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Course & Subject Guides

Understanding Academic Integrity, Research, and Classroom Ethics

An overview of Academic Integrity modules and concepts with additional information for International Graduate Students.

Academic Integrity Canvas Course & Badge

As a University of Pittsburgh student, you are expected to adhere to certain standards of academic integrity. To learn about those standards, the University Library System has developed a few short Academic Integrity modules in Canvas. You will learn about Pitt guidelines on plagiarism, honesty, ownership of intellectual property, and scholastically appropriate behavior established by the academic community and the University of Pittsburgh. The modules will explain these concepts in more detail. After you have reviewed the modules, you will take a quiz on all the aspects that you learned. When you complete the quiz successfully, with a score of 80% or more, you can sign up to receive a Credly badge.

Access the Academic Integrity Course now!

What is Plagiarism?

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Plagiarism 抄袭 표절 盗作 plagiat plagio plagio

الأدب ية ال سرق ة

 

"Plagiarism, specifically, is a term used to describe a practice that involves knowingly taking and using another person’s work and claiming it, directly or indirectly, as your own." (Neville, 2007, p. 28)

In the United States, plagiarism is taken very seriously, both legally and ethically. It can lead to disciplinary action such as expulsion from the University. Additionally, plagiarizing will damage your reputation and credibility as a scholar in Western academia. Plagiarism can be intentional (purchasing a research paper online or sharing a test with a friend) or unintentional (improperly citing a source in a paper or using an author's words without giving her/him credit). This below list, from Plagiarism.org, identifies some specific forms of plagiarism:
  • "turning in someone else's work as your own
  • copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
  • failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
  • giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
  • changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
  • copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not" (What Is Plagiarism?)
It might seem like using the ideas of others is a problem. However, this is not the case. Scholarship is a conversation; that is, you will be expected to read, analyze, and respond to the ideas of others when writing your papers. The key to doing this without plagiarizing is to cite your sources! 

 

Take good notes

  • While researching, be sure to take note of important quotes and passages that you think you might use in your paper.
  • Note the citation information--the author, title, and page number, so that you can easily cite it in your paper.
  • Develop a system of note-taking that works for you.

Cite correctly

  • "Any time you use words from another source, such as a Web site, book, journal article, or even a friend's English paper, you must give proper credt to the source.
  • Even if you don't use someone else's words, but you refer to an idea of concept from another source, you must also give credit.
  • 'Citing your sources' means giving all of the information about your source, such as author, title, and date of publication, so someone else can find that source again." (Penn State, 2012)

Use quotes effectively

  • "If you use someone else's exact words, you need to put those words in quotation marks. Changing a few words here and there is not enough to avoid plagiarism. Either put the exact phrase you are quoting in quotation marks, or rewrite it entirely in your own words.
  • Quoting extensively from another source, even if you do it properly, is not appropriate for a research paper. Use quotations to support your arguments or clarify important points, but create your own argument using your own words." (Penn State, 2012)

Paraphrase correctly

  • "In a paraphrase, you rewrite what someone else has said in your own way. Just as you have a personality that is different from everyone else's, you as a writer have your own voice and style. When you write, even when you are paraphrasing, your writing should sound like it came from you, not from someone else." (Penn State, 2012)
References:
Neville, C. (2007). The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism. New York; Maidenhead: Open University Press. 
Penn State. (2012). Plagiarism & You. Online document. Retrieved June 10, 2015, from <https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/students/using_information.html>
What Is Plagiarism? (n.d.) Retrieved June 10, 2015, from <http://plagiarism.org/citing-sources/whats-a-citation>