Critical steps in teaching students to apply academic integrity - CONUL T&L Annual Seminar 2024

1. Critical steps in teaching students
to apply academic integrity
CONUL T&L Annual Seminar 2024
Ben Williamson, Learning and Teaching Librarian
UCC Library

2. ‘Critical’ steps
Analyse
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3. UCC Library sessions
• Finding resources for your assignments
• Literature Review – An introduction to searching the
literature
• Citing, Referencing and Plagiarism
• Referencing Software
• …
Sessions during the academic year are run both on a
sign-up basis, and as part of curriculum timetables by
request from academics
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4. 3 Learning Activities
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I have developed several learning activities for Citing,
Referencing and Plagiarism, which aim to:
• Replicate the processes involved in citing and
referencing sources
• Encourage learners to adopt a critical mindset
• Inspire learners to engage in problem-solving where
required

5. Activity 1: Is this plagiarism?
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In this activity, the students are introduced to
two different scenarios, and asked to decide
whether they represent cases of plagiarism.

6. Is it plagiarism? - Scenario 1
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Ali is reading a selection of journal articles by a
key author in her research field.
She comes across a strong argument in one of
the articles, which will be highly valuable to her
research. However, she is concerned that she has too
many references for the same author already.
Rather than directly quote this author yet again, Ali takes
the text of the argument, and changes a few of the key
words to match her own writing style. She leaves the
rest of the quote unchanged and includes it in her thesis.

7. Yes! - Scenario 1
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Ali is reading a selection of journal articles by a
key author in her research field.
She comes across a strong argument in one of
the articles, which will be highly valuable to her
research. However, she is concerned that she has too
many references for the same author already.
Rather than directly quote this author yet again, Ali takes
the text of the argument, and changes a few of the key
words to match her own writing style. She leaves the
rest of the quote unchanged and includes it in her thesis.

8. Examples of plagiarism
• Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving
credit
• Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
• Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
• Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a
source without giving credit
• Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it
makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit
or not
• Turning in someone else's work as your own
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Plagiarism.org (2017) What is plagiarism? Available at:
http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism (Accessed: 02
November 2021).

9. Is it plagiarism? – Scenario 2
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You are taking two modules that require you to submit
research essays on related topics. As you start to work
on these essays, you realise that you will need to
research and write about the same sub-topic in both
essays.
On top of these research essays, you also have a
couple of final exams to study for. In order to save
time, you decide to use the same piece of your own
writing to cover the subtopic in both submissions.

10. Yes! – Scenario 2
You are taking two modules that require you to submit
research essays on related topics. As you start to work
on these essays, you realise that you will need to
research and write about the same sub-topic in both
essays.
On top of these research essays, you also have a
couple of final exams to study for. In order to save
time, you decide to use the same piece of your own
writing to cover the subtopic in both submissions.
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11. Activity 2
After an introduction to the use of in-text citations,
the students complete the second activity.
This involves comparing two pieces of writing:
• An extract from a journal article
• A paragraph from a hypothetical assignment that
cites the extract
The students are asked to identify the (many)
mistakes made in the use of the extract, and
to feed back either verbally or via a Padlet.
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12. Activity 2: Spot the problems!
Original text
Twenty years after our first
meeting, we met in September
2017, to take a walk together as
part of Maggie’s Leverhulme
Research Fellowship on borders,
risk and belonging. The
fellowship consolidated a long
history of using walking and
participatory methods for doing
social research with artists and
communities on asylum,
migration and marginalisation.
A student’s use of the text
O'Neill, Giaquinto and Hasedzic
say that, twenty years after their
first meeting, they got together
in September 2017, to take a
hike together as part of Maggie’s
Leverhulme Research Fellowship.
Apparently, the fellowship
amalgamated loads of examples
of using "walking and
participatory methods" for doing
research on getting protection,
moving to new countries and
experiencing oppression.
O'Neill, M., Giaquinto, B. and Hasedžic, F. (2019) ‘Migration, memory and place: Arts and walking as
convivial methodologies in participatory research - A visual essay’ In M.L. Berg & M. Nowicka (eds.)
Studying diversity, migration and urban multiculture: convivial tools for research and practice. London:
UCL Press, pp. 96-120.
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13. The problems
O'Neill, Giaquinto and Hasedzic say that, twenty years
after their first meeting, they got together in
September 2017, to take a hike together as part of
Maggie’s Leverhulme Research Fellowship on borders,
risk and identity. Apparently, the fellowship
amalgamated a long history of using "walking and
participatory methods" for doing social research with
artists and communities on getting protection, moving
to new countries and experiencing oppression.
Yellow text = Text quoted word for word
Blue text = Words changed, but structure copied
Pink space = Words chopped out – full meaning lost
Also: citation details are missing!! 13

14. Examples of references
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Books
Rao, T. V. (2016) Performance management: toward
organizational excellence. 2nd edn. London: Sage
Journal articles
Strohmeier, S. (2013) ‘Employee relationship
management — realizing competitive advantage through
information technology?’, Human resource management
review, 23(1), pp. 93-104.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2012.06.009
Newspaper article
Mansell, W. and Bloom, A. (2018) £10,000 carrot to
tempt physics experts. The Guardian, 20 June, p. 5.

15. Examples of references (2)
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Webpage
HSE.ie. (2022) Why diet and nutrition helps your health.
Available at: https://www2.hse.ie/wellbeing/why-diet-
and-nutrition-helps-your-health.html (Accessed: 05
October 2023)
Twitter (Tweet)
The Nutrition Source (2022) ‘Check out the 2nd edition of
our Healthy Living Guide, which explores the research
behind healthy habits, and offers tips […]’ [Twitter] 10
January. Available at:
https://twitter.com/HSPHnutrition/status/148063581161
5985664?cxt=HHwWgMC-kaGbo4wpAAAA (Accessed: 29
September 2022)

16. Activity 3
Students are shown that references for different sources
comprise different details.
The third learning activity provides an opportunity to
practise:
• Locating and verifying information included in
references
• Correcting errors that may result from using reference
generators or other software, or from not checking
sources properly
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17. Activity 3 - References
Reference 1: Correct the errors in this reference
Davies, L. and Duckett, N. 2012. Proactive child
protection and social work. 2nd edition. Exeter: Learning
Matters.
Reference 2: Complete this reference
HSE.ie (_Year_) _Title of webpage_. Available at: _URL_
[Accessed: 01 March 2024]
(TinyURLs are provided for both sources)
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18. Activity 3 - solutions
Reference 1:
• Publication year is 2016, not 2012
• Place of publication is London, not Exeter
• Publisher is Sage, not Learning Matters (although Learning Matters
is part of Sage)
• Formatting errors: No brackets around the year, title not in italics,
etc.
Reference 2:
• HSE.ie (2022) How alcohol affects your mental health. Available at:
https://www2.hse.ie/living-well/alcohol/health/mental-health/how-
alcohol-affects-your-mental-health [Accessed: 01 March 2024].
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19. Summary of the activities
Activity 1:
Recognise ways in which plagiarism can occur
Activity 2:
Identify good and bad practices when integrating sources into
original research
Activity 3:
Navigate sources to locate and verify bibliographic information
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20. Overall points
• Libraries can help learners to avoid becoming over-
reliant on assistive technology (c.f. AI)
• Libraries can provide a ‘safe ground’ for learners to try
unfamiliar processes, and both make and correct
mistakes productively
• Libraries can help learners to adapt to unfamiliar
academic landscapes and policies
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21. Thank you!