The laws are put in place to uphold the integrity and quality of education. As a college or university student, you need to know and understand plagiarism laws to ensure academic success, avoid any complications, and maintain your reputation.
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What is Plagiarism?
According to the Oxford Dictionary, plagiarism is the act of taking someone else’s work, expressions, or ideas and presenting them as one’s own without proper acknowledgment. It is considered a big violation and makes your integrity as a student questionable.
From the definition, you might think that plagiarism is a straightforward and easy enough concept to grasp, but there are many forms of plagiarism. Try your best and get familiar with what is considered plagiarism inside and outside your particular institution. You can also get further assistance from artificial intelligence tools and other technologies.
Here are some of the main forms of plagiarism:
- Direct plagiarism: This occurs when you copy someone else’s work word-for-word and fail to acknowledge them. This is the most known plagiarism form.
- Collusion: This type of plagiarism involves working with others on an assignment that is supposed to be completed individually. It includes allowing others to copy your work or sharing answers. Find out what your school considers seeking help with research paper and what it deems as colluding.
- Self-plagiarism: This occurs when a student submits their previous work, or parts of it, without permission from all the academic authorities involved. For example, it would be unacceptable to submit a paper you wrote as an undergraduate in a postgraduate course. Submitting the same work for assignments in different classes or courses without permission is also considered self-plagiarism. Remember, even if the work is yours, you can only use it once.
- Mosaic plagiarism: This type of plagiarism is sometimes called “patchwriting”. It occurs when a student incorporates a phrase from a source into their work without quotation marks or replaces some words with synonyms while still sticking to the same general meaning and structure of the original work. This kind of paraphrasing, whether it is done intentionally or not, is academic dishonesty and is punishable — even if you include your source in the footnote.
- Accidental plagiarism: This happens when a student misquotes their sources, neglects to cite them, or unintentionally paraphrases a source by using a similar sentence structure, group of words, and/or words without attribution. Accidental plagiarism is taken as seriously as any other form of plagiarism. Read on for tips on how to avoid this common mistake!
Legal Framework in the UK
Plagiarism in academic institutions in the UK is primarily handled through academic regulations instead of criminal law. However, legal action could still be taken in situations that involve fraud or copyright infringement.
The following are the main frameworks for addressing plagiarism in the UK:
1. University Regulations
Every university has its own academic integrity policies. Academic integrity policies are detailed documents that explain the university’s stance on plagiarism, the process for handling allegations, and the potential penalties. Students are normally required to read and sign the policies upon enrollment.
They often include examples of what constitutes plagiarism, guidance on how to avoid it, and the steps involved in the disciplinary process.
Most students, under the excitement of being in university, just sign whatever’s in front of them, but take time and read through the policies and pay attention to any additional courses and materials provided on the same. It might just save your academic career.
2. Copyright Law
The UK addresses plagiarism under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988 where the creator reserves exclusive rights to their intellectual property, with some exceptions. This can include text, images, music, and other creative works.
Copyrighted material can be utilized for news reporting, review, criticism, and private study or research.
If you’re in research or doing your post-graduate degree, you simply cannot escape learning more about copyright laws. It will help you stay safe and also enlighten you on how to protect your intellectual property.
3. Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)
The QAA is an organisation that makes and monitors policies and enhances quality in higher education institutions. It provides academic institutions in the UK with standards and guidelines for handling plagiarism cases appropriately.
The QAA emphasises the importance of educating students about academic integrity and providing support to help them avoid plagiarism.
Universities are required to have clear procedures for handling plagiarism allegations, ensuring that investigations are fair and transparent. They must also provide resources and training for students and staff on academic integrity. The QAA is there for you; learn as much about them as you can.
Consequences of Plagiarism
Practising academic dishonesty can have the following repercussions in the UK:
- Lower grades: Professors may decide to award lower marks or a zero for plagiarised work. This may drastically reduce your final grade on the course.
- Failing a course: In severe cases, the school may decide to fail the student in their entire module. To graduate, the student will be forced to repeat the module.
- Loss of degree: If a student committed plagiarism in the past, the review board could decide to revoke the student’s degree later on.
- Reputation damage: If the school chooses to make an example out of a student’s plagiarised work, the student will lose trust among their peers and other academics.
- Legal consequences: In cases of copyright infringement, the copyright holder could sue for monetary compensation. Extreme cases like fraud could lead to time behind bars.
- Expulsion: If the violation is serious or a repeat offence, the school could expel the student entirely. Getting admission to other universities after expulsion can be very difficult.
Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism
Avoiding plagiarism requires you to be diligent and to also have a good understanding of academic writing conventions. Here’s how to avoid plagiarism:
- Use a range of sources: Use more than one source when writing your assignments. It will show that you’ve read widely and help you come up with your own views, thus avoiding plagiarism.
- Paraphrase properly: When paraphrasing, completely rewrite the original text in your own words and still provide a citation. This will help you avoid both mosaic and accidental plagiarism.
- Develop your own style: You should have your own writing style. Always be clear and concise. This will help you avoid using other authors’ words and style in your work. This will also help you gauge whether or not you understand the content, because if you cannot, you probably don’t.
- Keep track of sources: Always keep a note of your sources. This will help you avoid accidental plagiarism. Keeping track of things like page numbers will make the referencing process much easier.
- Use plagiarism detection tools: Numerous universities give students access to plagiarism detection software like Turnitin. Other tools you could use include Grammarly and Copyscape. Make use of these tools to check your work before submitting it to ensure that your work is free from plagiarism.