Academic Integrity
How to recognise plagiarism and related issues in Academic Integrity,
and how to avoid them.
Aims for this workshop
• Review policy of Academic Integrity
• Provide examples of plagiarism.
• How to avoid plagiarism.
• Recognise plagiarism in all forms
• Use tools that help you prevent plagiarism (Turnitin/Training modules)
• Good practice for academic, scientific and research communication
• Critical review of journal articles for quality review of research.
Academic Integrity Training Module
• Required before first assignment.
• Attendance at this session does not replace completion of the
training module.
Academic Integrity
The pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible
manner. Academic Integrity includes a commitment not to engage in or
tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts
of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the
University community and compromise the worth of work completed
by others.
Academic Integrity Policy
https://policy.usq.edu.au/documents/13752PL
Academic Integrity Policy
Academic Integrity requires that Students:
1. act ethically and honestly at all times in the creation, development, application
and use of ideas and information, particularly when submitting academic work
which they are claiming as their own;
2. acknowledge in activities undertaken as part of their learning or Research the
contribution of others’ ideas and work, including that of other Students and
colleagues;
3. protect their work from being copied or misused by other Students;
4. adhere to the standards of Academic Integrity that are expected in the
discipline/s in which they are studying.
Academic Integrity Policy
Academic Integrity requires that Staff:
1. promote and model the values of Academic Integrity – honesty, trust, fairness and
respect;
2. apply educative strategies to prevent breaches of Academic Integrity, including
providing Students with appropriate guidance, learning activities and feedback on
Academic Integrity;
3. regularly review and renew Assessment tasks to minimise the potential for breaches
of Academic Integrity;
4. communicate to Students the acceptable level of working together and how their
work will be individually or jointly assessed;
5. inform Students that it is each Student’s responsibility to uphold the principles of
Academic Integrity and to submit work for Assessment or examination in accordance
with this policy; and
6. monitor, identify and manage failures to meet Academic Integrity requirements in
accordance with the relevant procedures.
Academic Misconduct
Academic Misconduct encompasses all behaviours, including doing as well as
attempting to do, any of the acts, omissions or activities that constitute Academic
Misconduct:
• involving the misrepresentation of academic achievement; or
• undermining the core values (honesty, trust, fairness and respect) of Academic
Integrity; or
• breaching Academic Integrity; whether intentional or unintentional.
Definition
https://policy.usq.edu.au/documents/14132PL
Academic Misconduct
Academic Misconduct includes, but is not limited to the following:
• Plagiarism;
• submitting (for Assessment or review) work prepared by another person;
• Collusion, such as any unauthorised collaboration in preparation or presentation
of work, including knowingly allowing personal work to be copied by others;
• all forms of Cheating in examinations and other Assessment tasks;
• Contract Cheating and Solicitation;
• offering or accepting bribes (money or sexual or other favours), e.g. for Admission
or for Marks/Grades; and
• fabrication or falsification of information or Student identity (TEQSA Guidance
Note: Academic Integrity, Version 1.2, 28 March 2019).
Definitions
• Plagiarism involves the use of another person’s work without full and
clear referencing and acknowledgement
• Cheating involves presenting another student’s work as your own
• Collusion is a specific type of cheating, that occurs when two or more
students fail to abide by directions from the examiner regarding the
permitted level of collaboration on an assessment.
Types of plagiarism – what to do?
Intentional
?
Just don’t!
Unintentional
Avoid this by practising good
research and referencing skills
Example 1
What do the following two examples demonstrate?
Example 1.1
My written text:
Example 1.1
But Turnitin shows me the following matches:
Turnitin shows
me where I
took the
information
from:
Example 1.1 Conclusions
• Presented someone else’s thoughts, ideas and words as my own.
• No acknowledgment of where information came from.
• This is plagiarism!
Conclusion: Example shows lack of citation and reference
Example 1.2
My written text:
Turnitin shows
me where I took
the information
from:
Example 1.2 Conclusions
• Acknowledgement of another’s idea/s
• However –the expression or how I wrote someone else’s idea are being
represented as my own.
• This is plagiarism!
Conclusion: Example shows citation and reference but failed to paraphrase
Example 2
What do the following three examples demonstrate?
Sample reference text
The construction of a bridge must not only account for toploading forces, but also for side loading forces. This is most
prevalent during a flooding event, when the bridge must be
able to withstand extraneous forces that are not normally
present during non-flooding periods. Instruments such as
strain gauges are used to measure the strain imposed on the
structure that are caused by side-loading forces.
