Academic Integrity and Avoiding

Plagiarism

glasgow.ac.uk/SLD Dr Mona O’Brien

mona.obrien@glasgow.ac.uk
Student Learning Development (SLD) 1
Register your Attendance

2
 Use the QR code
or go to Menti.com
Check-in: and use the Voting
How are you Code: 7955 0514
today?
All submissions are
anonymous.

3
 What is plagiarism?
University of Glasgow
Artificial Intelligence
Definition of Plagiarism

Session Examples of plagiarism

outline

Maintaining academic integrity and resources

4
 Use the QR code
or go to Menti.com
Exercise: and use the Voting
How would Code: 7955 0514
you explain
plagiarism? All submissions are
anonymous.

5
How do we define plagiarism at the University of Glasgow?

6
 The University of Glasgow definition of plagiarism

‘The incorporation of material without formal and proper acknowledgement (even with no
deliberate intent to cheat) can constitute plagiarism. Work may be considered to be
plagiarised if it consists of:

- a direct quotation

- a close paraphrase

- an unacknowledged summary of a source

- direct copying or transcription of source

- incomplete acknowledgement or poor referencing can constitute plagiarism

7
 The University of Glasgow definition of plagiarism (1)

• submitting work containing quotes or ideas taken from

someone else’s work, or similar wording to someone else’s
work without referencing that other work. Even incomplete
acknowledgement or poor referencing can constitute
plagiarism
• submitting work written by someone else, but presenting this
as your own work

8
The University of Glasgow definition of plagiarism (2)

• inappropriate collaboration with others (collusion)

• submitting the same piece of coursework, or a substantial
part of the same coursework more than once for the
purpose of coursework assessment. This is the case even
if this was all your own work initially (this is called ‘auto-
plagiarism’ or ‘self-plagiarism’) as it could be deriving
double credit for a single effort

9
The University of Glasgow definition of plagiarism (3)

 inappropriate use of artificial intelligence (AI)

 submitting work which has been copied from somewhere
else – this also includes where text has been replicated by
retyping
 submitting work purchased from essay writing services.

10
Artificial
Intelligence
(AI)

11
  AI is a powerful tool, but it doesn’t
work for academic writing because…
 It doesn’t understand what it says (it
doesn’t actually know what things
What about mean)
Artificial  It works by predicting what’s most likely
Intelligence (but not what’s true, correct or right)
(AI)?
 It uses ‘hallucinations’ – made up facts,
resources and sources

 It isn’t your work!

12
 Artificial intelligence (AI) and Plagiarism: Do not’s
Don’t…
• assume that all AI tools are equally effective, equally responsible, equally resourceful,
and equally capable of being used with academic integrity. AI tools replicate biased
results, and do not provide contextualised, evaluated or critiqued evaluation of
information.
• pay for AI services or tools; your courses will never require you to pay for external
software.
• use AI tools as a replacement for your own understanding, analysis, or summary of a
topic.
• rely on AI to produce references, resources, materials or any other forms of content.
AI is liable to produce 'hallucinations' where it can make up false information and
references.
• upload full copies of your work, essay questions, reports, results, and discussion into
any AI tool. AI tools should not be used to conduct research or investigation into a
topic. If your lecturers want you to use AI for specific activites, they will provide
guidance on what is allowed or expected, and what is not. 13
 AI: Do’s

Do…
• acknowledge the use of any form of AI in your
coursework for all submissions.
• question the validity and accuracy of any output, data, results, and
information you receive from AI tools.
• ensure that all your submissions are the result of your
own thought, workings, analysis, and critique.
• keep up to date with your course guidelines and information around
academic integrity and AI. Pay particular attention to your marking criteria
and ILOs; it is your responsibility to demonstrate how you meet these.
• be aware of how research AI tools are advertised: they'll often promise time-
management and efficiency benefits but will in practice break academic 14
Avoiding plagiarism

If it’s not yours, it needs a reference

 Data
 Theories
 Arguments
 Ideas

Common knowledge doesn’t require a reference

15
 Remember your course ILOs

 Familiarise yourself with your Intended Learning Outcomes

 You cannot achieve these if you plagiarise
 Focus on becoming an effective, critical master in your field
 AI will not be able to write your written assignment which
builds on your work throughout the semester

16
Where to draw the line with plagiarism? Examples

Photo by Tamarcus Brown on Unsplash 17

The idea (Original text)

‘Assigning the source and directionality of AMR

[antimicrobial resistance] dissemination is challenging. Even
within wildlife populations living in close contact with
humans or livestock, or at least their wastes, there is
little evidence directly linking an anthropogenic source
of AMR with specific patterns of AMR and/or resistance
genes.’
Swift, B. M. C., Bennett, M., Waller, K., Dodd, C., Murray, A., Gomes, R. L., Arnold, K. E. (2019). Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance
in wildlife. Science of the Total Environment, 649, 12-20. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv. 2018.08.180, p. 13

18
 Example 1: idea appearing in student essay:
Original text from Swift et al, 2018: Even within wildlife populations living in close contact with humans or
livestock, or at least their wastes, there is little evidence directly linking an anthropogenic source of AMR with
specific patterns of AMR and/or resistance genes.

