Plagiarism… Dr. Chris Staff chris.staff@um.mt March 2008

1. Plagiarism…Dr. Chris Staffchris.staff@um.edu.mtMarch 2008 …and how to avoid it Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

2. The purpose of research • Why do we do research? • To contribute to or extend knowledge… • How do we do this? • … by building on the work of others Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

3. Reporting our research (1) • We are expected to place our research in the right context… • … to show that we are aware of what else is happening • … to show that we understand where our work fits • So our reports must contain an analysis of similar/relevant work Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

4. Reporting our research (2) • It follows that in a report that we write about our own work, we could be reporting on the work of others • We have to make clear distinctions between what is our own original work, what is our opinion about the work of others, and what is actually said by others (verbatim) • ‘Work’ can be ideas, descriptions, research, data, opinions, pictures, figures, tables, etc. Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

5. Reports and reports and reports • Not every report you write will necessarily be a description of your own, novel, original research • Sometimes, you will write reports summarising existing research to solve well understood problems with existing solutions • It should still be possible for the reader/examiner to tell difference between your own work, your opinion of the work of others, and the verbatim words of others Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

6. Plagiarism: What is it? “the unacknowledged use, as one’s own, of work of another person, whether or not such work has been published” University of Malta Regulations Governing Conduct at Examinations, 1997 Assessment Tests Regulations, 1997 Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

7. Plagiarism: So bite me! • A student found to have plagiarised may have: • reduced marks awarded to the offending work • zero marks awarded to the offending work • result of study-unit including offending work cancelled Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

8. Plagiarism: Bite me some more! • Results cancelled for all work done at the same session • Senate has the power to expel students who plagiarise • All cases of plagiarism may be recorded on the offending student’s file • Familiarise yourself with Faculty/University regulations/guidelines concerning plagiarism! Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

9. Ehhh… so what’s plagiarism? Avoiding Plagiarism, Purdue University Online Writing Lab, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html, 10th October 2002 Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

10. Deliberate Plagiarism • Clearly, buying, stealing, or using somebody else’s brain-power to do your work for you are all acts of deliberate plagiarism • You can expect the most severe of penalties Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

11. Avoid accidental plagiarism • You probably don’t want to get into trouble for accidental plagiarism • “I didn’t mean to” is not an excuse, and may be punished as severely as a deliberate act of plagiarism Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

12. Plagiarism: How to avoid it • Back up every claim you make “Experts state…” must state who the experts are, and state where they make the claim! Being able to justify your claims (through your own data or by reference to others) will help you and not hinder you! Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

13. Plagiarism: How to avoid it • Acknowledge your sources of inspiration “Borrowing” the work of others without acknowledging their contribution is dishonest Merely listing the contribution in the bibliography without an in-text reference is seen as an attempt to deceive ! If you are writing about the work of Staff, and you see that Brown has written a good descriptive piece about Staff’s work, DON’T copy what Brown has said and cite Staff but not Brown! Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

14. Plagiarism: How to avoid it • Use original phraseology, or else credit the original author Demonstrate that you understand by using “your own words” If the original states it better that you can, then quote it! If you rely on too many quotations, consider taking English for Academic Purposes Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

15. Plagiarism: How to avoid it • Paraphrasing Avoid lengthy descriptions of other work Try to find common attributes, and list work that has the attribute I find it useful to write lit. reviews from systems/model perspective: what are the processing steps in this type of system? What are the different ways of performing each step? Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

16. Plagiarism: How to avoid it • Do not “share” work with colleagues Collusion is as bad as plagiarism, it’s still a form of cheating The information provider/s will be in as much trouble as the information receiver/s! Discuss ideas, problems, possible solutions with each other by all means (and remember that lecturers were put on this planet to help you!), but the actual writing/coding/model building should be your own individual work (unless otherwise stated) Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

17. Plagiarism: How to avoid it • Common knowledge If something is “common knowledge” you don’t need to cite it Something is “common knowledge” if generally people know it If you’re not sure: Cite it anyway If at least 10 peer-review papers in your discipline don’t give a citation for the information, then you don’t need to Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

18. Plagiarism: How to Avoid it • It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that the work you submit is free from plagiarism! • In BSc ICT/IT/BSc Computer Science you must sign a “disclaimer” to successfully submit an assignment Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

19. Plagiarism and Groupwork • Some assignments and Assigned Practical Tasks (BSc IT/Computer Science/Informatics) require you to work in groups • Sometimes you will submit a single piece of work as a joint report • Other times you will work together, but submit separate reports • Remember to give credit where it is due Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

20. Online links • How to Avoid Plagiarism (By Really Trying), Barbara L. Brown, 20th October, 2004 • Avoiding Plagiarism, Purdue University Online Writing Lab, 20th October 2004 • Plagiarism: What it is and how to recognize it and avoid it, Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, 20th October, 2004 • How to avoid plagiarism AND write a strong argument, 20th October, 2004 • Resources on Plagiarism and Cheating, Sara Nixon, 25th January, 2007 • The Academic Integrity Tutorial, 25th January, 2007 Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

21. Citations • You can use any citation/referencing system (Harvard, APA, ACM,…), as long as you use it consistently • Lots of on-line papers for examples - see especially www.acm.org, citeseer.ist.psu.edu (for IT/CS) • Ideally, use a style that is recommended by your department, or in prevalent use in your domain, or required by your conference organisers/ journal … Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

22. Citations • Examples from my own PhD thesis (Staff. C., 2001, HyperContext: A Framework for Adaptive and Adaptable Hypertext. PhD Thesis, University of Sussex.) Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

23. Citing as a summary Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

24. Paraphrasing Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

25. Direct quotation Although the direct quotation is not in “”, it is indented differently from the rest of the text (in accordance with University of Sussex requirements) Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta

26. Other examples… Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Malta