This document provides information about plagiarism, including definitions, types, and consequences. It discusses institutional responsibilities at Catholic University of Ghana to develop plagiarism policies and use Turnitin software. Students are responsible for understanding plagiarism and properly citing sources. Sanctions for plagiarism by students can include written reprimands, failing courses, suspension, expulsion, or revoking of degrees. The acceptable Turnitin percentage at CUG is 15-20% for undergraduate and postgraduate students respectively.

1. Modernizing Academic Research and
Scholarly Output: Exploring E-Resources,
Anti-Plagiarism Software like Turnitin,
and the Shift to Electronic Theses
Submission
Giving Credit Where Credit
is Due!
Catholic University of Ghana
Prof. Daniel Obeng-Ofori

2. PoliticsNJ, The Pulblis Group, Hoboken, NJ.
http://www.politicsnj.com/plagerism090903.htm.
Plagiarism defined:
The word
“plagiarism”
comes from the
Latin plagiarus
meaning
“kidnapper”

3. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
(http://www.m-w.com), to plagiarize means:
“transitive senses : to steal and pass off (the ideas or
words of another) as one's own : use (another's
production) without crediting the source
intransitive senses : to commit literary theft : present
as new and original an idea or product derived from
an existing source”

4. Why is plagiarism important? Who really cares?
 Plagiarism is theft of intellectual property.
 Plagiarism is cheating.
 Plagiarism may result in receiving a failing grade or zero
for the assignment. Plagiarism could result in a
disciplinary referral. Students caught plagiarizing may be
denied admittance to or removal from a Honor Society.

5. Some of the things that you think you know
about plagiarism may be wrong.
It does not matter if the person whose work you have cited is
alive or dead. If it is not your own idea, you must cite your
source!
If you translate or paraphrase something, you must still give a
citation.
If you use a picture from the Internet, you must cite the source.

6. Two types of plagiarism:
 Intentional
• Copying a friend’s work
• Buying or borrowing
papers
• Cutting and pasting
blocks of text from
electronic sources
without documenting
• Media
“borrowing”without
documentation
• Web publishing without
permissions of creators
 Unintentional
• Careless paraphrasing
• Poor documentation
• Quoting excessively
• Failure to use your own
“voice”

7. Excuses
It’s okay if
I don’t get caught!
I was too busy to
write that paper!
(Job, big game, too much homework!)
My lecturers
expect
too much!
I’ve got to get
into
??? U.!
My parents
expect “A”s!
This assignment
was BORING!
Everyone does it!

8. You may have been told that if you put
something into your own words, you need not
cite. This is incorrect. The material is still
someone else’s idea and requires
acknowledgement.
Paraphrasing requires a
citation.

9. Real life consequences:
 Damaged the reputation of two prominent historians, Stephen
Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin,
• Kearns left television position and stepped down as Pulitzer
Prize judge for “lifting” 50 passages for her 1987 book The
Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys (Lewis)
 Senator Joseph Biden dropped his 1987 campaign for the
Democratic presidential nomination. (Sabato)
• Copied in law school and borrowed from campaign speeches of
Robert Kennedy
 Boston Globe journalist Mike Barnicle forced to resign for
plagiarism in his columns (“Boston Columnist . . .”)
 Probe of plagiarism at UVA--45 students dismissed, 3 graduate
degrees revoked
• CNN Article AP. 26 Nov. 2020
• Channel One Article AP. 27 Nov. 2002

10. Do I have
to cite
everything?

11. Note!
 Facts that are widely known, or
 Information or judgments considered
“common knowledge”
Do NOT have to be documented.
Hooray for
common
knowledge!

12. Examples of common knowledge
 Kwame Nkrumah was the first president
of Ghana
 The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941
If you see a fact in three or more sources,
and you are fairly certain your readers
already know this information, it is likely to
be “common knowledge.”
But when in doubt, cite!

13. No need to document when:
 You are discussing your own
experiences, observations, or reactions
 Compiling the results of original
research, from science experiments, etc.
 You are using common knowledge

14. What’s the big deal?

15. You can “borrow” from
the works of others in
your own work!

16. Use these three strategies,
 Quoting
 Paraphrasing
 Summarizing
To blend source materials in with your own,
making sure your own voice is heard.

