Postgraduate Studies

Study Skills : Plagiarism

A definition of plagiarism, which comes from the Latin word for 'kidnapping', is passing off other people’s work intentionally or unintentionally as your own work for your own benefit.

Plagiarism of any kind is a very serious offence and will be dealt with severely.  From this year it is a requirement that all students in the department must submit an electronic copy of all course work in order that work can be checked for plagiarism.

Since we recognise that there may be a problem for students in understanding exactly what is and what is not permissible, these notes have been prepared for your guidance. There is also part of the Part 1 Study Skills module devoted to assessing and avoiding plagiarism. 

The golden rule is:  ALWAYS ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR SOURCES!

Intentional plagiarism

This occurs if you simply copy chunks out of a textbook or from a website and pass them off as your own composition.  There is nothing to be gained from this; it will always, if detected, count against you, and will normally result in you receiving zero for that piece of work. 

Of course, everyone needs to use books to obtain the factual material for an essay, and nobody is going to object to your doing that.  But it is the way in which you handle this material which counts: how you relate it to other facts, how you base your arguments on it, how you use it to support your own ideas.

You may sometimes find it appropriate to quote from a book or article; in that case, clearly indicate the extent of the quotation by enclosing it in quotation marks, and give the source of the quotation in parenthesis or in a footnote.  Otherwise, material obtained from books or articles should be presented in your own words and integrated into your own treatment of the question.  Note, however, that it is still necessary to indicate the source of such paraphrased material.

Essays on classical subjects will almost invariably require reference to original sources (in translation, if you don't know Latin or Greek).  Here again, quotations or paraphrasing may be used where relevant, and it is equally important to give full and exact references.  Your discussion of the question can then be based on the primary sources; you are not bound to agree with the interpretation of them by your lecturers or by any other scholars, however eminent.  (NOTE - in the case of archaeological, architectural or artistic material, indicate the source of any published plans, diagrams or photographs to which you refer or of which you include copies.)

Inadvertent plagiarism

This may occur if, in the course of note-taking, you copy substantial passages from a book or article into your own notes.  After a lapse of some days, you may have forgotten that the notes were taken verbatim from another writer, and may use them in the composition of an essay.  From the point of view of the tutor reading the essay, this is still plagiarism, even if unintentional.  The way to avoid it is not to make your notes too detailed, and to ensure that they are assimilated in your own words.  A summary of points, with page references to remind you where to find them again, will in any case be a lot more helpful than lengthy copying from the text.

As already mentioned, you should always give, at the end of the essay or dissertation, a full list of books and articles consulted.  This, however, does not absolve you from the necessity to indicate the source of particular references. 

Remember these two golden rules:

• Always acknowledge your sources, even when not quoting directly.  (It is better to over-reference than to under-reference.)
• Always use your own words, except in direct quotation.

Self-Plagiarism

Besides ensuring that all essays you submit are your own work, you must also avoid self-plagiarism.  This means that you must not submit the same piece, or part of a piece, of work (with or without merely stylistic variation) in order to gain credit more than once.  The same criteria apply to self-plagiarism as to other forms of plagiarism, and it is liable to incur the same penalty.

Plagiarism from other students

You must make sure that all coursework is your own.  The same penalty of zero is used for this type of plagiarism.

Penalties

Evidence of any type of plagiarism will normally result in a zero being awarded for a piece of work.  Please note that as soon as plagiarism is found in one piece of coursework, all your work submitted so far that academic year will be checked again for plagiarism.  All teaching staff will also be notified that you have committed plagiarism and you will be required to attend a meeting with the Head of Department to discuss this fully.

If more than 20 credits of work are plagiarised, you will be referred to a University Committee of Enquiry which will consider what penalties to impose.  The University has severe penalties for extensive plagiarism and students have been withdrawn from their studies as a result of plagiarism offences.

If there is something you think should be added or changed in these pages, please contact Errietta Bissa.

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