Introduction
For many master’s students, one of the biggest concerns is understanding acceptable practice around academic ethics, and in particular plagiarism.
Although master’s students will be experienced in using and referencing sources, conventions can differ. It’s important therefore to understand exactly what you can and cannot do as a master’s student at the University of Dundee.
What is plagiarism?
According to the University of Dundee’s Code of Practice on Academic Misconduct by Students (updated March 2022), plagiarism is “[t]he unacknowledged use of another’s work as if it were one’s own”.
Plagiarism can include:
- Using someone else’s words or ideas in your own work without acknowledging the source
- Quoting someone else’s words without using quotation marks (even if you cite the source)
- Substituting words rather than paraphrasing an author’s original idea (even if you cite the source)
- Copying and pasting text into your own work without acknowledging the source.
This video explains how some of the more common types of plagiarism occur:
Wider Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism is one form of academic misconduct, but there are others you should also be aware of. These include:
- Paying someone (an individual or an online company for example) to do an assignment for you.
- Colluding with someone to produce a submission that is supposed to be your own work.
- Re-submitting – partially or in full – a piece of work you have previously submitted for assessment at this or another university.
This is only a brief summary. You should read the Code of Practice in full to ensure you have a clear understanding of policy here at the University of Dundee. Every time you submit a piece of work at the University you’re confirming that you’ve adhered to this code, so it’s important that you know what it contains.
Avoid ‘copy and paste’
One particularly common cause of plagiarism is copying and pasting from other sources into your assignment document. This may lead to intentional plagiarism (where you knowingly and deliberately pass the copied content off as your own work) or unintentional plagiarism (where for example you subsequently forget to add the appropriate citations and references, or you include these details but fail to acknowledge with quotation marks that they are the words of the original author rather than your own).
In your previous studies, it may have been acceptable to use copied passages in this way, or else you may have been in the habit of copying directly into your assignment before editing the copied passage and adding the appropriate references.
As a master’s student at the University of Dundee, you should never copy passages directly into your assignment.
You may, if you choose, copy passages into a separate file, and then edit the passage and add appropriate referencing before including it in your assignment. However, you should always think about why you want to use this particular piece of evidence, exactly which parts of the passage you need to include, and whether you should quote these parts directly or paraphrase (put into your own words).
How is plagiarism identified?
Most assignments at University of Dundee are submitted through a piece of software called Turnitin, which produces what is known as a ‘similarity report’. It’s important to note that this is not a plagiarism report – there can be legitimate reasons for parts of your work being flagged up as similar to other sources.
Nevertheless, your marker will look into the highlighted extracts in more detail and make a judgement as to whether there is a problem. In all honesty, in many cases the technology is not required. An experienced marker will notice fairly quickly by themselves if something isn’t quite right.
In some subjects, you will be allowed to submit a draft of your assignment in advance of the deadline so you can see the similarity report for yourself and make any necessary adjustments. Note that this is not a universal option and is down to the discretion of the individual module leaders.
You will be informed if this option is available to you. If so, it’s important that you understand what the report is telling you so you can take the appropriate action. You can do this by familiarising yourself with the University’s guide on how to Understand similarity reports in Turnitin
What are the penalties for plagiarism?
Most assignments at University of Dundee are submitted through a piece of software called Turnitin, which produces what is known as a ‘similarity report’. It’s important to note that this is not a plagiarism report – there can be legitimate reasons for parts of your work being flagged up as similar to other sources.
Nevertheless, your marker will look into the highlighted extracts in more detail and make a judgement as to whether there is a problem. In all honesty, in many cases the technology is not required. An experienced marker will notice fairly quickly by themselves if something isn’t quite right.
In some subjects, you will be allowed to submit a draft of your assignment in advance of the deadline so you can see the similarity report for yourself and make any necessary adjustments. Note that this is not a universal option and is down to the discretion of the individual module leaders.
You will be informed if this option is available to you. If so, it’s important that you understand what the report is telling you so you can take the appropriate action. You can do this by familiarising yourself with the University’s guide on how to Understand similarity reports in Turnitin
Practical ways you can avoid plagiarism
- Read and bookmark the University of Dundee’s Code of Practice on Academic Misconduct by Students. Once you have a clear understanding of the rules and regulations laid out by the University, you’ll be much clearer on what you need to do and more in control of the process.
- Adopt good practice in your research and writing. The guides in this section and in the Conducting Research and Writing at Master’s Level sections will help you do this.
- Consider using referencing management software such as Endnote to help manage the process and to remove an element of human error.
Summing Up
It’s understandable to begin a master’s course with a sense of trepidation about plagiarism and the ins and outs of referencing. It can all seem very confusing and fraught with danger.
But the truth is you shouldn’t spend your time on a master’s course worrying about plagiarism and obsessing about getting the details right. The ethical use of evidence and the referencing of that evidence are important elements of successful master’s study, but they are parts of a much bigger picture.
By understanding what constitutes plagiarism, and the role that referencing plays in ensuring that you don’t fall into that trap, you can spend less time worrying about how you reference the evidence and more time focusing on how you use that evidence to its best effect.
