Academic Integrity: A Guide to Avoid Plagiarism for the Faculty and Students of RUB
The faculty and the students of the Royal University of Bhutan share common responsibilities of
ensuring academic integrity in the University and the colleges. Academic integrity in the learning
communities promotes critical thinking and respects for ownership of ideas which are necessary
for intellectual vitality and development. The Centre for Academic Integrity has defined
academic integrity from a value-based perspective encompassing following fives values:
a. Honestly: Intellectual and personal honesty in learning, teaching and research (CAI)
b. Trust: Confidence in persons and systems on campus that enable a free exchange of
ideas, and enables all to reach their highest potential (CAI)
c. Fairness: Clear standards for assessment that are fairly applied to all members of the
college community (CAI)
d. Respect: Acknowledging the participatory nature of learning and respecting the varying
perspectives of others (CAI)
e. Responsibilities: Believing that every person in the academic community is personally
accountable for taking action when a breach of academic integrity occurs (CAI)
Academic dishonesty undermines the basic value of learning. Dishonest activities such as
plagiarism and collusion in universities erode the value of academic institution as a place of
higher learning and research. It is, therefore, very important that the faculty, administrator and
students ensure academic integrity for both institutional and personal development.
What is Academic Dishonesty?
Though there number of activities which constitutes academic dishonesty, this guide will only
deal with plagiarism as it is widely practiced in higher education and most of the students lack
awareness on the issue. Common types of academic dishonesty according to the Wheel of
Academic Law (2009) are:
a) Collusion: the representation of a piece of unauthorized group work as the work of a
single candidate (Wheel)
b) Commissioning: submitting an assignment done by another person as the student’s
own work (Wheel).
c) Duplication: the inclusion in coursework of material identical or substantially similar to
material which has already been submitted for any other assessment within the
University (Wheel)
d) False declaration: making a false declaration in order to receive special consideration
by an Examination Board or to obtain extensions to deadlines or exemption from work
(Wheel)
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e) Falsification of data: presentation of data in laboratory reports, projects, etc., based on
work purported to have been carried out by the student, which have been invented,
altered or copied by the student (Wheel)
f) Plagiarism: the unacknowledged use of another’s work as if it were one’s own (Wheel)
What is Plagiarism?
According to Modern Language Association, plagiarism is “using another person’s ideas or
expressions in your writing without acknowledging the source constitutes plagiarism…plagiarism
refers to a form of intellectual theft”. Some of the common examples of plagiarism are:
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Using an author’s words or ideas without proper reference
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Failing to put quotation marks around words taken from a source
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Doing work for someone else, or having someone do it for you
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Falsifying or inventing information or data
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Cutting and pasting from the Internet
The perception that plagiarism is a growing problem in the University is evident from the issues
and concerns that are being increasingly raised by administrators and faculty members. One
primary reason for growth in such perception is the advent of internet form which students can
easily copy and paste, tempting students to practice plagiarism. In addition, plagiarism from
sources such as Dzongkha and Choedkey makes it difficult for the faculties to detect plagiarism.
The other reason for the continual practice of plagiarism may be the influence of monastic
education and low awareness in primary education.
Why student plagiarize
Although there are no evidences identifying the causes of plagiarism in the University, it may be
assumed that students’ plagiarize for following reasons:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Access to internet and other electronic sources makes to easy to copy and paste
Lack of interest (Dr. Patel, 2009)
Not being aware of plagiarism and its consequences
Notion that instructors and teachers will often give more credit for “perfect” looking
copied work rather than their own creative “unpolished” efforts (Dr. Patel, 2009)
Reasons to avoid plagiarism
The Strategic Plan 2004 – 2013 (2007) identifies seven general expectation of RUB graduate
that includes possession of general academic skills, possession of self-motivatated study skills,
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ability to undertake one’s own personal development, etc. By avoiding plagiarism, such skills
can be developed through:
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Ability to find information and construct a paper by integrating and acknowledging
sources properly
Critical thinking, analysis and evaluation
Taking ownership of your own ideas by making a clear distinction between others’ ideas
and your own analysis (University of Ottawa, n.d)
Prevention of unintentional academic fraud
Some Common Misinterpretation
The following are some of the common misinterpretation leading to plagiarism:
1. Buddhist quotes does not need be cited
Most of the people, while using quotes from Buddhist texts usually do not cite the source.
