Plagiarism
" to use another
person's idea or a part of their work and pretend that it
is your own" - Cambridge Online
Dictionary
Report Text.
While you are encouraged throughout the degree to re-use
standard design and code templates
and patterns for maximum efficiency and rapid code
development, the project and report must be all
your own work, unless otherwise stated.
Any other ideas, code or text snippets
copied or borrowed verbatim or modified must be clearly
attributed and indicated as such.
The convention when text is used verbatim is to
progressively use a combination of: italics, quotes,
indentation, and a change in font, as the extent of direct
quote increases, from a few words, where quotes are
adequate to a few sentences or paragraphs, where the latter
options are preferable, to distinguish it from the main
body of text.
In all cases, it should be followed by a reference to your
source directly or to a footnote or bibliography.
Excessive copying may also result in breach of copyright,
for which you, personally, may be held legally responsible
and include
- using sections longer than a few pages or a bigger than a
fraction of the entire work, whichever comes first;
- any use of proprietary text or code, which is
specifically copyrighted,
unless released under an agreement such as
- an open source arrangement,
- or for the purposes of education expressed explicitly in
the copyright agreement,
and used within the constraints, which generally
- limit use;
- insist on attribution;
- and require clear and explicit mention of the copyright.
Paraphrasing sections may excuse you from copyright, but
not always, but will certainly not excuse plagiarism.
Any arguments, used by others and adopted by you, should
also be referenced clearly, not just to avoid allegations
of plagiarism, but as a demonstration of good scholarship.
It demonstrates that you are knowledgeable and have
researched the topic, and are presenting substantiated
arguments, rather than unfounded opinions.
Project
Code.
Obviously, you
need not continually and exhaustively attribute the use of
standard API's and class libraries other than to say you
used them; it would clearly be superfluous to reference
them as not your own work and should be obvious to the
informed reader. Naturally, following your training and
best-practice, you can also re-use and adapt code for rapid
and efficient project development; but you must clearly
indicate and attribute whatever you used. Moreover, it
would be expected that the use of such code is merely a
means to an end in your project, and does not form the
chief goal of the project itself. For example, it is
permissible to use standard published algorithms, libraries
or packages, either published by individuals or groups as
in using Open Source and standard API's, provided you
clearly attribute them, and provided the substantial work
of your project is not just their use alone, but compares,
builds or extends them in an innovative or substantial way.
Other pointers on plagiarism.
As a former head of department recently remarked...
This might be an appropriate
time to point our 4th years at:
http://www.plagiarism.org/
Or you could look at the UCC site...
http://www.ucc.ie/en/SupportandAdministration/PoliciesandProcedures/ExaminationsandStudentRecords/StudentRecordsRegistration/UCCPlagiarismPolicy/index.html
... or go round in circles trying to find a
definitive description of the
penalties....
http://www.ucc.ie/en/SupportandAdministration/PoliciesandProcedures/ExaminationsandStudentRecords/StudentRecordsRegistration/ExaminationInformation/index.html
...which includes the rather challenging last
sentence, that a lot of copying without acknowledgment is
considered legal proof of fraudulent intent.
Regulations in Relation to Suspected Cheating at an
Examination
Cheating means an attempt to benefit oneself, or another,
by deceit or fraud or other breach of the examination
regulations. This shall include personation, plagiarism or
deliberately reproducing the work of another person or
persons without acknowledgment. A significant amount of
unacknowledged copying shall be deemed to constitute prima
facie evidence of deliberation.
In addition to the ethical issues, the risks associated
with plagiarism can be quite extreme and although, after a
cursory glance at the UCC website, they do not seem to have
been stated explicity, traditional penalties for deliberate
substantial plagiarism in education both in these islands
and the world at large include immediate expulsion with the
reason noted on an academic record which may prejudice your
admission to another educational establishment.
Put simply, it is tantamount in some ways to having a
criminal record for fraud, which is not in anyone's best
interest.
Plagiarism is generally quite obvious to all, except
perpetrators are paradoxically oblivious to this fact, and
it's longer term consequences, whether reported or not.