Bloggs, J (2013) How to construct a bridge, Journal of Bridge Building, vol. 1 issue. 1, pp 1-5.
Example 2.1
The building of a bridge must not only account for top-loading
forces applied from the top, but also for side loading forces.
This is most important during a flooding events, when the
bridge must be able to withstand extra forces that are not
usually present during non-flooding periods. Instruments such
as strain gauges are used to record the strain imposed on the
bridge that are caused by side-loading forces.
Italics and strikethrough just for emphasis
My written text:
Example 2.1 conclusions
• Presenting part of someone else’s thoughts, ideas and words as my
own.
• Sentence and paragraph structure not my own and ideas and thoughts not my
own even if slightly different words are used.
• No acknowledgment of where this comes from.
• This is plagiarism!
Conclusion – No citation or reference and “copied” words
Example 2.2
The building of a bridge must not only account for top-loading
forces applied from the top, but also for side loading forces.
This is most important during a flooding events, when the
bridge must be able to withstand extra forces that are not
usually present during non-flooding periods. Instruments such
as strain gauges are used to record the strain imposed on the
bridge that are caused by side-loading forces.
References
Turner, J (2013) How to construct a bridge, Journal of Bridge Building, vol. 1 issue. 1,
pp 1-5.
Example 2.2 Conclusions
• Presenting part of someone else’s words as my own.
• Sentence and paragraph structure not my own despite some words changed.
• Acknowledgement of another’s idea/s in reference list but not cited in
text.
• This is plagiarism!
Conclusion – Reference but no citation but “copied” words
Example 2.3
Turner (2013) states the building of a bridge must not only account
for top-loading forces applied from the top, but also for side
loading forces. This is most important during a flooding events,
when the bridge must be able to withstand extra forces that are
not usually present during non-flooding periods. Instruments such
as strain gauges are used to record the strain imposed on the
bridge that are caused by side-loading forces.
References
Turner, J (2013) How to construct a bridge, Journal of Bridge Building, vol. 1 issue. 1, pp 1-5.
Example 2.3 Conclusions
• Presenting part of someone else’s words as my own.
• Sentence and paragraph structure not my own despite some words changed.
• Acknowledgement of another’s idea/s in reference list and cited in
text.
• This is STILL plagiarism!
Conclusion: Has both citation and reference but “copied” words
Example 3
What do the following two examples demonstrate?
Example 3.1
If we want to build an effective bridge both the forces
that are applied from the side as well as the top should
be considered equally as important, especially during
times of flood. The effect of the side forces on the
bridge can cause another effect called strain to affect
the bridge, however this effect can be measured using
strain gauges.
My written text:
Example 3.1 Conclusions
• Correctly paraphrased
• No references cited.
• This is plagiarism!
Conclusion – paraphrased but not cited or referenced
Example 3.2
If we want to build an effective bridge both the forces
that are applied from the side as well as the top should
be considered equally as important, especially during
times of flood (Wikipedia, 2013). The effect of the side
forces on the bridge can cause another effect called
strain to affect the bridge, however this effect can be
measured using strain gauges (Unknown, 2013).
Example 3.2 Conclusions
• Correctly paraphrased
• Wrong references cited.
• This is plagiarism
Conclusion – paraphrased but wrong references cited
Example 4 – What should we do?
If we want to build an effective bridge both the forces
that are applied from the side as well as the top should
be considered equally as important, especially during
times of flood (Turner, 2013). The effect of the side
forces on the bridge can cause another effect called
strain to affect the bridge, however this effect can be
measured using strain gauges (Turner 2013).
Example 4 Conclusions
• Paraphrased (not copied word-for-word, nor word-for-word with
single words replaced).
• Acknowledged source of information
• This is a correctly referenced passage!
Other examples of plagiarism
(assignments)
• Submitting the reference list provided in the assignment sheet as a
list of “references” – this is plagiarism (especially when never used by
student)
• Submitting figures without citations and references – this is
plagiarism (more on how to do properly later on)
• Submitting screen captured images that are exactly the same as
another students (individual work shows that this will always vary)
Collusion – how you can be caught out
Examples
• Mistaking “working together” as grounds to submit the “same” material (NO)
• Thinking that answers can only be answered in one way (therefore everyone gives
the same things without trying it by themselves) (again – NO)
• Letting someone look at your own assignment so they have an idea to work from –
they could copy your work BUT you would both be implicated in collusion.
