Plagiarism is nothing new. Students have been plagiarising far before the Internet was widely available. But, the Internet and the explosion of online resources has made it easier for students to get to those resources. It’s as easy as copy-and-paste. However, by those very same standards, it also means that plagiarism is much easier to identify.

What is plagiarism? Plagiarism is derived from two Latin words - plagiarius which means an abductor, and plagiare which means to steal. Plagiarism occurs when a student; 

submits someone else's work as his/her own

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copies words or ideas from someone else without giving credit

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fails to put a quotation in quotation marks

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gives incorrect information about the source of a quotation

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changes words but copies the sentence structure of a source without giving credit

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copies so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of thier work, whether they give credit or not

Why do students Plagiarize? Lack of original content in any piece of written work is considered as plagiarism. Plagiarism is a phenomenon that takes place everywhere around us. Some students plagiarize unknowingly because they do not know what may amount to it. Others plagiarize willingly as they are simply ignorant or lazy. The reasons why students plagiarize in large numbers are many. Some of the most applicable to Post Graduate MBA students are; - Less time - Procrastination - Ambition of achieving higher grades - Lack of knowledge - Lack of patience - No trust in one's own ability - Sheer lethargy - Ignorance about the consequences of plagiarism Whatever the reason may be, plagiarism is an offensive act at Mancosa that can lead to infraction of originality. A student should try to avoid any such act as far as possible, and cite appropriate references in his/her work, wherever necessary.

Types of Plagiarism Full Plagiarism: This is also known as 'complete plagiarism'. Whenever a student copies the content from another source as it is, it is called full plagiarism. In such a kind of plagiarism, the student changes nothing from the original source, and there is an absolute lack of original research. The language, the flow, and even the punctuation are copied to such an extent, that one cannot cite even a minor difference in the two contents. Full plagiarism, then refers to copying somebody else's original content, word by word, and presenting it as one's own. Many academicians believe that it is generally the work of people who are incompetent in the particular subject, or are just plain lazy to make an effort.

Partial Plagiarism: When a student combines data from two or three different sources in his work, it amounts to partial plagiarism. This kind of plagiarism pertains to copying someone else's work, not fully, but partly. A student plagiarizing content in this way, makes rampant use of paraphrasing, which means that he presents the same idea in a different form, by manipulating the wording of the original content, but the flow remains the same. In most cases, the violation is committed by making use of synonymous vocabulary or changing sentences from active to passive voice and vice versa. In this way, the student does try to be original, but again the work does not contain any first-hand research. Inadequacy of knowledge on the particular subject is a common reason for the occurrences of partial plagiarism.

Minimalistic Plagiarism: Minimalistic plagiarism is done when a person paraphrases the same content but in a different flow. In this kind, the student attempts to copy ideas, opinions, thoughts and concepts of another author, in such a way that his work does not seem like it has been plagiarized. Students commit this violation by not only changing the sentence construction and makes use of synonymous vocabulary, but also changing the order in which the

thoughts have been presented in the original work. It is this change in the flow that makes the work seem original, though it is not. This kind of plagiarism again lacks first-hand research, though dissertations almost seem to be original. Many people do not consider this as plagiarism, probably because such an instance is very difficult to spot, and there are very sparse chances of getting caught.

Mosaic Plagiarism: This kind is most common among students. Instances of mosaic plagiarism occur mostly due to lack of knowledge or ignorance about plagiarism, and the ways to avoid it. When a student changes the construction of the sentence but does not bother to change the original wording, it amounts to mosaic plagiarism. The result then, is that the sentences change, the flow changes, but the words remain the same. This act amounts to plagiarism, because no due credit is given to the author of the original work, which becomes absolutely necessary in such cases.

Source Plagiarism: Sometimes, the author that a student is referring to may have quoted some other author in his work. Plagiarism in such cases, takes place when due credit is not given to the author one is gathering matter from. Citing primary reference is very important in such a case.

Source Citation: When the complete source information with quotes is provided, it does not amount to plagiarism. However, the definition of a complete source citation varies in various contexts. Some students quote the name of the source, but provide no other accessible information, while some others very conveniently provide false references. Some just merge their information with the original piece of writing. Instances of plagiarism take place not only when the sources are not cited at all, but also when the sources are improperly cited.

How can students avoid plagiarism? To avoid plagiarism, students must give credit whenever they use 

another person’s idea, opinion, or theory;

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any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings—any pieces of information—that are not common knowledge;

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quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words; or

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paraphrase of another person’s spoken or written words.

Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism Students can 

Put in quotations everything that comes directly from the text

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Paraphrase. However, this does not mean rearranging or replacing a few words.

Tip: Encourage students to read a certain paragraph thoroughly. Then, instruct them to close the text so that they can’t see any of it (and so aren’t tempted to use the text as a ―guide‖). Then, instruct them to write out the idea in their own words.

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Check the paraphrase against the original text to be sure that they have not accidentally used the same phrases or words, and that the information is accurate.

Common knowledge: facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be known by a lot of people. Example: The African National Congress was assumed state power in the year 1994. This is generally known information. Students do not need to document this fact. Paraphrase: This is probably the skill that students will use most when incorporating sources into their writing and must acknowledge the source of the information.

Examples How to Recognise Unacceptable and Acceptable Paraphrases Here’s the ORIGINAL text, from page 1 of Lizzie Borden: A Case Book of Family and Crime in the 1890s by Joyce Williams (1980) : The rise of industry, the growth of cities, and the expansion of the population were the three great developments of late nineteenth century American history. As new, larger, steam-powered factories became a feature of the American landscape in the East, they transformed farm hands into industrial laborers, and provided jobs for a rising tide of immigrants. With industry came urbanization the growth of large cities (like Fall River, Massachusetts, where the Bordens lived) which became the centers of production as well as of commerce and trade.

Here’s an UNACCEPTABLE paraphrase that is plagiarism: The increase of industry, the growth of cities, and the explosion of the population were three large factors of nineteenth century America. As steam-driven companies became more visible in the eastern part of the country, they changed farm hands into factory workers and provided jobs for the large wave of immigrants. With industry came the growth of large cities like Fall River where the Bordens lived which turned into centers of commerce and trade as well as production.

What makes this passage plagiarism? The preceding passage is considered plagiarism for two reasons:

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the writer has only changed around a few words and phrases, or changed the order of the original’s sentences.

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the writer has failed to cite a source for any of the ideas or facts.

If you do either or both of these things, you are plagiarising.

NOTE: This paragraph is also problematic because it changes the sense of several sentences (for example, "steam-driven companies" in sentence two misses the original’s emphasis on factories). Here’s an ACCEPTABLE paraphrase: Fall River, where the Borden family lived, was typical of northeastern industrial cities of the nineteenth century. Steampowered production had shifted labor from agriculture to manufacturing, and as immigrants arrived in the US, they found work in these new factories. As a result, populations grew, and large urban areas arose. Fall River was one of these manufacturing and commercial centers (Williams, 1980).

Why is this passage acceptable? This is acceptable paraphrasing because the student: 

accurately relays the information in the original

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uses his/her own words.

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lets his/her reader know the source of her information.

Note that if the student had used these phrases or sentences in his/her own dissertation without putting quotation marks around them, he/she would be PLAGIARIZING. Using another person’s phrases or sentences without putting quotation marks around them is considered plagiarism EVEN IF THE STUDENT CITES IN HIS/HER OWN TEXT THE SOURCE OF THE PHRASES OR SENTENCES HE/SHE HAS QUOTED.

Plagiarism and the World Wide Web The World Wide Web has become a more popular source of information for students, and many questions have arisen about how to avoid plagiarizing these sources. In most cases, the same rules apply as to a printed source: when a student must refer to ideas or quote from a WWW site, he/she must cite that source. If a student wants to use visual information from a WWW site, many of the same rules apply. Copying visual information or graphics from a WWW site (or from a printed source) is very similar to quoting information, and the source of the visual information or graphic must be cited. These rules also apply to other uses of textual or visual information from WWW sites; for example, if a student is constructing a web page as a class project, and copies graphics or visual information from other sites, he/she must also provide information about the source of this information. In this case, it might be a good idea to obtain permission from the WWW site’s owner before using the graphics.

Plagiarism @ Mancosa – Turn-It-In All dissertations that are submitted to Mancosa’s Research Department are subsequently submitted to Turn-it-in . The online database compares the uploaded dissertation against 24 billion web pages, 300 million student papers and millions of articles. The Originality check feature allows staff at Mancosa to determine how much of the student's dissertation matches content or is similar to other sources in the databases. In this regard, students cannot get away with plagiarism.

