Plagiarism, So What? University of Montenegro, 7 May 2017

Plagiarism, So What? Dr. Thomas Lancaster Slide 1
Plagiarism, So What?
Dr. Thomas Lancaster
with the Council of Europe
http://www.thomaslancaster.co.uk
University of Montenegro
Monday, 7 May 2018

Presenter Background

Dr. Thomas Lancaster
Computer Science academic by
background
Worked widely around the United Kingdom,
currently teaching at Imperial College
London
International researcher and media
speaker on student plagiarism and
academic integrity

Council of Europe
research project,
including
Montenegro
Regular presenter
on contract
cheating
(students buying
ghost written
essays)
Contributing to
BBC TV news

Presentation Background

Does plagiarism
really matter?
Doesn’t everyone
plagiarise?
Why should I do
anything about
plagiarism?
What are the
alternatives to
plagiarism?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stylized_Mona_Lisa.svg
Sometimes
it’s hard to
be original

About Plagiarism

Taking the words or
ideas of another and
using them without
acknowledgement
Plagiarism

Plagiarism
does not just
include text
music
diagrams
software
websites
lessons

Plagiarism Usually Involves Gain
but
also?

Source Student Essay
Anyone can create a web page and
publish their own ideas on the
Internet. Information you read on the
Internet is not always true. This is the
case with fake news, where people
make up news stories.
Anybody can produce a web page
and put their own content on the
Internet. But not all the information
you see on the Internet is true.
People publish made up information
all the time. This is the case with
fake news.
Plagiarism of Words (simple example)
Can you see why this counts as plagiarism?

Source Student Essay
Anyone can create a web page and
publish their own ideas on the
Internet.
Anybody can produce a web page
and put their own content on the
Internet.
Information you read on the Internet
is not always true.
But not all the information you see on
the Internet is true.
This is the case with fake news,
where people make up news stories.
People publish made up information
all the time. This is the case with
fake news.
Same Ideas – Same Order
Same ideas – same order – but changed words – this still counts as plagiarism

Software can be used to highlight similar text
This can be used to find accidental plagiarism
But it is not completely accurate, for instance where the words
have been changed or rearranged
Need to acknowledge sources when writing, by:
By adding a citation in the text and a reference at the end
By using quotation marks to indicate identical text
Solutions

Main Essay
“Anyone can create a web page and publish their own ideas on the Internet.
Information you read on the Internet is not always true. This is the case with
fake news, where people make up news stories.” (Source Citation)
This means that…
References
The full reference to the Source goes here
Referencing Example Using A Quotation
The reference style will follow a common format, e.g. Harvard Referencing

Main Essay
According to Source Citation, anybody can produce a web page and put
their own content on the Internet. But not all the information you see on the
Internet is true. People publish made up information all the time. This is the
case with fake news.
This means that…
References
The full reference to the Source goes here
Referencing Example Rewriting The Source

You can find appropriate information
You respect the source of that information
You have thought about how to construct an argument
You can add value to the way you present that information
All positive properties
What Does Acknowledging Sources
Demonstrate?

Print Cover Plagiarism
This example
(from Bob
Caruthers)
shows 1957
and 2007
publications
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24140210@N05

Logo Plagiarism
(my creations, inspired by Canva.com designs)

Plagiarism On T-Shirts
https://twitter.com/GuanakaJay/status/986067286057504769

Who suffers a
lack of respect
when plagiarism
takes place?

Plagiarism is not just an issue
for students – but students
can play a leading role in
doing the right thing

Student Plagiarism

Why Do Students Plagiarise?
I don’t have time
I’m not interested
in this Everyone else
cheats
It’s too hard
My lecturer doesn’t
care

Copying from the Internet
Translating a document from another language and using the
new version without acknowledgement
Getting a friend to do the work for you
Deliberate Plagiarism (Examples)

Not knowing how to give credit to another author
Copying text and forgetting to rewrite it
Careless writing
“Accidental” Plagiarism ?

Deliberate vs Accidental
deliberate accidental
Can anyone tell if plagiarism
was deliberate or accidental?

