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		<title>Avoiding plagiarism</title>
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							<p>Authorship is a form of ownership. The material contained in a publication is created by the authors, who can claim credit for the ideas or work described. Authors can give away the right to publish their work (i.e. grant copyright) to others, but the content of the publications will always be linked to them. If you use someone else's work without giving credit, you are essentially stealing. Such theft takes two forms:</p>
							<ul>
								<li><glossary placement="right" content="Using someone else's words or work without providing appropriate credit. <br><br> Definitions of plagiarism sometime include the theft of ideas. However, ideas cannot be owned, and two people can come up with the same idea independent of each other. We have, therefore, not included ideas in our definition, although we recognise that some do consider using someone else's idea without giving credit to be plagiarism.">Plagiarism</glossary>, using someone else's words or work without giving proper credit</li>
								<li><glossary placement="right" content="Using your own words or work without adequately acknowledging where they were previously published.">Self-plagiarism</glossary>, using your own words or prior work (for instance publishing the same results twice) without acknowledgement of your own prior publication.</li>
							</ul>

							<p>Plagiarism is probably the most common form of research misconduct because it is one of the easiest to commit (either intentionally or unintentionally). However, plagiarism is still very serious because it can legitimately be viewed as theft of words or theft of work.</p>
							
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									<p>You can expect to find more specific guidance on the referencing system you should follow on the website of your department or the journal you are hoping to publish in.</p>
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							<h3>Theft of words</h3>
							
							<p>Words can be stolen in various ways, and this can occur deliberately or inadvertently. For example, a researcher might lift whole paragraphs from another publication, fully aware that they are committing plagiarism, or unintentionally fail to include quotation marks around a sentence they are referencing from another work. The theft of words is generally easy to recognise, particularly through the use of software programs that detect plagiarism.</p>
							
							<instructional-text class="non-interactive-swap-out"><p>The following activity illustrates the presentation and referencing techniques that can be used to avoid plagiarism. Consider the question posed in each section, and select an answer to access our feedback. You can then click "Next" to access the next question.</p></instructional-text>
							<instructional-text-accessible class="non-interactive-swap-in"><p>The following activity explores the presentation and referencing techniques that can be used to avoid plagiarism. Consider the question posed in each section, choose your answer and then continue on for our feedback. You can then move on to the next question.</p></instructional-text-accessible>
							
