Plagiarism

As you saw on the previous pages, plagiarism is both an academic integrity and research integrity issue. Plagiarism is defined as claiming the words and/or ideas of another as their own. This definition does not include intent because intent is not a determining factor in whether or not plagiarism occurred. Plagiarism is more common than you think, and it is on the rise. Plagiarism accounts for 45% of the allegations the Research Integrity Program receives each year. But why?

  • Increasing access to research articles via the internet
  • The ease of use of the copy-and-paste function
  • Mounting pressure to publish frequently and in high-impact journals to achieve tenure and obtain grants
  • Heightened awareness in academia & use of detection tools

Examples of Plagiarism

  • Copying sentences, phrases, or paragraphs exactly as they appear in the original source
  • Copying sentences and putting them in a different order
  • Copying sentences and replacing a few words with synonyms
  • Copying sentences and adding a few of your own
  • Presenting the ideas of others as if they were your own

…without placing copied text in quotation marks and appropriately citing sources.

Consequences of Plagiarism

Plagiarism has serious consequences!

  • redaction of publications
  • expulsion
  • failing a course or assignment
  • disciplinary sanctions—academic or research based

Online resources

One-on-one writing assistance:

 

Three Steps to Avoid Plagiarism

Step 1: Before
As you review the literature, keep careful records of your sources. Citation software such as Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote can be helpful at this stage.

Step 2: During
Avoid copy and paste, use multiple sources to ensure a diversity of content, and keep track of citations.

Step 3: After
Review your manuscript and reference list to ensure that all source citations are included. Consider checking for inadvertent plagiarism using Turnitin or other detection tools.

While this module focuses primarily on authorship and plagiarism, it is important to familiarize yourself with the other types of academic and research integrity issues like falsification and fabrication. Learn more here Links to an external site..