The Balance

You do
Think about the damage to:
Your reputation
Your qualifications
Your university
Who Suffers The Damage?

It takes experience to differentiate between:
Inspiration
Collaboration
Copying
Cheating
Some Plagiarism Challenges

Good Inspiration?
Make Your Parents Proud By Learning Plagiarism
Ten Reasons Why You Are A Rookie In Plagiarism
How to Keep Plagiarism From Ruining Your Life
The Most Important Skill In Education Is Learning How To Plagiarise
Four Plagiarism Tricks That Work Every Time
Unbelievable Plagiarism Success Stories
What The Future of Plagiarism Looks Like
The Modern Rules Of Plagiarism
Seven Secrets That Plagiarism Experts Don't Want You To Know
Plagiarism Is Not Rocket Science!
How To Get People To Like Plagiarism
There’s Big Money In Plagiarism
These are all fun
titles I could
have used for
this talk –
generated using
automatic
software
[the kind of
things you read
in the world of
fake news]

Another reminder to be
cautious about information
on the Internet – the skills of
academic judgement are
important

What Do Other People Think
We Should Do About
Plagiarism?

South East European Project on Policies for Academic Integrity (SEEPPAI)
Council of Europe supported project, covering:
(1) Albania
(2) Bosnia and Herzegovina
(3) Croatia
(4) Montenegro
(5) the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
(6) Serbia
Evidence From Research In South
East Europe
http://www.plagiarism.cz/seeppai

Two Approaches To Consider
The Support Option The Punishment Option
“Introduce mandatory course for
students to teach them how not to
commit plagiarism in their works.
Some students have heard of
plagiarism but do not know exactly
what it means.”
“make students aware that the
penalties for plagiarising are severe so
that when they start writing a paper,
plagiarising is not an option”

Survey Responses From Teachers (N=255)
Agree N/A
There should be more training for students on avoiding plagiarism and academic dishonesty
Agree N/A
There should be more training for teachers on avoiding plagiarism and academic dishonesty

What Do Students Find Most
Challenging About Academic Writing?
Students
(N=460)
Teachers
(N=255)
Finding good quality sources 73% 17%
Referencing and citation 26% 19%
Paraphrasing 23% 13%
Understanding different referencing formats and styles 16% 8%
Time management 16% 5%
Language skills 16% 15%
Tackling cultural differences 6% 2%
Building a critical argument with evidence 32% 21%
Other 4% 1%

Yes, the option of punishment
is necessary – but providing
support for both students and
teachers is even more
important

Academic Writing Skills
Finding Information
Valuing Information
Referencing
Intellectual Property
Construction of Arguments
Review of Draft Work
What Type Of Support Is Needed?
This needs to
be more than
“look at this
once and never
think about it
again”

An Alternative Way To
Think About Plagiarism

Academic Integrity
The simple view
Don’t engage in cheating
Don’t support cheating in
others
https://twitter.com/ZazzyZain/status/988793172422811649

Thinking About Academic Integrity
Negative
(but necessary)
Do not cheat
Do not plagiarise
Positive
Work honestly
Value positive
contributions

academic
integrity
fair
transparent consistent
representative
respectful
ethical
honest
truthful

academic
integrity
“doing the right thing when no one is
watching you”

What Can We Do?

Students Taking The Lead
International Day Of Action
October 2017

Support all students to understand the benefits of learning by
completing their own work
Need support in place for teachers and students to understand
academic conventions
Academic integrity needs consistently applied processes (along
with suitable and consistent penalties)
Learning Support

Challenge
undesirable
behaviour by
students

Challenge
undesirable
behaviour by
teachers
and offer
them
support

Who is responsible for reducing
plagiarism and supporting
academic integrity?
Concluding Question
EVERYONE

Further Resources

Useful Links
Email: thomas@thomaslancaster.co.uk
Website: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk
Blog: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blog
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster
Twitter: @DrLancaster
Slides from my presentations archived at:
http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster

Academic
Integrity
Support From
Dr. Thomas
Lancaster
Advice and consultancy
Staff/student training
Speaking engagements

Plagiarism, So What? University of Montenegro, 7 May 2017

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