Even when the source is cited, it is incomplete in most cases. However, it is a
misinterpretation and the Buddhist sources should be cited whenever the text is used.
2. Graphics and pictures does need not be cited
Graphics and pictures do have authors and the moral ownership of the creation belongs to
the author. Therefore, the source of graphics and pictures should be cited whenever it is
used.
3. It is acceptable to modify theories and graphical representation without proper
acknowledgment to the source
Generation of new knowledge is a lengthy process requiring the contribution of many
professional over a lengthy period of time. When a model or a theory is being modified, the
creator should be duly acknowledged.
4. It is not necessary to cite personal communications
Personal communication either through phone of mail represents the idea of the other
person. Therefore, such contribution should be duly acknowledged.
5. Listing sources is enough for avoiding plagiarism
Source listed in References should be linked to specific information in the text of the report,
and, each specific claim should be marked with a citation directly linking to the References.
Avoiding Plagiarism: Different methods of using source materials
When using sources for writing, it is important to use them appropriately and with independent
interpretation and evaluation. In order to avoid plagiarism, it is vital not to use the ideas and text
of the creator without giving appropriate credit. Some of the methods of avoiding plagiarism are:
1. Stating general information or common knowledge
While stating general information or common knowledge which includes general truth (e.g.
“morning is generally colder than in the afternoon”), it is not necessary to cite the source.
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However, it is important to state it in one’s own word rather than pasting it from some other
source.
2. Quoting or cite the source
The basic purpose of quoting is to support the argument. While quoting, it is important to
take the word of the author and place it between the quotation marks. However, the
quotation should be accurate and should not deviate from the original word or text. It is also
important to avoid quoting the whole paragraph.
3. Summarizing
The purpose of summarizing is to simply give a brief account of what an author says without
going into the specific details or examples. It involves summarizing the meaning of a large
text in a concise form in one’s own word. It is important to remain true to the original idea. If
some key terms are used from the original text, it should be properly acknowledged.
4. Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is simply rewording what an author says in order to support the argument.
While paraphrasing, the material should be condensed into a concise format using one’s
own style without changing the meaning of the original text. However, it is important to be
selective and use what is really needed to support the argument.
5. Referencing source material
For sources used materials used, a reference or bibliography should be provided. The style
of presentation of the reference information often varies by faculty, program and individual
academics (in absence of a prescribed style in a college). However own ideas does not
have to be referenced unless it has been published earlier.
Please refer the following styles, guide and manuals for further information.



A Student Guide to Academic Writing and Referencing and Documentation by Tashi
Gyeltshen, Samtse College of Education
Academic Integrity, Plagiarism, and Proper Referencing by Dr. Dr. Samir S. Patel,
Sherubtse College
APA Publication Manual at http://www.apastyle.org/
Chicago Manual of Style at
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/access/intercept.epl?path=/forum.html&request=&
php=&tid=&pid=
IEE Standard style manual at http://standards.ieee.org/guides/style/
The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers at http://www.mla.org/style_faq1
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Enforcement of academic dishonesty
Please refer section H2 of Wheel of Academic Law at
http://www.rub.edu.bt/external_link/regulation/awheel.php#H2
Some useful open source plagiarism detection tools
The faculty and students may use some of the following open source plagiarism detection tools
(internet based). However, most of the tools allow only text documents and search only web
pages.
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DOC Cop at http://www.doccop.com/terms.html?nc=70501213
Source – forge at http://sourceforge.net/projects/antiplagiarismc/
Duplichecker at http://www.duplichecker.com
Viper at http://www.scanmyessay.com
JPlag at https://www.ipd.uni-karlsruhe.de/jplag/
YAP at http://www.pam1.bcs.uwa.edu.au/~michaelw/ftp/src/YAP.distibution.tar.gz
Sherlock at http://www.cs.usyd.edu.au/~scilect/sherlock/
Bibliography
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Mac, R. (2010, February 11). The Temptation to Cheat in Computer Science Classes at
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McKill. (2003). Dealing with Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Issues in your Class. Retrieved
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http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/sociology2//pdf/DealingwithAcademicIntegrityandPlagiar
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Shepherd, J. (2007, March 20). An idea worth imitating. Retrieved March 3, 2010, from
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The Royal University of Bhutan. (2009). The Wheel of Academic Law (2nd ed.). Thimphu: RUB.
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PROGRAMS. Retrieved March 2, 2010, from
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