Plagiarism Workbook 2014 www.plagiarismchecker.net [607210]

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Plagiarism
1. What is plagiarism?
Activity : Can you come up with a simple definition of plagiarism?

Discussio n
Here are some dictionary definitions of plagiarism:
“The practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own ” –
oxford dictionaries.com
“to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's
production) without crediting the source ” – merriam -webster.com
“an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author
without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by no t
crediting the original author ” – dictionary. reference.com

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2. Who plagiarises?
Activity : Find Wikipedia ’s list of plagiarism in cidents – what kind of people commit plagiarism?

Discussion
Plagiarism is often associated with students but it is far more widespread. Authors of books,
professors completing their PhD, musicians, au thors of journals, politicians – the list of plagiarisers is
endless.

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3. Plagiarism vs lack of originality
Activity : Is there a difference between plagiaris m and a lack of originality? Can you think of
examples of works that lack orig inality but are not plagiarised – and vice versa? You may want to
retur n to this question at the end of the workbook.

Discussion
The term ‘original ’ is used quite loosely – for example, how many times have y ou heard a new song
and thought , ‘that’s nothing new ’ ‘that’s not original ’. Of course, you ’re not suggesting it ’s
plagiarised – just that it has nothing distinct about it.
However, lack of originality can sometimes amount to plagiarism. For example, if you find a journal
that answers your exact essay question and paraphrase all of it, your w ork will certainly have a lack
of originality and be plagiarised – even if you provide a reference.
Both plagiarism and lack of originality are to be avoided – both have negative cons equences in an
academic se tting, whether this is low marks or disciplinary action.

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4. Types of plagiarism
A lot of the time, it will be clear whether something is plagiarism or not. But sometimes, it is open
for debate.
Activity : Complete the grid – is this plagiarism?
YES NO
1 Including another ’s exact words in your work , without giving any credit.
2 Using a quotation, without giving credit.
3 Taking another ’s words and c hanging them around so they aren ’t like -for-
like, without giving any credit.
4 Explaining someone els e’s idea in your own words, without giving credit .
5 Including another ’s exact words or paraphrasing in your work and giving
credit – where a large proportion of your final work is made up of the other
person ’s words.
6 Using another ’s words or ideas and g iving the wrong information about the
source of the words or ideas.
7 Reusing your own w ords or ideas from an earlier piece of work that you
handed in.
8 Taking someone ’s words or artwork and making a version of them that
means something different, even the opposite to that of the original. For
example, one graphic on the Inte rnet has turned “McDonalds – I’m loving it ”
into “Weight – I’m gaining it ”.
9 Borrowing and ‘retooling ’ an idea or concept – for example, as Quentin
Tarentino does in many of his films.
10 Using someone else ’s ideas because you forge t that you saw or read them
elsewhere and assume them to be your o wn.
11 Creating a pi ece of work that shapes the meaning of another piece of work,
such as retelling a Shakespeare play to make it more understandable or to
put it in a modern context .

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Discussion:
1, 2, 3, 4: Most people would agree that these are plagiarism.
5: This s hows a lack of originality an d could be viewed as plagiarism , especially if your
entire essay is a rework of one or two sources . Even if you include many sources
(with appropriate credit), you will earn very few marks if you fail to include enough
of your own thoughts and reasoning . Remember that t he idea of quoting or using
sources is to support your own analysis and arguments – not to form the entire basis
of your work .
6: It is a matter of opinion whether Number 6 is plagiarism – this often happens where
a student adds extra references to their essay that they found cited in a source that
they do own, where they have never actually read those extra references . There is a
correct way to include such extra references though – you can write e.g. ‘Smith
(1999) cited in….[t he source that you do have]‘ and this is acceptable.
7: This is called self-plagia rism – you can’t rehash previous work , on either a
professional or academic level, but you can refer to it as long as you make the
relationship between the old work and current work clear.
8: This is called ‘détournement ’ (French for ‘rerouting ’ or ‘hijacking ’) but arguably also
plagiarism .
9: This is called ‘homage ’ but w hether it also constitutes plagiarism will likely depend
on whether credit is given – Tarentino, for example, uses homage ext ensively but
always gives credit .
10: This is called ‘cryptomnesia ’ (meaning ‘hidden m emory ’). It is plagiarism, albeit
unintentional.
11. This is called inte rtextuality. It can be considered plagiarism – for example, the poem
collection Estación de infierno (2 001) by Spanish writer Lucía Etxebarria was found
to contain metaphors and verses from Antonio Colinas . Etxebarria claimed that she
admired him and applied intertextuality . There are however plenty of examples
where intertextuality is not considered to be plagiarism. For example:
 The Dead Fa thers Club (2006) by Matt Haig is a retelling of Shakespeare's
Hamlet, set in modern England.
 A Thousand Acres (1991) by J ane Smiley is a retelling of Shakespeare's King
Lear, set in rural Iowa.
Activity : Can you find any famous cases or examples of détournement , homage and cryptomnesia
on the web?