17. Quoting
Quotations are the exact words of an author, copied directly
from a source, word for word. Quotations must be cited!
Use quotations when:
 You want to add the power of an author’s words to support
your argument
 You want to disagree with an author’s argument
 You want to highlight particularly eloquent or powerful phrases
or passages
 You are comparing and contrasting specific points of view
 You want to note the important research that precedes your
own
N/B Quotations must be attributed to the original author and the
source that you used.

Carol Rohrbach and Joyce Valenza

18. Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing means rephrasing the words of an author,
putting his/her thoughts in your own words. When you
paraphrase, you rework the source’s ideas, words,
phrases, and sentence structures with your own. Like
quotations, paraphrased material must be followed with in-
text documentation and cited on your Works-Cited page.
Paraphrase when:
 You plan to use information on your note cards and wish to
avoid plagiarizing
 You want to avoid overusing quotations
 You want to use your own voice to present information
Carol Rohrbach and Joyce Valenza

19. Examples:
Source: Unless steps are taken to provide a predictable and
stable energy supply in the face of growing demand, the nation
may be in danger of sudden power losses or even extended
blackouts, thus damaging our industrial and information-based
economies. – John Doe, 1999, p.231.
Inadequate paraphrase: Doe (1999) recommends that the
government take action to provide a predictable and stable
energy supply because of constantly growing demand.
Otherwise, we may be in danger of losing power or even
experiencing extended blackouts. These circumstances could
damage our industrial and information-based economy. (p.231).

20. The inadequate paraphrase is guilty of plagiarism
even though the material is cited correctly. The
writer has used too many word-for-word phases
from the source. Also, the order of the ideas is
unchanged from the source.
Compare the following correct paraphrase:
Doe (1999) believes that we must find a more reliable
source of energy if we are to have a dependable
electricity supply. Without this, the nation’s
economic base may be damaged by blackouts (p.231).
Using Sources Effectively: Strengthening Your Writing and Avoiding Plagiarism. Robert A.
Harris. Los Angeles, California: Pyrczak Publishers, 2019.

21. Summarizing
 Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) of
one or several writers into your own words,
including only the main point(s). Summaries are
significantly shorter than the original and take a
broad overview of the source material. Again, it is
necessary to attribute summarized ideas to their
original sources.
Summarize when:
 You want to establish background or offer an overview of a
topic
 You want to describe knowledge (from several sources)
about a topic
 You want to determine the main ideas of a single source
Carol Rohrbach and Joyce Valenza

22. As you take notes:
 Include any direct quotes or unique phrases in
quotation marks or mark with a big Q and
make sure the speaker’s /writer’s name is
identified.
 Make sure you note a paraphrase with the
writer’s name and mark it with a big P
 Include page numbers and source references
so you can go back and check for accuracy as
you write.

23. Sorry, you cannot use someone else’s paper, art
work, or presentation without proper citation even if
he gave you permission. (Of course, your
instructor may not want someone else’s paper as
your work even with proper citation!)
You may even have to cite yourself. If you created
a work for a previous paper or presentation, and
you are using it again, you must cite your previous
work.
WHEN IN DOUBT, USE A
CITATION!!

24. Institutional Responsibility: The CUCG recognizes the need to develop and
implement a plagiarism policy framework and a turnitin plagiarism Software
to aid the student during preparation of there work before Final Submission
and evaluation.
Students' Responsibilities: It is every student's responsibility to
 Read, and ensure that you understand, the University-wide Statement
on plagiarism which defines plagiarism and the forms that it can take.
 Familiarise yourself with guidance issued by your faculty or department
which outlines the referencing techniques and other academic
conventions that you will be expected to adhere to.
 Ensure that you always follow these conventions, and ask for
clarification or support if you need it from your Director of Studies or
Tutor.
Prevention of Plagiarism as a Shared
Responsibility

