Overview of plagiarism and academic dishonesty. I use these slides with geology, geography, biology, physics

1. PLAGIARISM AND
ACADEMIC
DISHONESTY
Linda Blake, Science Librarian
Based on Kelly Diamond’s Slides
Fall 2015

2. WVU’S DEFINITION OF
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
TERMS
Plagiarism : “…the use, by paraphrase or direct
quotation, of the published or unpublished work
of another person without full and clear
acknowledgment, including, but not limited to,
the unacknowledged use of materials prepared
by another individual engaged in the selling of
term papers or other academic materials.”
http://catalog.wvu.edu/undergraduate/coursecreditstermsclassification/#academicintegritytext

3. WVU’S DEFINITION OF
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Also, “…knowingly furnishing the
results of research projects or
experiments for the inclusion in
another’s work without proper
citation…”

4. WHAT IS NOT
PLAGIARISM?
• Your original words
• Your original ideas
• Common knowledge
Graphic from: http://www.azquotes.com/author/12187-Donald_T_Regan

5. WVU’S PENALTY FOR
PLAGIARISM AND
CHEATING
The instructor may impose the
following academic penalties:
 A lower grade or failing
project/paper/test grade
 A lower final grade
 Failure of the course

6. CITATION AND
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is not only representing
someone else's writing as your own, but it
is also failing to provide appropriate
citations.
When you don't provide the appropriate
documentation, you are representing
someone else's ideas, research,
thoughts, etc. as your own.
Most cases of plagiarism arise because
of poor citing and referencing.
"Preventing Plagiarism." World News Digest. Facts On File News Services.
11 Aug. 2009 http://www.2facts.com

7. HOW TO AVOID
PLAGIARISM
Whenever you use someone else's
thoughts or ideas, even if you put
these thoughts or ideas in your own
words, you must provide attribution
through citations to avoid
plagiarism.

8. WHEN TO CITE?
You must cite the source when you
 summarize or paraphrase someone else's
thoughts or ideas
 include information which is not common
knowledge
 directly quote someone else's words
*Note: direct quotes are not commonly
used in scientific writing

9. DIRECT QUOTES
“Direct quotations are NOT used in scientific
writing. Rather, the tradition is to express the
information and ideas you have taken from
other sources in your own words. You must
be careful not to simply copy the words the
author has used. Instead, your goal should
be to express the author's ideas in a brief
and concise manner that merges into the
overall text of what you are writing.”
Earlham libraries--wildman--citing biology sources Retrieved 8/20/2009, from
http://www.earlham.edu/library/content/resources/course/biocite.htm#Whentocite

10. SUMMARIES
Summary:
To describe another's argument in
your own words.
Summaries are about 1/3 to 1/2
the length of the original.
Summaries are cited

11. PARAPHRASE
Paraphrase:
To put another's thoughts or ideas
into your own words.
You still must cite

12. COMMON
KNOWLEDGE
A fact that “everyone” knows and which is
referenced in multiple sources.
Examples:
• Washing your hands will help prevent the
spread of influenza.
• Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness.
• There is no vaccine for the common cold
because the common cold is caused by a
virus.

13. NOT SO COMMON
KNOWLEDGE
Examples:
• The 20th century saw three flu pandemics: in 1918
(a minimum of 20 million deaths and possibly as
many as 40 million), 1957 (1 million), and 1968
(700,000).
• Lyme disease was first identified in Old Lyme,
Connecticut, in 1975.
• The common cold is an infection by any one of
around 200 viruses, with about half the common-
cold infections being caused by RHINOVIRUSES.
Source: Credo Reference http://www.credoreference.com