Academic Scholarship & Plagiarism
A self-assessed tutorial
What is academic scholarship?
Academic writing is meant for a
critical and informed audience,
based on investigated
knowledge, and uses
hypothesis, theory, or arguments
to arrive at a conclusion.
It is objective, explains why the
research is important, and
organized so that other scholars
can try to reproduce the results.
Academic writing utilizes formal
language.
Who are the authors?
Faculty
Retired Faculty (Emeritus)
Images from Microsoft Clip Art 2010
Who are the authors?
Scientist
Research Team
Images from Microsoft Clip Art 2010
How is the research disseminated?
Dissertations
Books
Journal Articles
Academic scholarship:
Books and dissertations go through
a lengthy review process,
sometimes taking years before they
are ready for publication. The
author has had his/her work
reviewed by peers (fellow
professors or researchers) and
copy editors for both content clarity
and grammar.
Due to their length, books and
dissertations are organized into
chapters. They usually end with a
final concluding chapter.
Academic scholarship:
Journal articles are slightly
different. They go through a much
shorter review process, anywhere
from three months to one year.
However, they are also reviewed by
peers (scholars who are experts in
the field of study) and journal
editors.
Because of their conciseness, they
tend to follow a standard format.
Academic scholarship in the social sciences:
Journal articles in the social sciences
typically include:
Abstract
Introduction
Literature Review
Hypothesis
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Bibliography/References
Let’s take a closer look at each section.
Academic scholarship consists of:
An abstract summarizes the
important parts of the research. It
gives the purposes of the research,
the methodology used to collect
data, and a brief conclusion.
Academic scholarship consists of:
A literature review goes through
earlier research that has already
been done on the topic. It may also
review research that has been
done on tangential or similar topics
that support or even refute the
author’s hypothesis.
Academic scholarship consists of:
After the literature review one
usually finds a brief mention of the
methodology to be used along with
a detailed hypothesis for the
research. What is being measured
and why? What is the expected
outcome and how will data be
gathered?
Academic scholarship consists of:
The remainder of the article
typically contains headings.
The first is methodology. This is
the method the researcher
employed to test his/her
hypothesis. Some common
methods are: coded analysis of
interactions, survey, or experiment.
Academic scholarship consists of:
Results follow the methodology.
In this section you will find the
author’s data along with an
interpretation of the findings.
Academic scholarship consists of:
The discussion is next.
Here the author will place his/her
research within the larger body of
knowledge on the topic. The
author will also discuss the
meaning behind the results in the
previous section.
Academic scholarship consists of:
The last piece of the article is the
Conclusion.
Here the author summarizes the
hypothesis as it pertains to the
actual research results.
Academic scholarship consists of:
The References or Bibliography
always appear at the very end.
It is a list, alphabetical by author’s
last name, of all the books, articles,
dissertations, websites, etc. that
were consulted and cited in writing
the piece.
Is this academic scholarship?
Multimedia Connections
(Click the link to open a new window. When you are done viewing close it to return
to the tutorial)
Answer
Yes
This is an academic article, hosted on a non-profit organization’s website.
Permission to reprint the article online was given by the author.
It contains an abstract, introduction, literature review, hypothesis,
methodology (case study), discussion, and bibliography.
What is Plagiarism?
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.
Had I not told you where the
definition came from I would have
been guilty of plagiarism.
Avoiding plagiarism: In the body of your paper
Provide proper citations for all quotations, summaries, paraphrases, or
any other work or idea that is borrowed from others.
Specific formatting styles are used depending on your discipline. The
most common are MLA (Arts & Humanities) and APA (Social
Sciences).
Avoiding plagiarism: In the body of your paper
Using quotations
When using exact words, phrases, or sentences from a source, make
sure to properly use quotation marks and cite where the information
was taken from.
Avoiding plagiarism: In the body of your paper
Here is an example (using APA style)
Asperger's Syndrome (AS) was first proposed in 1944 by Hans
Asperger, an Austrian psychiatrist who described in his paper, Die
Autistischen Psychopathen a condition which was characterized by
“pedantic and stereotyped speech patterns, clumsiness, obsessional
interests and deficient social behavior” (Goble, 1995).
This author has quoted Goble’s 1995 article; note the quotation marks.
Avoiding plagiarism: In the body of your paper
Here is another example (using MLA style)
As Temple Grandin, a woman who has Asperger’s syndrome who has
become a successful engineer, author, and academic, said, “If the
world was left to you socialites, we would still be in caves talking to
each other” (Personal interview).
This author has quoted a personal communication between him/herself
and another person; note the quotation marks.
Avoiding plagiarism: In the body of your paper
Summarizing & Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is when you take the ideas or phrases from a source and
rewrite them using your own words. Summarizing is condensing a
source into a few lines, focusing on the author’s main points. In both
cases, credit is given to the original author or authors.
Avoiding plagiarism: In the body of your paper
Here is an example (using MLA style)
As Rieber suggests, children are wired to learn through their own play,
that play is children's work and that the transmission model of teaching
where the teacher is the omniscient conduit of a generally recognized
and approved body of information, is no longer appropriate (45).
This author has paraphrased the 4th paragraph on page 45 of Rieber’s
article.
Avoiding plagiarism: In the body of your paper
Here is another example (using APA style)
In terms of qualitative differences, however, researchers agree that
children with autism are less likely to display positive affect and/or more
likely to display negative affect than typically developing children
(Dawson, Hill, Spencer, Galpert, & Watson, 1990; Snow et al., 1987;
Yirmiya et al., 1989).
