3 Chapter 3 Recognize Plagiarism and How To Avoid It
Plagiarism
Introduction
The UTRGV Handbook of Operating Procedures (HOP) defines plagiarism as “the appropriation, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another’s work and the unacknowledged submission (resubmission) or incorporation of it in one’s academic work offered for credit” (UTRGV HOP, Section: STU 02-100). UTRGV considers plagiarism an act of academic dishonesty. As such, the Academic Integrity Violation sanctions listed in the above section apply in cases of plagiarism.
In this chapter, you will complete plagiarism training and receive a certificate.
What is Plagiarism?
The following video defines plagiarism, its many forms, and its consequences. It also guides how to avoid plagiarism.
Remember to always
- Give credit to any resource(s) (including books, articles, social media, personnel communication, etc. consulted for an assignment/paper.
- Use proper in-text citations.
- Generate a reference list to acknowledge the sources in the submitted assignment/paper.
What is self-plagiarism?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines self-plagiarism as “the reuse of one’s own words, ideas, or artistic expression (as in an essay) from preexisting material, especially without acknowledgment of their earlier use.” In the educational setting, this translates into a student submitting the same paper/essay, or substantial parts of that paper, for more than one course without notifying the instructor of the prior use of the article or its portions.
Self-plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty and violates academic integrity.
How to avoid the problem of self-plagiarism?
- Never submit the same paper, essay, or assignment for more than one course.
- If you plan to use portions of a prior submission, communicate with your professor and provide a citation of the pieces of the paper previously submitted. It should also include the course and date of the prior submission.
Exercise
For this chapter, you will need to:
- Complete a set of short tutorials* on recognizing and avoiding plagiarism.
- After completing the tutorials, you would register for certification tests to ensure you receive a certificate of completion.
- The tutorials and tests will take approximately an hour to complete.
To access the tutorials, click Welcome: How to Recognize Plagiarism: Tutorial and Tests, School of Education, Indiana University Bloomington (iu.edu).
Source: Frick, T., Dagli, C., Barrett, A., Myers, R., Kwon, K., & Tomita, K. (2017). How to recognize plagiarism: Tutorial and tests. Bloomington, IN: Department of Instructional Systems Technology, School of Education, Indiana University. Retrieved from: Welcome: How to Recognize Plagiarism: Tutorial and Tests, School of Education, Indiana University Bloomington (iu.edu)
