Identifying Plagiarism and How to Avoid It – UTSA Libraries Learning Technology

Identifying Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism

“A form of academic dishonesty and intellectual theft that violates long-held and widely recognized principles of academic integrity including, but not limited to, the appropriation, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another’s work and the submission of said work as one’s own academic work offered for credit.”

– The UTSA Student Code of Conduct (Section 203)

Intentional Plagiarism

The deliberate act of representing the words, ideas, or data of another as one’s own without providing proper attribution
to the author through quotation, reference, or footnote. (UTSA Student Code of Conduct, Section 203)

Cut and Paste

Occurs when a student uses another author’s work (in its entirety or just a few words) and submits it as if those words were original material. The amount of work the student cuts and pastes does not matter. It is still intentional plagiarism.

APPROPRIATING IDEAS OR CONCEPTS

Occurs when a student paraphrases another author’s words, rearranges them, and then submits the reworded text as if it were original material.

LACK OF DOCUMENTATION

Occurs when a student uses another author’s words, places them in quotes, but fails to provide proper documentation.

Inadvertent Plagiarism

Inadvertent Plagiarism involves the inappropriate, but not deliberate use of another’s words, ideas, or data without appropriate attribution, failure to follow established rules for documenting sources or from being insufficiently careful in research and writing. (UTSA Student Code of Conduct, section 203)

In many cases, unintentional plagiarism transpires when the author summarizes and/or paraphrases the source material inappropriately, documents a source incorrectly, or omits attribution entirely. Inadvertent plagiarism is by far the most common form of plagiarism, and instructors deal with cases of inadvertent plagiarism differently. Depending on the variables of the case and the severity of the violation, penalties for unintentional plagiarism may vary.

MISSING OR INCORRECT DOCUMENTATION

Occurs when a student uses another person’s ideas or work but unintentionally fails to document the work or documents it improperly.

UNDOCUMENTED ILLUSTRATIONS OR CHARTS

Occurs when a student copies a picture, graph, or illustration, pastes it into his or her work, but fails to provide documentation. Since the author omitted documentation, a reader might think the author created the objects, which is why it’s important to cite visuals created by another author.

SUBMITTING WORK WITHOUT CITING REFERENCES

Occurs when a student provides in-text documentation but fails to attach a Works Cited or References page to the document. If sources were quoted, paraphrased, or summarized in a paper, they need to be properly cited in a works cited or references page.

Paraphrased Plagiarism involves paraphrasing without acknowledging ideas taken from another. In this case, the reader might mistake these ideas for the writer’s.

Types of Paraphrased Plagiarism

PARAPHRASING WITHOUT CHANGING ENOUGH WORDS

Occurs when a student takes another author’s words and then paraphrases or rewords them, but fails to change enough of the original quotation to create an acceptable paraphrase.

PARAPHRASING WITHOUT DOCUMENTATION

Occurs when a student paraphrases and/or rewords another author’s words, but fails to provide the proper documentation.

Plagiarism Mosaic

UTSA Student Code of Conduct, Section 203

Plagiarism Mosaic involves the borrowing of words, ideas, or data from an original source and blending this original material with one’s own without acknowledging the source. (UTSA Student Code of Conduct, Section 203)

Example:

Source Document:

The Monuments, an award-winning architectural element, welcomes everyone to the UTSA Main Campus, highlights the university’s presence in the community and shows that UTSA’s spirit burns brightly. The lighting for the Monuments is comprised of a full-spectrum LED display and can be set to display in a wide array of color combinations – including UTSA orange, blue and white (Chavez).

Chavez, Jesus. “UTSA’s Newest Tradition.” UTSA Today, University of Texas at San Antonio, 9 May 2015, www.utsa.edu/today/2015/05/monuments.html.

Student Essay:

A new award-winning structure will greet all who come to UTSA and highlights the university’s presence in San Antonio.

Why is this Plagiarism Mosaic?

Although the student attempted to use his or her own words, there are still phrases and keywords used from the original source without any documentation. A writer must make sure to either paraphrase in his or her own words or to use the original source as a quotation.

Insufficient Acknowledgment

Insufficient Acknowledgment involves the partial or incomplete attribution of words, ideas, or data from an original source. Here, a student may partially cite an author by giving credit for some of the ideas or words used but using other parts of the work as his or her own. This type of plagiarism may also include citations that are incomplete and useless to find the source.

Example:

Source Document:

The Monuments, an award-winning architectural element, welcomes everyone to the UTSA Main Campus, highlights the university’s presence in the community and shows that UTSA’s spirit burns brightly. The lighting for the Monuments is comprised of a full-spectrum LED display and can be set to display in a wide array of color combinations – including UTSA orange, blue and white (Chavez).

Chavez, Jesus. “UTSA’s Newest Tradition.” UTSA Today, University of Texas at San Antonio, 9 May 2015, www.utsa.edu/today/2015/05/monuments.html.

Student Essay:

The Monuments is an “award-winning architectural element” (Chavez). They welcome everyone to the UTSA Main Campus and highlight the university’s presence in the community.

Why is this Insufficient Acknowledgment? Click to find out.

Although the student cited the author in the first sentence, he or she failed to quote, document, or paraphrase the second sentence.

Scholastic Dishonesty

When an instructor suspects a student of academic dishonesty, he or she will investigate the case to determine if a violation has occurred. If the instructor determines a violation has occurred, he or she will complete a faculty disposition of Scholastic Dishonesty form and meet with the alleged plagiarist. The student has the right to accept the punishment the instructor recommends or have Judicial Affairs investigate the case and potentially assign a penalty. Depending on the severity of the case, the punishment ranges from receiving reduced or no credit for an assignment or a course all the way up to expulsion from the university and potentially “revocation of degree, denial of degree, and/or withdrawal of diploma” (UTSA Student Code of Conduct, Section 301).

Identifying Plagiarism
and How to Avoid It