25. Plagiarism is unacceptable and shall be treated as a serious offence by
the University. The University shall not allow plagiarism, and for that
matter shall enforce the Plagiarism Policy when students/staff are found
culpable of any offence.
Sanctions for Plagiarism by Students: As enshrined in the HANDBOOK
for Undergraduate and Graduate Students, respectively on Rules and
Regulations, plagiarism by student is a very serious offense that can
attract severe sanctions including the following:
 A written reprimand,
 Failing the course (s),
 Suspension,
 Expulsion,
 Revoke of academic degree
 The School or Department may refuse to accept the plagiarized work
of the candidate for credit.
Investigation and Sanctions

26. The acceptable CUG Turnitin percentage is 20% and below.
Catholic University of Ghana (CUG) Permit only fifteenth percent
(15%) and twenty percent (20%) originality for undergraduate and
postgraduate students, respectively. It is, therefore, obligatory for
students to check before submitting their works for assessment to
rectify and/or minimize the plagiarized content.
Note: The Institution use Turnitin as it tool to Detect Plagiarism
because of it wide database indexes in the web.
What is the Acceptable Percentage for Turnitin
at CUG ?

27. For the very strict institutions, a single plagiarized
sentence will result in being charged with violating the
academic integrity policy of your school.
It enables the instructors to determine how much of the
student’s work is original.
However, a custom thesis with a low percentage of
plagiarism on a paper is still not acceptable, and an
thesis with a high percentage could be Ok.
What contributes to the Acceptable percentage
of Plagiarism?

28. Turnitin highlights the similarities of your content to other sources; it doesn’t
determine if your paper is plagiarized, that is the assessor’s prerogative.
The assessor determines if the similar text is attributed accurately and quoted
correctly. The evaluation is very important; however, Turnitin doesn’t account for
context.
In many cases, a high similarity index is usually due to either or a combination of
the following:
 Not crediting the source
 Paraphrasing too closely, although you credit the source
 Using statistics from another person work and not credit the source
 Using photographs, images, maps or other devices of illustration without citing
sources
 Copying or buying someone else’s paper or contracting the thesis-writing
services to do your assignment
 Padding a reference list or bibliography, to show that you have researched
when you haven’t
Why is your Turnitin similarity index too high?

29. Ideally, the best way to remove similarity from Turnitin score for your
paper or thesis is to rewrite the affected content. You can read and
understand the content, then write from your mind.
In most cases, it’s not possible to reduce alerts of plagiarism on
Turnitin. However, you can decrease it by following these steps to make
sure your essay is free of plagiarism:
 Paraphrase your content
 Cite your sources correctly
 Properly use quotation marks
 Referencing your sources
How to reduce similarity on Turnitin for your
thesis
Tools Include:
Scholar Indexing Society
(Reduction service) “Most Reliable”
Link:
https://scholarindexing.com/reques
ts/work_plagiarism
Quillboot
Link: https://quillbot.com/

30. The color of the report icon indicates the similarity score of the
paper, based on the amount of matching or similar text that was
uncovered. The percentage range is 0% to 100%. The possible
similarity ranges are:
• Blue: No matching text
• Green: One word to 24% matching text
• Yellow: 25-49% matching text
• Orange: 50-74% matching text
• Red: 75-100% matching text
Interpreting the Similarity Report

31. FOR MORE INFORMATION:
The Copyright Crash Course, by Georgia K. Harper, 2001, University of
Texas at Austin,
http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm. This site
explains copyright and fair use in easy to understand language.
Online! A reference guide to using Internet sources, by Andrew Harnock and
Eugene Kleppinger, 2003,
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/index.html. This site includes
links to many citation styles.
OWL, Online Writing Lab, Purdue University, “Research and Documenting
Sources,” http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research. This site
contains explanations and examples of many aspects of writing a paper.

32. Key Works Cited (for this PowerPoint
Presentation)
Brannon, Joyce. “Plagiarism.” PowerPoint Presentation.
University of West Alabama, Livingston, AL.
http://libraryuwa.edu/Help/Plagiarism.ppt (1/30/06)
Valenza, Joyce. “What is Plagiarism?” Springfield Township High
School. Springfield, IL.
http://mciu.org/~spjvweb/plagiarism.ppt (1/30/06).
Catholic University College of Ghana. “Plagiarism Policy?”
(pp 10/14).