Academic Honesty Lesson 1 - What is Plagiarism?

Main ideas and lessons

• Plagiarism is academic theft

  • It involves using someone else’s intellectual property—including their language, visuals, or ideas—in your own work without giving proper credit.

• What counts as plagiarism (general definition)

  • An “author” can include not only published writers, but also:
    • People who created books
    • People who created websites
    • Classmates who drafted materials like lab reports or essays
  • Bottom line: plagiarism is using others’ work as if it’s your own.

• Plagiarism is not limited to the humanities

  • It can occur in any subject (including math/science) and is still considered academic dishonesty.

• Common ways plagiarism happens

  • Copying someone else’s work and submitting it as your own
  • Cutting and pasting from the internet without proper attribution
  • Failing to provide correct source information
  • Purchasing work online and turning it in as if it were written by you

• Real-world example of plagiarism/copyright being costly

  • In 1977, Marvin Gaye released “Got to Give It Up.”
  • In 2013, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams released “Blurred Lines.”
  • Marvin Gaye’s family sued the creators for copyright infringement.
  • The court ruled in favor of Marvin Gaye’s family and awarded millions to his estate.
  • Lesson: even outside school, plagiarism/copyright infringement can have serious consequences (even if academic plagiarism usually won’t cost millions, it can still be damaging).

• Academic consequences for plagiarism

  • Getting a zero on an assignment
  • Being denied access to a program of study/course
  • Potentially being expelled from college

• Why academic integrity matters

  • Students are in class primarily to learn
  • Teachers need to see your own work to provide the best help and instruction

Clarifications and boundaries

• Copying notes vs. submitting them

  • OK: copying a fellow student’s notes for your own understanding/information
  • Not OK: copying those notes and submitting them for an assignment

• Group work vs. plagiarism

  • Working in small groups = collaboration (not plagiarism)
  • Plagiarism: copying a classmate’s lab report/findings and submitting them as if you produced them

Academic dishonesty beyond plagiarism (examples mentioned)

• Providing answers to a classmate for an assignment
• Referring to class notes during a test when it’s not allowed (i.e., not open-book)
• Discussing test items with other students
• Falsely claiming illness or otherwise misrepresenting truth to avoid a test

What you can do (allowed behaviors)

• Discuss questions and share notes with other students outside of tests and assignments
• Watch educational videos and read relevant online documents for study purposes
• But you must complete assignments and tests based on your own knowledge and skills

Technology and enforcement (Turnitin)

• When submitting written work in D2L, Turnitin checks for plagiarism from:
  • Other students’ work
  • The internet
• Turnitin provides a percentage indicating how much of the paper may match other sources.
• The intent is to help students:
  • Identify parts that must be paraphrased
  • Add proper source credits/documentation
• Goal: when the instructor views your submission, there should be no evidence of plagiarism.

Methodology / checklist format (how to avoid plagiarism)

• During writing:

  • Don’t copy others’ language, visuals, or ideas without proper credit
  • If you use information from sources, paraphrase appropriately
  • Provide correct citations/source credits for borrowed content

• During assignments and tests:

  • Complete assignments/tests using your own knowledge and skills
  • Don’t share or obtain answers that violate test rules
  • Don’t use unauthorized materials during tests

• Using other materials:

  • Notes/video/documents may be used for learning
  • Do not submit others’ work as your own (e.g., pasted content, bought papers, copied reports)

• Before submission (process suggested by Turnitin feedback):

  • Review Turnitin’s similarity information (if shown)
  • Revise highlighted/flagged sections by paraphrasing and/or documenting sources

Speakers / sources featured

• Diana Hacker (cited as the source for the definition of plagiarism via Diana Hacker’s Canadian Writer’s Reference)
• Marvin Gaye (referenced via his song “Got to Give It Up”)
• Robin Thicke (referenced via “Blurred Lines”)
• Pharrell Williams (referenced via “Blurred Lines”)
• Turnitin (software used for plagiarism detection in D2L)
• D2L (platform mentioned where assignments are submitted)
• College/instructors/courts (referenced generally as enforcement authorities)