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											<p>Which style of quotation should be used to present the following excerpt from Anderson and Steneck (2011, p. 91)?</p>
											<div class="paper"><p>The gold standard, so to speak, of proper attribution is the use of citations and references, along with quotation marks in the case of direct quotations.</p></div>
										</mcq-question>
										<mcq-options>
											<mcq-option incorrect>
												<mcq-answer>Quotation marks</mcq-answer>
											</mcq-option>
											<mcq-option incorrect>
												<mcq-answer>Block quotation (i.e. setting out the quoted text as an indented paragraph)</mcq-answer>
											</mcq-option>
											<mcq-option correct>
												<mcq-answer>Either quotation marks or block quotation</mcq-answer>
											</mcq-option>
										</mcq-options>
										<mcq-feedback><p>This quote is of a suitable length to make either means of quotation appropriate, though an in-text citation (i.e. Anderson and Steneck, 2011, p. 91) should be present in either case. If the quotation were longer than a single sentence, it is likely that a block quotation would be more appropriate. </p></mcq-feedback>
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									<mcq>
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											<p>Is the placement of the numbered citation correct?</p>
											<div class="paper"><p><sup>1</sup> The gold standard, so to speak, of proper attribution is the use of citations and references, along with quotation marks in the case of direct quotations.</p></div>
										</mcq-question>
										<mcq-options>
											<mcq-option incorrect>
												<mcq-answer>Yes, it's fine as is</mcq-answer>
											</mcq-option>
											<mcq-option correct>
												<mcq-answer>No, it should be at the end of the quoted section </mcq-answer>
											</mcq-option>
											<mcq-option incorrect>
												<mcq-answer>No, it should be at the end of the paragraph</mcq-answer>
											</mcq-option>
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										<mcq-feedback>
											<p>Citations should be placed <em>immediately after the quoted material</em>, not at the end of the paragraph in which the material is quoted, and certainly not before the start of the quote. If you quote one source twice, each quotation should be cited independently.</p>
											<p>Numbered citations link to information provided in footnotes, endnotes, a reference list or a bibliography. Numbered citation provides an alternative to in-text citation &ndash; the method you use will be determined by the referencing style you are following (which can be set by your institution, or by the journal you are submitting your paper to).</p>
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									<mcq>
										<mcq-question>
											<p>What is missing from the reference presented below?</p>
											<div class="paper"><p>Anderson, M. S. and Steneck, N. H. (2011) The problem of plagiarism. <em>Urologic Oncology</em>, <strong>29</strong>(1). doi:10.1016/j.urolonc.2010.09.013.</p></div>
										</mcq-question>
										<mcq-options>
											<mcq-option correct>
												<mcq-answer>Page numbers</mcq-answer>
											</mcq-option>
											<mcq-option incorrect>
												<mcq-answer>Names of reviewers</mcq-answer>
											</mcq-option>
											<mcq-option incorrect>
												<mcq-answer>Related publications</mcq-answer>
											</mcq-option>
										</mcq-options>
										<mcq-feedback>
											<p>The page number is an essential item that is frequently omitted from references &ndash; here, the page number range is required after the issue and volume numbers (e.g. <strong>29</strong>(1), pp. 90&ndash;94). For longer articles or books, it is particularly important that you provide the page number range to allow readers to source the specific section you are basing your work on.</p>
											<p>As a general rule, a reference should include the following: author(s); year; details of publication (e.g. title, name of journal, issue/volume number, date, name of publisher, place of publication); page numbers; digital object identifier (DOI) number (if available). The specifics of which information to include will be determined by the referencing style you are adhering to.</p>
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									<h4 class="">Question 1 of 3:</h4>
									<p>Which style of quotation should be used to present the following excerpt from Anderson and Steneck (2011, p. 91)?</p>
									<text-block>
										<p>The gold standard, so to speak, of proper attribution is the use of citations and references, along with quotation marks in the case of direct quotations.</p>
									</text-block>
									<h4 class="">Answer options:</h4>
									<ul>
										<li>Quotation marks</li>
										<li>Block quotation (i.e. setting out the quoted text as an indented paragraph)</li>
										<li>Either quotation marks or block quotation</li>
									</ul>
									<h4 class="">The correct answer is:</h4>
									<ul>
										<li>Either quotation marks or block quotation</li>
									</ul>
									<h4 class="">Feedback:</h4>
									<div class="">
										<p>This quote is of a suitable length to make either means of quotation appropriate, though an in-text citation (i.e. Anderson and Steneck, 2011, p. 91) should be present in either case. If the quotation were longer than a single sentence, it is likely that a block quotation would be more appropriate. </p>
									</div>
								</div>
								<hr>
								<div class="">
									<h4 class="">Question 2 of 3:</h4>
									<p>Is the placement of the numbered citation correct?</p>
									<text-block>
										<p><sup>1</sup> The gold standard, so to speak, of proper attribution is the use of citations and references, along with quotation marks in the case of direct quotations.</p>
									</text-block>
									<h4 class="">Answer options:</h4>
									<ul>
										<li>Yes, it's fine as is</li>
										<li>No, it should be at the end of the quoted section </li>
										<li>No, it should be at the end of the paragraph</li>
									</ul>
									<h4 class="">The correct answer is:</h4>
									<ul>
										<li>No, it should be at the end of the quoted section </li>
									</ul>
									<h4 class="">Feedback:</h4>
									<div class="">
										<p>Citations should be placed <em>immediately after the quoted material</em>, not at the end of the paragraph in which the material is quoted, and certainly not before the start of the quote. If you quote one source twice, each quotation should be cited independently.</p>
										<p>Numbered citations link to information provided in footnotes, endnotes, a reference list or a bibliography. Numbered citation provides an alternative to in-text citation &ndash; the method you use will be determined by the referencing style you are following (which can be set by your institution, or by the journal you are submitting your paper to).</p>
									</div>
								</div>
								<hr>
								<div class="">
									<h4 class="">Question 3 of 3:</h4>
									<p>What is missing from the reference presented below?</p>
									<text-block>
										<p>Anderson, M. S. and Steneck, N. H. (2011) The problem of plagiarism. <em>Urologic Oncology</em>, <strong>29</strong>(1). doi:10.1016/j.urolonc.2010.09.013.</p>
									</text-block>
									<h4 class="">Answer options:</h4>
									<ul>
										<li>Page numbers</li>
										<li>Names of reviewers</li>
										<li>Related publications</li>
									</ul>
									<h4 class="">The correct answer is:</h4>
									<ul>
										<li>Page numbers</li>
									</ul>
									<h4 class="">Feedback:</h4>
									<div class="">
										<p>The page number is an essential item that is frequently omitted from references &ndash; here, the page number range is required after the issue and volume numbers (e.g. <strong>29</strong>(1), pp. 90&ndash;94). For longer articles or books, it is particularly important that you provide the page number range to allow readers to source the specific section you are basing your work on.</p>
										<p>As a general rule, a reference should include the following: author(s); year; details of publication (e.g. title, name of journal, issue/volume number, date, name of publisher, place of publication); page numbers; digital object identifier (DOI) number (if available). The specifics of which information to include will be determined by the referencing style you are adhering to.</p>
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							<p>Avoiding plagiarism of words is not particularly difficult. If you use someone else's words, you need to identify them, add a citation and provide information on the source.</p>
							
							<h3>Theft of work</h3>
							
							<p>Theft of work occurs when ideas or research are used without appropriate credit being given, demonstrating that you can still be committing plagiarism even if you are not directly copying someone else's words.</p>
							
