Algonquin College - Learning Resource Centre

Research - Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

What is Academic Integrity?
What Does It Mean to Plagiarize at Algonquin?
Common Myths About Plagiarism
What Faculty Can Do
Faculty Resources
Student Resources
Detection Methods and Tools

Academic Integrity & Plagiarism

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity simply means academic honesty; it is a matter of principle to give credit where credit is due. It demonstrates that you respect original thinking and acknowledge others’ work and ideas.

All writing and research in college makes use of others’ work and ideas. It is a normal part of academic work to refer to other sources. Using sources is common practice in the academic world, as it illustrates proper researching skills and the ability to acquire a deeper understanding or connection to your topic. It is also another way of directing readers to credible sources that support your ideas.

Algonquin College values academic honesty as a key principle in the college’s work place and environment. If you do not use proper citation or acknowledge sources you are committing academic fraud and will be penalized.

Make sure that you keep track of where you found the information. Help is available at the Student Support Lab C102 if you are unsure how to cite a source.

What Does It Mean to Plagiarize at Algonquin?

Regardless of which educational institution you are attending, plagiarism is stealing and has consequences in the academic world. Algonquin College is no different. The College takes plagiarism very seriously and will not tolerate academic dishonesty on any level. The academic directive, which governs Algonquin’s policies, states the following on plagiarism:

A student who commits plagiarism will be subject to disciplinary action. Disciplinary action will take the form of an academic sanction(s) and will reflect the severity of the offense committed (Algonquin College Directive E43, Plagiarism).

Academic sanctions are assigned according to the nature and extent of the academic dishonesty. Repeated acts of plagiarism will result in harsher sanctions.

Academic sanctions can vary from having to complete a course on academic integrity all the way to being suspended from your program or from the College. Any academic sanction that a student receives will remain on his or her file one year after student activity at Algonquin College.

Common Myths About Plagiarism

Here are six common myths about plagiarism that often get students into trouble when writing:

1. Plagiarizing by accident makes it less of an offense.
Plagiarism is stealing, whether it is done intentionally or not. You wouldn’t walk out of a store without paying for something, so why would you use some else’s work without providing due credit?

2. Buying papers or assignments gives you ownership of the work.
Buying an essay does not mean you own it. Submitting anyone else’s work as your own constitutes plagiarism, regardless of whether you paid for it or had someone else write it for you.

3. Using quotes around borrowed text is a proper citation.
If you are quoting someone directly, then you must follow the quotation rule, which means placing quotations around the entire quoted text and including a citation at the end of the sentence in parentheses. Any citation that is used in your work must be correctly formatted in APA or MLA style and then a complete citation of the work is required in your bibliography. If you have paraphrased any ideas in your own words, then you need only a citation at the end of the sentence and not quotation marks.

4. It is acceptable to cut and paste text or images from the Internet.
Information and images from the Internet are not public domain. Therefore copied text or images from websites must also include a citation. All material is copyrighted, whether it says so or not. Any material you use must be cited, even if it comes from a royalty free website, where you don’t require the creator’s permission to use the materials. For more information on copyright, please visit the LRC website on copyright at http://www.algonquincollege.com/lrc/research/copyright.htm.

5. You don’t need a bibliography if you used the Internet.
Actually, you do require a bibliography if you use the Internet or any other source for doing your assignments. Professors do not think less of you if you have used additional resources to complete an assignment. In fact it is quite the opposite, providing you do it properly. Using resources shows your professor you have researched your subject to make a more creditable argument.

6. My mark won’t be affected if one of my group partners gets caught for plagiarizing.
If you are working in a group, all members are responsible for the academic integrity. If your partner gets caught plagiarizing, then you will suffer the consequences as well. When you work as a group you are liable for all group members’ actions. Therefore, it is essential that everyone in your group knows how to properly cite work.

What Can Faculty Do?

Clearly state to students what constitutes plagiarism, refer to College Directive E43: Plagiarism
Rethink standard written assignments and design assignments that make internet plagiarism less likely.
Make the research process part of the mark. For example : Some teachers have students hand in a bibliography/outline or an abstract of their findings at an earlier date than the date set for the final paper.
Show students how to properly cite traditional and electronic materials for their bibliographies. (Paraphrasing as well as quoting)
Make sure the penalties for plagiarism are clear and what steps will be taken if it occurs in your class.
Encourage students to print a copy of internet pages used as paper resources for their own reference, as sites can change, appear and disappear with alarming frequency.

Detection Methods

Google and Other Search Engines

You can type the title or a keyword or a sentence from the suspect paper into a search engine and explore the resulting links.

Example : Type (within quotation marks) - "Caught in the Web. Sticky Problems in Research and Documentation" into the search box of your favorite search engine.

While the method outlined above can be quite successful, there are numerous drawbacks to surfing the net to detect cut and paste plagiarism, as well as using detection services. Simply put, there is no one way to search the entire web. A large portion of the web, some say 75%, is unsearchable via search engines. This unsearchable portion of the internet is known as the "invisible web". The invisible web contains information that lies behind firewalls and within for fee and free databases.