Never ever let someone walk away with your own work – you don’t know what
they will do with it!
• Letting someone borrow your computer to work on assessment or study (password
protect your work or tell them to use a University computer) – or borrowing
someone else’s computer
Avoiding collusion
• Sometimes assessments can be brainstormed together, but the
individual assessment must be expressed as an individual.
• Individual work will always look different to another individual’s.
This is what you are agreeing to: every time you click the “submit”
button
“I hereby submit this work as entirely my own, except where due
acknowledgement is made in the text, and that no part has been
copied from any other person’s work”
How to avoid academic misconduct
• Citations and Referencing (EndNote or manually)
• Recognising level of quality of references
• Learn how to use Turnitin.
• Critique the material you use
• Critique and reflect on your own work
EndNote
• Citation and Referencing software
• Other types out there (we don’t cover these)
• “garbage in/garbage out”
• take a class
• do the online training module
• learn to use it properly
• The way to learn if EndNote is working properly is to learn the
referencing style (see USQ Library Referencing)
• RefRight tool
Some Tips
• Do not put the URL within the report text (this belongs in the list of
references only) – few exceptions
• Citation only requires (Author, date) in HarvardAGPS6 style – in most
cases – sometimes page number may be required
• Library reference guide indicates page numbers required in citation
but this is generally not needed unless it’s a large document or book
etc
More Tips
• Don’t have multiple direct quotes following one another.
• Does not show critical thinking about the concept.
• Keep direct quotes to a minimum – it is rare to need more than a
handful in a report/literature review/presentation etc.
• Show a variety of references have been used.
Internet Sources
Ask yourself:
• Is it a reputable source? (ie NASA)
• These sites are good
• Is it a home work site? (ie. ask.yahoo, or literally someone’s homework
online)
• These sites are not good.
• Is it Wikipedia?
• Where did they get the information from? (look further for the reputable sources)
• Lack of author names may help you identify if it is reputable site (except for
things like NASA or Encyclopaedia Britannica etc)
• Ideally should be focusing on journal articles and other reputable peer
reviewed documents for this course
What about other forms of submission?
Examples:
• Written submissions
• Presentations
• Video recordings
• Portfolios
Everything you create should
always acknowledge another’s
work
Tips:
• Use own words on powerpoints
• Credit images (more info later)
• Reference
• Creative commons
What you should NOT do – presentations:
• Copy text direct from source
(acknowledged or not)
• Forget to add citations/ references
• Borrow friends’ slides
• Take slides published on the
internet
• Use images without
acknowledgement (must be
allowed under copyright laws)
Exceptions:
• Direct quotes – “indicated” and
cited/referenced
• Sometimes one slide can be
“borrowed” provided
acknowledgement occurs (reference +
verbal acknowledgement)
• Images (including gifs/videos etc)
• Copyright free still needs creative
commons acknowledgement
• Your own/friends image – source
acknowledgement
Images
In any situation (presentation/written submission):
Acknowledge
• My own image: “Source: J. Turner 2019”
• Friend/known person provided image: “Source: A. Person 2018”
• Image direct from article: cite article and explain in caption which figure and
what it is. Do NOT copy the exact caption from the article. Write in own words
• Image recreated from an article: same as above
• Image from internet (copyright free): Creative commons – acknowledgement
• Image from internet (not copyright free) – if for personal/educational use only
– reference webpage and indicate any level of creative commons if applicable.
Turnitin
• Learn to use Turnitin to check your work at Teach me Turnitin
• We use this for assignments – ensure you understand how it works
• Use the Turnitin self check course (instructions on Study Desk) to
check your work
• Most research publications are put through checks like Turnitin.
• Other types of plagiarism checkers
• iThenticate (used by many journals)
• BibMe
• Urkund
Turnitin – What it means
• Checks for similarities
• Doesn’t always mean similarities are plagiarism
• Must critically review and analyse a Turnitin report to understand what it means
• Direct quote
• References
• Small word matches
• There is no “magical” number that says your work is okay or not, it depends on the context of the
match
• No matches does not mean an assessment is done well or according to specified
criteria – “quality” is descriptive and dependent on assessment guidelines
• Can help critique your own work or peers work
Real Example of Published Plagiarism
• Published article – provided on Study desk in Academic Integrity
module
• Other related documents that provide evidence of plagiarism also available.
• Shows a variety of plagiarism issues
• Will talk through how they have/might have occurred.