Plagiarism and Referencing Student Development Services Writing Support Centre UCC Student Development Services Writing Support Centre UCC 210

What is plagiarism? “Act or an instance of copying or stealing another’s words or ideas and attributing them as one’s own.” Black’s Law Dictionary

Plagiarism Two root causes: Unaware of plagiarism Intending to cheat

This Is Plagiarism Original The V max and K m values were determined via analysis of the Michaelis- Menten, Lineweaver-Burk and Eadie- Hofstee plots Submission The V max and K m values were calculated using the Michaelis- Menten, Lineweaver-Burk and Eadie- Hofstee equations and plots

Avoiding Plagiarism Paraphrasing Proper citation

Paraphrasing Keeping the meaning, but using different words for a text Shows you understand, and can explain concepts May be shorter or longer than original text Key is to detach yourself

Paraphrasing 1- Read the text 2- Select the relevant points Highlight/underline/cut and paste 3- Rewrite using synonyms 4- Change the sentence structure

4- Changing Structure Break up and/or join sentences Change the order in which ideas are presented (must retain clarity though) Use different linking words and transitions Conform with your writing style

Proper Citation Acknowledging the ideas of other authors Foundation of academia Two aspects: Within text Reference list

Within Text Lets the reader know an idea came from somewhere else Two methods: Integrated into Sentence After the Fact

Within Text: Integrated Author’s finding / action becomes part of the sentence Example: Jenkins et al. (2001) found that milk was depleted of 13 C by 2‰ relative to maternal plasma. Tense is important

Within Text: After the Fact Implies that the preceding idea comes from the cited reference Most common in science articles Example: Animal tissues are usually enriched in 15 N by 3 to 5‰ compared to diet (DeNiro and Epstein, 1981).

After the Fact Allows multiple references within the same sentence Examples: Milk composition may change during lactation (Nicholas, 1991; Veloso, 2003). The δ 13 C values of animal tissues and diet do not differ (DeNiro, 1978), providing information on consumed plant and tissue types (Ambrose and DeNiro, 1986).

Reference List Collection of all references used in the text Different than a bibliography Allows readers to find articles you cite Very strict format; different for most disciplines, most journals Alphabetical order by first author’s last name

Reference Example DeNiro MJ, Epstein S Influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 45:

Final Referencing Advice Don’t cite everything you read Find the best references To avoid plagiarism, work ahead