Plagiarism

Plagiarism is when you present someone else’s words, ideas, theories or data as your own. It is academic dishonesty if you do not identify or properly reference the source from which you have taken information, you may be guilty of plagiarism. This can occur deliberately or accidentally whenever you do not acknowledge the author. Plagiarism is one aspect of the wider concept of academic integrity; find out more about academic integrity.

Using the exact words of someone else

Whenever you use the exact words of an author, you must include these words in quotation marks to indicate they have originated with someone else. Then, you must acknowledge the source from which you obtained this information. If you do not do this, you are guilty of plagiarism.

Example
Source: L P.J. Casey, K.T. Cullen & J.P. Duignan, Irish Doctors in the First World War. Kildare: Merrion Press, 2015, p. 101.

 “From October 1914 to February 1919 forty-six hospital ships arrived in Dublin carrying 19,255 wounded soldiers who were allocated to various hospitals in Dublin, Cork, Belfast, the Curragh and other places throughout the country.”

Student writing sample: Casey et al have investigated the role played by Irish doctors in WW1. In their study they note that throughout the war hospital ships arrived in Dublin. Forty-six ships arrived in the period October 1914 to February 1919 (p.101). The authors note that there were “19,255 wounded soldiers who were allocated to various hospitals in Dublin, Cork, Belfast, the Curragh and other places throughout the country” (p.101).

Is this plagiarism? No, the sample uses information from the authors and acknowledges this. It also includes a direct quotation and properly acknowledges the source of the information.

Paraphrasing the words of someone

If you take the exact words of an author, and change a number of words in the sentence, you are slightly rephrasing the words of another. These small changes are not enough however to make it your own sentence. So, while you do not need to include the words in quotation marks, you still must cite the source from which you obtained the information.

Example
Source: L P.J. Casey, K.T. Cullen & J.P. Duignan, Irish Doctors in the First World War. Kildare: Merrion Press, 2015, p. 101.

Student writing sample: Between October 1914 and February 1916 there were forty-ships hospital ships which arrived in Dublin. These ships carried nearly 20,000 wounded soldiers who were, in turn, dispatched to hospitals in major cities such as Dublin, Cork, Belfast, as well as other places throughout the country.

Is this plagiarism? Yes, while there has been some attempt to paraphrase from the original text, there is no acknowledgement of the original author. The passage is therefore using information and ideas from Casey, Cullen & Duignan but, since this has not been documented, it is plagiarism.

Using the ideas or data of someone else

If you summarise another person’s ideas or data but you do not acknowledge this in your citation, you are guilty of plagiarism.

Example
Source: L P.J. Casey, K.T. Cullen & J.P. Duignan, Irish Doctors in the First World War. Kildare: Merrion Press, 2015, p. 186.

“In the course of three major wars the Royal Army Medical Corp dealt with 14,000,000 casualties and according to its own testimony has been awarded 14 Victoria Crosses (2 with Bars), 1 George Cross, 603 Distinguished Service Orders, 1,806 Military Crosses, 464 Distinguished Conduct Medals and 2,375 Military Medals. All this was obtained at a high cost – 1,180 officers and 8,165 men died in the course of these conflicts.”

Student writing sample: There were 464 Distinguished Conduct medals and 2,375 Military Medals awarded by the Royal Army Medical Corp over the course of three conflicts which saw 1,810 officers and 8,165 men die.

Is this plagiarism? Yes. The sample uses data from Casey, Cullen and Duignan that is not common knowledge and does not acknowledge the source of this information.

Same Source and Quotation

Student writing sample 2:  In their study on the role played by Irish doctors during WW1, Casey et al record that there were 464 Distinguished Conduct medals and 2,375 Military Medals awarded by the Royal Army Medical Corp over the course of three conflicts which saw 1,810 officers and 8,165 men die (p. 186).

Is this plagiarism? No. The sample properly acknowledges the source of this information.

Using your own words/ideas from a previous piece of writing

If you re-use material you wrote from a previous assignment, copying the words exactly and not acknowledging this, you are guilty of plagiarism.

Source: Jane Connolly, Assignment 3: Compare and Contrast the literary modes prevalent in the poetry of the 1930s. 210ENG261 Poetry of the 30s Generation. Submitted 15 Dec 2016.

“The poetry of the 1930s generation – poems written by luminaries such as Auden, MacNeice, Day-Lewis, and Spender – can be characterised by a freedom of poetic form, a reaction against symbolism, a keen social perception, leftist political sympathies and accessibility of style. These poets foresaw vast social change and aimed to writing truly popular poetry, shared by all; poetry which did not seek to be elitist. They aimed to set up the notion of public poetry: poetry which could contain slang, poetry which did not exclude, poetry which was not private or learned, and poetry which was set against the backdrop of their troubled time.”

Student writing sample: Jane Connolly, Assignment 2: Discuss the themes of the poetry post-WW1. 110ENG783 20th Century Poetry. Submitted 22 Jan. 2018.

Poets from the 1930s were concerned with writing poetry that was for all, poetry that did not exclude, poetry which was not private or learned, and poetry which was set against the backdrop of their troubled time.

Is this plagiarism? Yes. The sample uses information from a previous assignment, quoting from it verbatim, but there is no acknowledgement that it is taken from a previous source.

How to avoid plagiarism

The best way to avoid plagiarism is to properly reference your work. This means acknowledging the source or sources from which you have acquired information. Respect the ideas and work of others and acknowledge these in your writing. 

This can be done in the following ways:

When carrying out research, be organised, accurate and keep track of your sources as you go along
Keep comprehensive notes and details for each source you have read
In writing, explicitly acknowledge the source for quotations
In writing, explicitly acknowledge also the source(s) when paraphrasing words, ideas, or arguments
Be familiar with your referencing style

Examine these scenarios

Scenario Example	Is this Plagiarism?
Taking the exact wording of sentence or paragraph from a book or article or website and not acknowledging this	Yes – because you are attempting to present someone else’s words as your own
Taking a sentence or paragraph from a book or article or website and making some changes while not acknowledging the source	Yes – because you are attempting to present someone else’s thoughts and words as your own
Using images, statistics, data and not referencing this	Yes
Taking someone else’s view and not referencing this	Yes
Re-using material from one of your previous essays/assignments	Yes – because you are duplicating material
Working closely with fellow students when writing an assignment	Yes – because you may both use the exact same written content
Including content that is common knowledge e.g. WW2 occurred between September 1939 and September 1945	No – common knowledge does not need to be referenced

Plagiarism summary points

Plagiarism is when you present someone else’s words, ideas, theories or data as your own.
You can also be guilty of plagiarism however, even when you reuse your own work e.g. from a previous assignment.
The University treats plagiarism as a serious offence.
Plagiarism is best avoided by properly referencing the source(s) from which you have taken information.

Now move to the next page Quiz – Plagiarism

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