Plagiarism prevention
These pages set out the University’s approach to detecting and deterring plagiarism and supporting students in undertaking good academic practice in their work. Through its Academic Integrity Initiative, the University of Bath is committed to bringing the issue of plagiarism and what constitutes plagiarism to the attention of its students, and to promoting good academic practice amongst the student body.
Contents: What is Plagiarism? | Plagiarism Offences | Plagiarism Detection | Plagiarism Awareness | Epigeum | Further Resources
What is plagiarism?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines plagiarism as:
- The action or practice of taking someone else's work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one's own; literary theft. (Source: Oxford English Dictionary)
Plagiarism arises from poor academic practice – for example, copying information, text or diagrams from an unacknowledged source, without quotation marks or any indication that the presenter is not the original author or researcher.
Plagiarism Offences
Plagiarism is a serious academic offence. Any student found to have used unfair means, such as plagiarism, in any examination or assessment procedure will be penalised.
The University’s procedures for dealing with plagiarism are set out in QA53 Examination and Assessment Offences. From October 2011, cases of plagiarism will be dealt with under the revised version of QA53.
Proven cases of plagiarism can also lead to disciplinary proceedings under University Regulations.
Plagiarism Detection
The University has adopted the JISC Plagiarism Detection Service, Turnitin. The Plagiarism Detection Service is generally acknowledged by the Higher Education sector to be the most powerful and flexible tool of its kind.
The Service checks electronic, text based submissions against available, online resources, and its own database of previously submitted work, and will highlight any matching text found.
Under University Regulations, students are expected to submit electronic copies of their work to their department/school upon request, and the University may submit the work of any student to the Plagiarism Detection Service. When students submit their work, they are asked to sign a cover sheet with the following declaration verifying that the work submitted is their own and referenced appropriately:
I certify that I have read and understood the entry in the Student Handbook for the Department of ### on Cheating and Plagiarism and that all material in this
assignment is my own work, except where I have indicated with appropriate
references. I agree that, in line with Regulation 15.3(e), if requested I will submit an electronic copy of this work for submission to a Plagiarism Detection Service for quality assurance purposes.
Submission of the work to the Plagiarism Detection Service results in the creation of an ‘originality report’ against which the document can be compared. The Service makes no judgement about the intention of unoriginal work, but simply highlights its inclusion, linking it to the original source.
Members of staff wishing to register for access to the Plagiarism Detection Service are invited to contact Hannah South in the Library and Learning Centre.
Plagiarism Awareness
The University recognises that a holistic approach to plagiarism is necessary, combining plagiarism deterrence with resources to support the promotion of plagiarism awareness, and encouragement of sound academic practice.
- Guidance for students on plagiarism and the University’s use of the Plagiarism Detection Service is contained in programme handbooks under the headings ‘Cheating and Plagiarism’ and ‘Plagiarism Detection’. This information also signposts the particular method of referencing preferred by each department/school.
- The University has participated in the development of an online tutorial to promote plagiarism awareness, Epigeum, which is available to all staff and students.
- The Library has brought together a range of resources relating to plagiarism and referencing. Library staff also deliver a number of courses for staff and students to support the development of good academic practice. Sessions can be run for individual departments/schools or cohorts, and are also available through the Students’ Union’s SORTED programme.
Further Resources
- plagiarism advice.org
- The Good Practice Guide: Jude Carroll and Jon Appleton © JISC, 2001 *
- A Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism in Higher Education, 2nd edition, Jude Carroll, Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, 2007
- ASKe Leaflet: Reduce the risk of plagiarism in just 30 minutes
- ASKe Leaflet: Using Turnitin to provide powerful formative feedback