Here the author summarized the findings of three articles (each written
by multiple authors) to come to this one point.
Let’s Pretend
You are a student writing a paper. You have gathered literature on your
paper topic, Asperger’s syndrome.
In the following questions you will be asked to review parts of what you
have “read”, look at what you have “written”, and determine if you are
plagiarizing.
In the book The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome by Tony Attwood (2007) on page 56 you read.
The phrase ‘two’s company, three’s a crowd’ is very appropriate for someone with Asperger’s syndrome. In a
group setting, the person’s intellectual capacity may not be sufficient to cope with the social interaction of
several participants, and the person may take longer to process social information that is normally
communicated more quickly in a group than individually. If a one-to-one conversation is a game of tennis, a
group interaction is a game of football.
In your paper you write:
In a group setting, the person’s intellectual capacity is such that a person with Asperger’s
syndrome does not have the intellectual capacity to cope with a social interaction of
several participants. They may take longer to process social information (Attwood, 2007).
Is it plagiarism?
Answer
Yes
It is plagiarism because you used too many of Tony
Attwood’s original words.
In a group setting, the person’s intellectual
capacity is such that a person with Asperger’s
syndrome does not have the intellectual capacity to
cope with a social interaction of several
participants. They may take longer to process
social information (Attwood, 2007).
Instead paraphrase:
According to Attwood (2007), the more participants in
a social interaction the more likelihood a breakdown
in the transmission of social information will occur for
a person with Asperger’s syndrome.
On the Internet you find:
Asperger’s Syndrome Fact Sheet.
(Click the link to open a new window. When you are done viewing close it to return to the tutorial)
In your paper you write:
According to the National Institutes of Health (2010), Asperger’s syndrome is characterized by repetitive
routines, peculiarities in speech and language, socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior,
restricted use of gestures, and uncoordinated motor movements.
Is it plagiarism?
Answer
No
This is acceptable quoting. The name of the
organization and the year accessed is included at
the beginning of the sentence. It would also be
included in the bibliography with the name of the
page, date accessed, and URL.
You digitize the following table from a book found at Google Books:
During your in-class Power Point presentation you include table 15.1 as it is.
Is it plagiarism?
Answer
Yes
This is plagiarism. Even though it is not
being published it is still being viewed by
others.
Therefore, the author needs to receive
credit for his work and you need to let the
audience know that this is not your
intellectual property by including a
footnote below the table.
You know it’s a well-established fact that some famous people have suffered
from Asperger’s Syndrome.
In your paper you write:
Current Asperger’s syndrome (AS) research has discovered that adults with AS
have a remarkable ability to become completely focused on one topic, to the
exclusion of all else. This ability to block out the mundane world has lead
psychologists to hypothesize that many artists and scientists have Asperger’s
syndrome. It is a well-established fact that Andy Warhol and Albert Einstein
were living with AS before it was known.
Is it plagiarism?
Answer
Yes
This is plagiarism. This “well-established fact” needs to be verified, the
author or authors found, and a proper citation inserted.
Avoiding plagiarism: In your bibliography
In your paper you will cite the books, articles, dissertations, videos, etc.
that you used either as footnotes at the bottom of each page or as a
bibliography at the end.
The choice will be made either by your instructor or by the citation style
you use.
Avoiding plagiarism: In your bibliography
The University Libraries have an excellent guide to the most popular
citation styles here, Citing Sources.
Avoiding plagiarism: In your bibliography
Here are some examples - Website
APA
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (2010, November 10).
Asperger’s Syndrome Fact Sheet. Retrieved from
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/asperger/detail_asperger.htm.
MLA
“Asperger’s Syndrome Fact Sheet.” National Institute of Neurological Disorders and
Stroke. Web. 10 Nov 2010.
<http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/asperger/detail_asperger.htm.>
Avoiding plagiarism: In your bibliography
Here are some examples - Book
APA
Attwood, T. (2007). The complete guide to Asperger’s syndrome.
Philadelphia:Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
MLA
Attwood, Tony. The complete guide to Asperger’s syndrome.
Philadelphia:Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2007. Print.
Avoiding plagiarism: In your bibliography
Here are some examples - Article
APA
Muller, E. & Schuler, A. (2006). Verbal Marking of Affect by Children with Asperger
Syndrome and High Functioning Autism during Spontaneous Interactions with
Family Members. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 36(8),
1089-1100.
MLA
Muller, Eve. & Schuler, Adriana. “Verbal Marking of Affect by Children with Asperger
Syndrome and High Functioning Autism during Spontaneous Interactions with
Family Members.” Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders 36.8 (2006):
1089-1100. Print.
UB’s Plagiarism Policy
“Written works must be the complete and original effort of the student, with
all ideas and words of others duly attributed according to the
appropriate style manual. Furthermore, students should not recycle
work in subsequent courses, nor should they facilitate any act of
academic dishonesty by another person. If in doubt, the student should
err on the side of caution and consult the instructor for additional
guidance.”
From, UB Academic Integrity Policies. Accessed on November 10,
2010. http://academicintegrity.buffalo.edu/policies/index.php
How is the policy enforced?
UBlearns utilizes the SafeAssign™ plagiarism detection software tool. This
enables students and faculty to submit papers through UBlearns to
detect whether passages – or even entire papers – are directly copied
from original sources. The uploaded papers are checked against
several databases and the Internet.
Thank you for taking this self assessment.
For more help:
Research Tips
Citing Sources
Subject Librarian
University at Buffalo Libraries