							<instructional-text><p>You have to judge whether a practice would or would not constitute a theft of work. Go through each explanation of a potential practice, choosing the "tick" or "cross" depending on whether you think the practice is acceptable or unacceptable. You will then be able to access our feedback, which will be tailored to your choice.</p></instructional-text>
							<instructional-text-accessible><p>You have to judge whether a practice would or would not constitute a theft of work. In the following activity, work through each explanation of a potential practice and decide whether you think the practice is acceptable or unacceptable. Continue on for our feedback corresponding to your choice.</p></instructional-text-accessible>
							
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							<checklist allow-restart="true" has-ticks-and-crosses="true">
								<check-item>
								  <p>"I want to display data from a previously published graph because it illustrates perfectly the point I am trying to make. As long as I'm not including an image of the original graph, perhaps by creating my own version and changing the way it is formatted, I do not need to provide a citation."</p>
								  <check-tick-cross>
									<check-tick incorrect><strong>Incorrect.</strong> Even though you are changing the way the data is displayed, this is still plagiarism because you did not collect the original data. Re-formatting the graph is not a problem so long as you state where the original data came from.</check-tick>
									<check-cross correct><strong>Correct.</strong> Even though you are changing the way the data is displayed, this is still plagiarism because you did not collect the original data. Re-formatting the graph is not a problem so long as you state where the original data came from.</check-cross>
								  </check-tick-cross>
								</check-item>
								<check-item>
								  <p>"I'm planning to sum up a long list of bullet points in a few sentences, but of course I'll include a citation in brackets at the end of the section."</p>
								  <check-tick-cross>
									<check-tick correct><strong>Correct.</strong> This is not an example of plagiarism so long as an appropriate citation is provided at the end of the section.</check-tick>
									<check-cross incorrect><strong>Incorrect.</strong> This is not an example of plagiarism because an appropriate reference will be added at the end of the section.</check-cross>
								  </check-tick-cross>
								</check-item>
								<check-item>
								  <p>"I've found some fascinating references in an old book. I don't have time to check them all, but will incorporate them in my bibliography to complement my work."</p>
								  <check-tick-cross>
									<check-tick incorrect><strong>Incorrect.</strong> You must check all references that you intend to use both for in-text citations and in broader bibliographies. Whenever you add a reference to a piece of work, the implication is that you are recommending the reference to the reader of your work, and thus know what that reference contains.</check-tick>
									<check-cross correct><strong>Correct.</strong> You must check all references that you intend to use both for in-text citations and in broader bibliographies. Whenever you add a reference to a piece of work, the implication is that you are recommending the reference to the reader of your work, and thus know what that reference contains.</check-cross>
								  </check-tick-cross>
								</check-item>
								<check-item>
								  <p>"I've found an excellent introduction in a paper that would work well for my work. I think I will paraphrase it, making sure I use all the same citations that were in the original piece of writing."</p>
								  <check-tick-cross>
									<check-tick incorrect><strong>Incorrect.</strong> Regardless of whether you think the published piece of writing provides a good introduction for your work, or whether it uses references that you have already read, you should not be lazy and paraphrase someone else's writing in this way. Part of learning to be a good researcher is learning how to describe things in your own words.</check-tick>
									<check-cross correct><strong>Correct.</strong> Regardless of whether you think the published piece of writing provides a good introduction for your work, or whether it uses references that you have already read, you should not be lazy and paraphrase someone else's writing in this way. Part of learning to be a good researcher is learning how to describe things in your own words.</check-cross>
								  </check-tick-cross>
								</check-item>
								<check-item>
									<p>"I've found a blog post that summarises the points I want to make. Since a blog is not an 'official' publication, it doesn't matter if I reuse some of the text in an academic paper."</p>
									<check-tick-cross>
									  <check-tick incorrect><strong>Incorrect.</strong> Regardless of where something was published, you should never give readers the impression that you are responsible for an idea that someone else came up with, even if they have not officially published it in the academic literature.</check-tick>
									  <check-cross correct><strong>Correct.</strong> Regardless of where something was published, you should never give readers the impression that you are responsible for an idea that someone else came up with, even if they have not officially published it in the academic literature.</check-cross>
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							<p>If you have further questions about identifying and avoiding plagiarism, consider additional training. It might also be helpful to consider your own experience and attitudes towards plagiarism.</p>
							
							<h3>Summary</h3>
							
							<p>Drafting a publication takes time. It can take a long time to develop the skills needed to write succinctly and clearly, and it is especially difficult if you find yourself having to write in a language you are less familiar with than your own. Whatever obstacles you face when drafting an article, take care to avoid cutting corners when you write. You should always remember the following three rules when seeking to avoid plagiarism:</p>
							
							<ol>
								<li>Use your own words when you write, not the words of others</li>
								<li>Avoid using cut and paste when you write</li>
								<li>Be clear about the source when you use someone else's words or work.</li>
							</ol>
							
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