Plagarism Document

2016/04/06

Plagiarism:

undergraduate

studies

Compiled and written

by Beschara Karam

1 WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?

This is the use of other people’s ideas or images without

acknowledging them (in other words, passing off their ideas or

images, as your own). This amounts to cheating, and is in effect

stealing. In academic writing, referencing (in-text and in your

SOURCES CONSULTED) is used in order to acknowledge the

ideas of others.

1

Open Rubric

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It is an established academic norm that when writing, all

information, theories, ideas, facts, statistics and direct quotations

taken from other sources must be acknowledged. This is done

by using a standardised method of referencing.

The purpose of this powerpoint is to promote the uniformity and

consistency of such a method of referencing in academic writing.

Your TL301 will assist you with HOW to reference, while this

powerpoint assists you with understanding WHY you must

reference.

1.1 Intellectual theft

Very simply put: it is the stealing of someone else’s:

• Theories

• Concepts

• Images

• Graphs

• Photographs

• Ideas

• Text,

AND presenting them as if they are your own.

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1.2 Questions to ask yourself

• How would you feel if you spent 5 years writing a book and

trying to get it published and then someone else takes your

ideas as their own, without even giving you credit?

• What if you spent two years making a film, only to have

someone else claim the film as their own?

• What if you spent 3 years of your doctorate studies creating

and conceptualising a brand new module in Organisational

Communication, only to have another student or academic

state that it is their creation?

1.3 Trembling at the word

“plagiarism”

• It seems as though everyone knows that to be called a

plagiarist is a very serious accusation, almost as bad as being

called a murderer. Despite this, even though the very word

creates fear and trembling when heard, very few students and

academics know what it is.

• The majority of...