered by one or more classes or even be failed. To claim to be unaware that one is plagiarising is no defence, even if the claim is credible. It is, therefore, very important to develop good practice from the earliest point in your university career.
Numbers of students plagiarise to some degree for the reasons already noted at an early stage in their career. Tutors will not always spot this since tutors will be reading your work for the structure and clarity of the argument rather than the precise wording used. Do not suppose that because plagiarism has not been spotted once or twice (or even more times) that it will not be spotted the next time. When marking assessed work, tutors will tend to be even more vigilant. (Indeed it sometimes happens that it is only in open examination answers that plagiarism is first detected.) Again, that you have plagiarised before and tutors have failed to spot it is no defence. Students are responsible for their actions and clearly warned that plagiarism is regarded as serious academic misconduct.
Page authored and posted by P.J.P.Goldberg, 2002
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