It is difficult to find the origin of AMR and hard to determine how it

spreads in the wild. Even within populations living in close contact
with humans or livestock, there is little evidence directly linking an
anthropogenic source of AMR with specific patterns of AMR and/or
resistance genes.
PLAGIARISM: A direct quotation

19
 Example 2: idea appearing in student essay:
Original Text, from Swift et al, 2018: Even within wildlife populations living in close contact with humans or
livestock, or at least their wastes, there is little evidence directly linking an anthropogenic source of AMR with
specific patterns of AMR and/or resistance genes.

It is difficult to find the origin of AMR and hard to determine how it

spreads in the wild. ‘Even within […] populations living in close contact
with humans or livestock,[…], there is little evidence directly linking an
anthropogenic source of AMR with specific patterns of AMR and/or
resistance genes.’ (Swift et. al., 2019: 13)
Thanks to CORRECT REFERENCING this direct quotation
does not constitute plagiarism

20
 Example 3: idea appearing in student essay
Original Text, from Swift et al, 2018: Even within wildlife populations living in close contact with humans or
livestock, or at least their wastes, there is little evidence directly linking an anthropogenic source of AMR with
specific patterns of AMR and/or resistance genes.

It is difficult to find the origin of AMR and hard to determine how it

spreads in the wild. Even within wild stock living in close contact with
people or farm animals there is no proof directly connecting an
anthropogenic source of AMR with certain patterns of AMR and/or
resistance genes. (Swift et. al. 2019)

PLAGIARISM: A close paraphrase

21
 Example 4: idea appearing in student essay
Original Text, from Swift et al, 2018: Even within wildlife populations living in close contact with humans or
livestock, or at least their wastes, there is little evidence directly linking an anthropogenic source of AMR with
specific patterns of AMR and/or resistance genes.
There are a number of challenges associated with locating the origin of
AMR and determining how such resistance spreads in the wild. This
applies not only to populations living in some distance to human farmland
but also those that live near it. So far, no evidence has been found that
provides proof for a direct link between anthropogenic sources of AMR and
patterns of resistant genes in wildlife populations.
(Swift et. al. 2019)

Thanks to CORRECT REFERENCING this is a successful paraphrase and

does not constitute plagiarism. 22
 Example 5 (a)

The study examines AMR patterns in birds

and mammals.

PLAGIARISM: An unacknowledged summary of a

source
23
Example 5 (b)

The study examines AMR patterns in birds

and mammals. (Swift et. al. 2019)

Thanks to CORRECT REFERENCING this is a

successful summary and does not constitute
plagiarism. 24
Maintaining academic integrity and resources

Photo from Microsoft Stock Images 25

 Avoiding plagiarism: How do I know an idea is my own?

Keep track of what you read:

 Include references (including page numbers) in
your notes so that you can trace the source when
finalizing an assignment
 Take notes in your own words with references
 Mark (with quotation marks) where you have used
the same wording as the original text

And think about it critically:

What do you think about what you have just read?
Why do you think that? 26
 The importance of integrity: Academic community

 Academic research is a collaborative activity

 All new research builds on work others have done
previously
 Teachers and students need to be able to trust that
what they read is:
! Instances of plagiarism not only depreciate
your degree but undermine the values and o reliable and valid information  Academic sources
reputation of the academic community as a o sourced and acknowledged in an appropriate manner 
whole !
Referencing

27
Resources

 University of Glasgow - MyGlasgow

- Student Learning Development - Plagiarism
 University of Glasgow Guidance on use of AI for students
 University of Glasgow Library, Referencing Guides
 SLD for MVLS
 SLD for International Students
 SLD for Stats
 SLD for Maths
28
Questions?

Worried about
plagiarism? If you feel under pressure or need advice on how to use sources appropriately, you can:
Talk to us • attend SLD workshops on Avoiding Plagiarism and Referencing
• book an appointment with the Effective Learning Adviser for your College or the
Learning Advisers for International Students https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/sld/
• check out the Good Academic Practice Moodle

glasgow.ac.uk/SLD
29