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5. Does intent matter?
Activity : Do you think it matters whether the plagiarism was intentional or not? Does your answer
change depending on whether it is an academic or professional/commercial setting?

Discussion:
In an academic setting, there is certainly a difference between intention al and unintentional
plagiarism:
Intentional plagiarism includes rewriting books/journals or w eb pages and deliberately
concealing the original source, or buying essays that others have written for you to use in
full or part.
Unintentional pla giarism includes poor referencing because the student doesn ’t know how
to reference properly, poor paraphras ing because of not knowing how this is done, and
thinking that something is 'common knowledge' .
In a professional setting, the fact that plagiarism was unintentional is not seen as a valid defence to a
charge of plagiarism (i.e. copyright infringement) . For example , in the US in 1976, former Beatle
George Harrison was sued for copyright infringement by the publishers of “He’s So Fine,” a song
writt en in 1962 by Ronald Mack. The C ourt found that Ha rrison’s song “My Sweet Lord” borrowed
substantially from “He’s So Fine,” and held Harrison liable for damages despite Harrison’s claim that
the plagiarism was unknowing and unintentional.

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6. Is everything really plagiarised?
Activity : Some people argue that everything these days is plagiarised and that there is no such thing
as original thought . People often use this argument to defend themselves when accused of
plagiarism ! What do you think?

Discussion:
Here are some thoughts on this topic that may help you decide:
Indeed, literature always contains something borrowed : every author is also a reader.
Everything I read and perceive in my everyday lif e flows through me and comes out in my
writing at so me point. – Roland Koch, professor for creativ e writing at Siegen University.
Orig inali ty doesn't exist anymore, only genuineness. – Helene Hegemann , author of “Axolotl
Roadkill"
I didn't just copy this stuff. It's not about plagiarism but intertextuality. Very many artists use
this technique … by organically including parts in my text, I am entering i nto a dialogue with
the author. – Helene Hegemann , as above
I don't think there are any ideas in this world, w hich are not build on other ideas. I think
everybody copies and i n fact copying is how we learn … There is only one thing I call
plagiarism and that is not naming your sources. – Céline Keller , Motion G raphic Designer /
Animator / Illustrator
You can search ‘is everything plagiarised ’ on Google, for many more articles and discussions on this
topic.

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7. Avoiding plagiarism
Generally, if you reference properly, you won ’t be accused of plagiarism . You need to check with
your university or institution which referencing style they would like you to use for the course you
are on. The most common styles are Harvard, Oxford/OSCOLA and APA – but th ere are many
versions of Harva rd and quite a few universities have their own ‘house style ’ which is a version of a
popular style.
Don’t forget that if you rely too heavily on other peoples ’ work, even if you give cred it, this shows a
lack of originality. This can be very easy to do in some types of assignment.
Activity : Find out which referencing style is required f or your particular course. Where can you find
more information about how to reference in that style?

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8. Tricky assignment s
Sometimes you will be asked to write an ‘annotated bibliography ’, a ‘literature review ’ or an
‘abstract ’.
Annotated bibliography : this is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each
citation is f ollowed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative
paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the
relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. The key is to evaluate, not regurgitate.
Literature review: new research builds on the findings of previous experiments and
investigations. A literature review shows t hat you u nderstand the previou s research,
showing how your work fits with what has gone before and putting it into context. The key
Is to critically analyse, not regurgitate.
Abstract: An abstract is a concise and clear summary of w hat you set out to do in your work
and why , how you did it and w hat you found with recommendations. It is like a mini version
of your work. The key is to summarise, not regurg itate.
Activity : What differences can you identify between these three typ es of assignment?
Discussion
Many students faced with a literature review or annotated bibliograph y find themselves confused as
to what is asked of them and end up simply paraphrasing the sou rces they have found. This shows a
lack of originality and w ill earn you very little credit – it may even lead to an accusation of plagiarism
if effectively you have just changed words around. An annotated bibliography is a selection of
sources on a particular topic, which need to be evaluated . A literature review , often contained
within a dissertation/thesis, looks at previou s research on a topic and fits the current research into
context. An abstract is a concise summary of a source, but needs to be original , not a copy of parts of
the work.
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