According to Turnitin, less than 15% of the document should be from sources. So, we could safely say that if it is a 1000-word paper (about five pages), fewer than 150 words can be direct quotes.
What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is an intentional and unintentional act of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own. In academia, there are a few different ways students commit plagiarism.
Using someone else’s ideas and concepts without citing the sources
Using direct quotes without citing the sources
Using one’s work in multiple assignments for separate grades (ex. Use parts of your discussion posts to make up a paper,
Use a paper from one course in another course, or use someone else’s work as your own for grades.
What is NOT plagiarism?
Asking a friend to read your paper for improvements
Hiring professional editors for EDITING purposes, including proofreading
Asking your instructor to read for errors and improvements
Have a family member take a look for logical progression, grammar, proofreading purposes, and style.
The difference between the first list and the second list: The first list is comprised of mostly NOT YOUR WORK!
The second list is mostly YOUR WORK!
CLU's Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is literary theft or offering the words or ideas of another as if they were one’s own, with no acknowledgment of the source. Whenever the ideas or words used are taken from a source, this source must be given credit. This applies not only to direct quotations, but also to indirect quotations (in which the original statement is paraphrased). Sources that must be given credit include published books, journals, magazines, newspapers, etc., as well as other types of media (such as Internet sources, film, video, television, radio, audio recordings, and other electronic resources, as well as lectures and the work of other students). The principle 51 also holds true for less direct borrowings, if the ideas in question are distinctive to the source as opposed to being considered common knowledge. This is often a matter of judgment; when in doubt, students are advised to err on the side of giving too many citations, rather than too few. The prohibition of plagiarism applies to dissertations, theses, projects, term papers, class reports, take-home examinations, and any other work (whether in writing or in another media for communicating ideas) intended to fulfill requirements for a class or degree program.
The University recognizes that plagiarism is culturally defined. Consequently, students not experienced in the U.S. educational system may be asked to rewrite plagiarized work without the assumption of dishonest intent on the student’s part. Nevertheless, under no circumstances is plagiarized work acceptable, and all students are expected to learn what constitutes plagiarism in the U.S. educational context.
Cheating involves the use of any kind of assistance (e.g., written, oral, aural, or visual) that has not been specifically authorized. Students are not to receive assistance from others with their coursework unless it has been clearly specified that a certain form of assistance is permissible (e.g., in the preparation for, as distinct from the actual writing of, the examination), or that an assignment is to be a collaborative effort
Avoiding Plagiarism
How can we avoid plagiarism?
Solution for this problem:
Use proper citations
Do not let more than 15% of your paper be direct quotes.
Provide original work for each assignment
Plagiarism - Video Tutorial
Richards Digital Media (2017, September). Plagiarism video for schools. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/-JwFWbPotBA
Plagiarism - Additional Resources
In addition to the tips listed above, there are also websites that you can utilize to help check your work for plagiarism. They are:
Plagiarism comparison tools are extremely effective for reviewing content and measuring academic integrity. This is an incredible tool to provide more references and broader cross-reference repositories.
With complete, dynamic, and intuitive reports, students and faculty can examine the amount of borrowed text. Unicheck highlights all the text matches, quotes, and references, so it is easy to spot unoriginal text on each paper submitted.
Unicheck will provide students and faculty with accurate similarity scores by examining sources, quotes, bibliography, and self-plagiarism to receive relevant scores of text matches. Using the minimap to navigate will help faculty pinpoint areas in students’ papers that may need to be reviewed. Also, use this minimap to navigate faster and a commenting mode to share your feedback with students instantly.
Using this tool, we can pay attention to the relevant data. The checker displays only meaningful matches and skips all those with common phrases.
How Unicheck Works
When a written assignment is due, you will upload your paper to Canvas, and Unicheck will generate an originality report identifying any borrowed material and its source.
Setting Up Your Account
There is no need to set up an account. Unicheck is accessible through Canvas.
