Plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
The simple definition of plagiarism as “the misrepresentation of another’s work […] as one’s own” can often leave students with questions. The following sections explain the most important principles that will help you avoid plagiarism.
Paraphrasing
A paraphrase is often misconstrued as a passage equal in length or structure to the original source. This is not necessarily true. Really, it is only equal in meaning. A correct paraphrase is a piece of totally original writing that expresses an idea/ideas that you have learned from someone else’s work. Good paraphrases are often shorter than the original work – the “summary paraphrase” – and may leave out parts of the original that aren’t useful (as long as doing so does not change the meaning of it). A good paraphrase will also often seem easier for you to read.
Anyone who tries will find that it is difficult to paraphrase while looking at the original. A much wiser method is to read and understand the original first, and to make short (clearly labeled) notes that reproduce the meaning but not the words of whatever part will be useful in your own writing. Writing while looking only at those notes will be much easier.
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The following passage appears in Young, R.E., Becker, A.L., & Pike, K.L. (1970). Rhetoric: Discovery and Change. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. “Certain kinds of problems either do not lend themselves, or have not yet lent themselves, to solution by rule-governed procedures. We have algorithms for solving arithmetic problems but no rules for discovering the algorithms themselves; nor do we have rules for solving such loosely defined problems as “When is civil disobedience justified?” and “Why are there no green mammals?” Problems of this kind have several dimensions, some of which are not apparent; for this reason they are often described as ill-defined.” (Young et al, 1970, p. 121). |
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Copy-Paste Plagiarism: Some problems are not solved by rule-governed procedures. Algorithms can solve math problems but can’t produce more algorithms. Also there are no algorithms to answer loosely-defined problems in politics or biology. Problems like this have several dimensions, and we haven’t even identified some of them, which makes them ill-defined problems (Young et al, 1970, p. 121). [Note how the highlighted parts are the same or almost the same as in the original.Also, the whole pattern of sentences is the same.] |
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Bad Paraphrase Plagiarism: Some problems are not solved by rules. Theorems can solve math problems but can’t produce more theorems. Also there are no theorems to answer questions about politics or biology. Problems like that have a lot of different parts, and we haven’t even identified some of them, which makes them ill-defined problems (Young et al, 1970, p. 121). [Note how the highlighted parts are inaccurate synonyms for the terms in the original: “Rule-governed procedures” become only “rules,” and “algorithms” become “theorems,” for example.Also, the whole pattern of sentences is the same.] |
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Good Example: There exist some questions and problems that, for reasons of complexity and imperfect knowledge, aren’t possible to solve by the application of rules, formulae, or fixed procedures. Young et al. (1970) call these “ill-defined” problems (p. 121). [Note that the structure is totally different, and the examples from politics and biology have been left out. When capturing the meaning of a passage, reproducing the same examples is not often necessary. You might better add your own.] |
Citation & reference
A citation appears in or below your text, and it contains only enough information to locate the source in the reference list at the end of your work. That entry in turn contains enough information to locate the source in a library, in an archive, or online. Citations thus have three purposes: to label your work as being “not mine,” to borrow the authority of the other author, and to help a curious reader find more information.
Citations are required on any information, quoted or paraphrased, or any method that comes from someone or somewhere other than your work for the current project. The lack of a citation says, “this is my new idea.”
The Style Guides section of the SSC site contains guides and templates for citation and reference in all of the major styles.
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Missing Citation Plagiarism: There exist some questions and problems that, for reasons of complexity and imperfect knowledge, aren’t possible to solve by the application of rules or fixed procedures. We can call these “ill-defined” problems. [This is a good paraphrase, but Young, Becker, & Pike have not been given any credit.] |
Quoting
Using the words of another author is tempting, but should be done as little as possible and only with a good reason. Paraphrasing is preferable. If you do use a quotation (always with a citation), it should include only the part of the original text that you want to comment on, or the part that can’t be paraphrased. It should also, wherever possible, comprise only a part of one of your own sentences, unless you want to comment on a whole passage.
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Quoting as Part of a Sentence: According to Young et al. (1970), there exist some “ill-defined” questions and problems that, for reasons of complexity and imperfect knowledge, aren’t possible to solve by the application of “rule-governed procedures” (p. 121). [Note how the quoted words don’t indicate the purpose of the sentence on their own. They just offer some useful terms.] |
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Quoting a Passage for Commentary: When Young et al. (1970) wrote that “certain kinds of problems either do not lend themselves, or have not yet lent themselves, to solution by rule-governed procedures” (p. 121), they were implying that the discovery of new knowledge might eventually turn an “ill-defined” (p. 121) problem into one that could be solved by a formula or a rule. [The writer here wants to focus on and explain the “not yet.” A selection of any length might be necessary as a basis for commentary; this is where large, multi-sentence quotations might happen, such as in a literature essay.] |
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Quoting Badly: “Certain kinds of problems either do not lend themselves, or have not yet lent themselves, to solution by rule-governed procedures” (Young et al., 1970, p. 121). One of those problems is the selection of the best form of government. [Note how the quoted passage delivers important meaning on its own. It is speaking for the writer, and would better have been paraphrased. This is not plagiarism, just bad writing, but too much of this from one source will become plagiarism.] |
Self-plagiarism
It is possible to plagiarize from your own work, and it will result in the same consequences as plagiarism from other sources. You cannot submit the same material for academic credit more than once. If you want to re-use some writing in a second assignment, ask your professor; if it is not central to the purpose of the assignment, they may allow you to cite and reference yourself.
Plagiarism in Computer Science
The same rules apply to all academic disciplines, including computer science. Citations and references in code appear together (with the exception of license files) and ahead of any passage that is copied from, adapted from, or based on any work that is not your own original product.
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// Code adapted from MSDN example: (Source: https://github.com/adobe/chromium/blob/master/base/debug/stack_trace_win.cc retrieved in July 2019.) |
It is important to remember that instructors determine what use of outside code or other material is acceptable, as well as what degree of collaboration with classmates. These limits may differ, from course to course, and violating these limits will be counted an act of academic dishonesty, even if you have cited the material correctly.
- You are responsible to ask your professor what is acceptable, if you are unsure.
- You should not assume that what is acceptable in a professional setting will be acceptable in a university course.
- Never show or share code or solutions unless specifically asked to work together.
- You will never be allowed to reuse online material that solves the problem you have been assigned.
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