Plagiarism is not always a matter of deliberate theft; it can happen inadvertently through misunderstanding academic conventions of referencing and attribution, or through inappropriate collaboration with other students on your course. This session is designed to explain guidelines on plagiarism, to look at some real-life case studies, and to give you information and strategies to help you avoid it.

1. Cambridge University Library
How to avoid plagiarism
Dr. Emma Coonan
Research Skills Librarian, Cambridge University Library

2. What is plagiarism?
How many ways can you think of to
commit plagiarism?

3. Examples of plagiarism
• quoting verbatim another person‟s work without due acknowledgement
of the source
• paraphrasing another person‟s work by changing some of the words, or
the order of the words, without due acknowledgement of the source
• using ideas taken from someone else without reference to the originator
• cutting and pasting from the Internet to make a pastiche of online
sources
• submitting someone else‟s work as part of a candidate‟s own without
identifying clearly who did the work
• colluding with another person
• autoplagiarism
(University of Cambridge, 2011)

4. Varsity survey
Varsity, 31 October 2008

5. What is it?
“ … submitting as one‟s own work, irrespective of
intent to deceive, that which derives in part or in its
entirety from the work of others without due
acknowledgement. ”
(University of Cambridge 2011, emphasis mine)
www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism/students/statement.html

6. What is it?
“ … passing off someone else‟s work as your own,
whether intentionally or unintentionally, for your own
benefit. ”
(Carroll 2002, p.40)

7. The (ethical) bottom line
Ensuring that your readers can distinguish between
your own and others‟ thinking means that you:
• Give credit for the work you have built on
• Get credit for the work you have done yourself

8. Case study 1
• Student lost track of time and could
not locate scholarly resources close
to deadline
• Searched the internet (avoiding
essay banks)
• Cut-and-pasted information for own
reference from open web sources
• Made a „patchwork‟ of paraphrased
arguments from websites – didn‟t
cite them

9. What caused it?
1. Non-scholarly information – not well „signposted‟
2. Poor citation practice

10. Solutions
1. Know where to find scholarly resources for your
subject
2. Always have two ends to your reference!

11. Scholarly material has clear authorship

12. Double-entry citation
In-text citation Reference list entry
Lovitts argues that Lovitts, Barbara E. (2005)
“Creative intelligence is „Being a good course-taker is
the ability to formulate not enough: a theoretical
good problems” (2005, perspective on the transition
p.143). to independent research‟,
Studies in Higher Education
A short „pointer‟ to the full 30(2), pp.137-54
entry at the point in your text
where you quote or All the details needed for a reader
paraphrase to follow up your source

13. Citation styles
Your school or department will probably have a preferred or
citation style. It might even be mandatory to use a particular
style.
Do you know
which one you
should use?
www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism/students/depts.html

14. www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism/students/depts.html

15. Case study 2
• Tutor noticed change of
voice/phrasing mid-essay,
just after a quotation
• This unattributed material
was taken almost directly
from the same source as
the quote
• Student had failed to recognise the full quotation in his
notes - thought it was his own work

16. What caused it?
1. Bad notemaking
2. Failure to understand how to paraphrase?

17. Solutions
1. Practise active notemaking
2. Recognise that paraphrases must be cited
3. Appreciate when to paraphrase and when to
quote (it’s not that obvious!)

18. Active notemaking
Make sure you can identify:
• Which parts of your notes are quotations (including single
significant words)
• Which parts are paraphrases of the author‟s points
• Which parts of your own writing are a response to the
argument or directly inspired by ideas in the text
Will you be able to tell the difference in a month‟s time?

19. Notemaking strategy

20. Paraphrasing vs. quotation
Rephrasing someone else‟s argument in your own words:
• shows you have read and assimilated the required reading
• strengthens your argument
• lets you analyse and compare contrasting points of view
• allows you to maintain your „flow‟ of writing and own voice
Still needs to be cited!

21. Paraphrasing vs. quotation
Rephrasing someone else‟s argument in your own words:
• gives less weight to the original author, more to your „voice‟
Consider whether this is appropriate
• How significant is this work in your argument?
• Does the author deserve greater representation?)
Key concepts, phrases or even words in the argument should
be placed in quotation marks if you use them

22. Double-entry citation
In-text citation Reference list entry
“As Whitworth (2006) Whitworth, Andrew (2006)
points out, the „Communicative competence
instructional style can in the information age:
enforce a positivist towards a critical theory of
approach which is at information literacy
odds with the education‟, Italics 5(1).
interrogative nature of
the scholarly mission.”

23. Case study 3
• Two postgraduate students
decided to collaborate on
an essay
• Used good academic
practice in every other
regard

24. What caused it?
Students failed to understand that they were
expected to work independently and that their
marks would be calculated on this basis

25. Solutions
• Assess whether collaboration is appropriate
for the task at hand
• Get authorisation (approach your supervisor
in the first instance)
• Acknowledge the contribution
www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism/students/referencing/peers.html

26. Recap
• Know where to find scholarly resources for your subject
• Always have two ends to your reference!
• Be aware of citation styles (and be consistent)
• Practice active notemaking
• Recognise when to paraphrase and when to quote
• Assess whether collaboration is appropriate for the task at hand
• Talk to your supervisor or librarian

27. Where do you draw the line?

28. One situation
where you don‟t
need to reference!

29. Common knowledge
You don‟t need to cite a source if you‟re stating a fact that:
• is widely accessible - you may not know the total population of
China, but you would be able to find the answer easily from
numerous sources
• is likely to be known by a lot of people
• can be found in a general reference resource, such as
a dictionary or encyclopedia
www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism/students/
referencing/commonknowledge.html
(University of Cambridge, 2011)

30. Common knowledge
Statement: Pterosaurs were the flying reptiles of the
dinosaur age
Citation: „Everyone' knows this, so no citation is needed.
Statement: Even the largest pterosaurs may have been able
to take off simply by spreading their wings whilst facing into
a moderate breeze.
Citation: Wilkinson, M.T., Unwin, D.M. and Ellington, C.P.
(2005). High lift function of the pteroid bone and forewings of
pterosaurs. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B
(University of Cambridge, 2011)

31. Scenarios

32. Scenario 1
“ I copied the material straight from the web
because my English is not very good, and I wanted
to make sure you understood what I was trying to
say. ”
(Carroll 2002, p.21)

33. Scenario 2
“ I forgot to write down the page numbers, so I
couldn‟t use quotes – so I just put the ideas in my
own words. But I‟ve put everything in the
bibliography! ”

34. Scenario 3
“ I said it was in the Times, 1999. Surely that‟s
enough? ”
(Carroll 2002, p.51)

35. Scenario 4
“ I had a student this week who admitted the
plagiarism but said he wasn‟t to blame because the
person he copied from didn‟t tell him it was
plagiarised … ”
(Carroll 2002, p.5)

36. Where to get information and help …
• School or department referencing guidelines (essential!)
• University Offices: plagarism information
www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism
• www.cusu.cam.ac.uk/academic/studyskills
• Libraries and librarians
http://training.cam.ac.uk/cul and departmental library sites
• Academic reading and writing sessions/writing guidelines
http://training.cam.ac.uk

37. Research Skills Programme

38. Emma Coonan
Research Skills Librarian
research-skills@lib.cam.ac.uk
http://training.cam.ac.uk/cul

39. Bibliography
Ballenger, Bruce .The Curious Researcher: a Guide to Writing
Research Papers. 7th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2012.
Carroll, Jude. A Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism in Higher
Education. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning
Development, 2002.
Li, Xia. Electronic Style: A Guide to Citing Electronic Information.
Westport: Meckler, 1993.
Lipson, Charles. Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare
Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success.
2nd ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2008.

40. Bibliography
Neville, Colin. The Complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding
Plagiarism. 3 January 2007.
http://www.myilibrary.com/Browse/open.asp?ID=112960&loc=i
(accessed 30 January 2009).
Pears, Richard, and Graham Shields. Cite Them Right: the
Essential Referencing Guide. Rev. ed. Newcastle: Pear Tree,
2008.
Stothard, Michael. “„1 in 2‟ Admits to Plagiarism.” Varsity 31 Oct.
2008: 1-2.
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers,
Theses, and Dissertations. 7th ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2007.