Turn-It-In : Interpreting plagiarism reports What is the Originality Report? An Originality Report is an indication of similarities between a piece of work submitted by a student and a database of previously submitted work, websites and other sources. If a match between a submitted piece of work and an existing work is found, Turnitin will highlight the matching text and provide a summary on the Originality Report. The Originality Report is NOT a plagiarism report The matching text found is not an assessment of whether work has or has not been plagiarised. Originality Reports can help MANCOSA and its dissertation supervisors to locate potential sources of plagiarism. The decision to deem any work plagiarised should be made only after careful examination of both the submitted paper and the suspect sources. Significance of Originality Reports It is likely that Originality Reports will contain some matches as students will have discussed the work of others. If Dissertations do not contain any matches this could indicate that a student has not done enough reading and referencing of other sources! Therefore all Originality Reports need careful interpretation.

Turnitin shows the student’s submitted work on the left hand side, and the matches it finds on the right hand side. In this case, Turnitin has identified that 15% of the student’s work may be from the web site www.smifforums.net and a further 8% may be from the web site www.spellsofmagic.com. Turnitin will not count quotes within quotation marks or bibliography entries in forming these percentages. The colour coding shows where these matches appear in the students work. For example, at first glance it would appear that Turnitin has matched some fairly common sentences, but we would be unlikely to consider this plagiarism. However, some larger blocks are also matched and these would be of greater concern. We would also be concerned as, looking at the student’s work, we cannot see any references within the text.

As Turnitin finds matches it will report them in different ways: • For web sites, books and journals, Turnitin will identify the web site, book or journal that is the source of the match. • For work submitted by students in the past, Turnitin will identify the institution the work was submitted to, but not the name of the student. Nor will it allow you to view that student’s work. Instead you will be given an opportunity to contact that institution to request that the work is released. Things to remember • Plagiarism is an academic judgement, and Turnitin makes no attempt to judge whether plagiarism has occurred. A high unoriginality score does not automatically mean that it has occurred, and a low unoriginality score does not automatically mean that it has not occurred. • Students are advised that there is no score to aim for and that the important consideration is suitable referencing of sources used, rather than working for a particular score. However, over time, you may come to a working judgement of a level for the unoriginality score below which you wouldn’t check each piece of work – such a level is likely to depend on the discipline and nature of the assignment being set. • Substantial quotes used in a document may increase its unoriginality score, even if these quotes are properly referenced. In some cases you may judge that a piece of writing with a high unoriginality score and with many correctly referenced quotes might be a poor example of academic writing, but is not plagiarism. • Turnitin makes no claims to match against every possible source. Although its database is large, there will inevitably be some cases of plagiarism which it fails to match. A very low score or a score of 0% does not prove that plagiarism did not occur. • Turnitin can do little nothing to identify cheating where an original and genuine piece of work is written, but it is not written by the student who has submitted. This might include students asking friends or family to write for them, or buying a bespoke essay from a writing service.

Sanctions for plagiarism Level 1 Minor First Time Infringements – Innocent Plagiarism  In the light of all the relevant criteria, should it be established that the infringements are minor and first offences and considered unintentional, the academic employee concerned: (a) meets with the student to explain the infringement and the process that will be followed as well as the possible outcomes (b) issues the student with a written warning (c) retains a copy of the original work in question (d) returns the original assignment to the student unmarked and accompanied by a written request that the work be properly referenced and returned for marking by a stipulated date. The student is informed that the properly referenced assignment will be remarked with the new mark amounting to no more than 50% (e) records the student’s name on the plagiarism register with the student being advised in writing of other potential penalties that can be imposed for plagiarism (f) refers the student for any remedial assistance that may be required (g) monitors the student’s progress and continues to assist when necessary (2)  Should the student: (a) accept the penalty, the matter ends here (b) elect not to resubmit the work, he/she is allocated 0% for the assignment and a report is submitted to the Plagiarism Committee, or equivalent, for noting (c) deny the alleged infringement or challenge the outcome, the matter is referred, via the Head of Department, to the Plagiarism Committee for further action (d) wish to appeal against the penalty, he/she may do so by referring the matter, via the Head of Department, to the Academic Dean (1)

Level 2 Repeated Minor or First Time Major Infringements – Negligent Plagiarism, Confined in Scope (1)  This level refers to first offenders who deny allegations of plagiarism or who wish to appeal against the penalty imposed, second plagiarism offenders, students who have submitted the

work of other students or first-time acts of major plagiarism which may not have been intentional  The alleged infringement is referred to the Plagiarism Committee via the Head of Department  The Plagiarism Committee investigates the alleged infringement based on evidence provided and student records, where applicable  The student concerned must be asked whether he/she wishes to appear before the Plagiarism Committee  Penalties that may be imposed by the Plagiarism Committee include: (a) confirmation or repeal of the penalty imposed under a level two infringement (b) a written warning (c) resubmission of the assignment (c) allocation of a mark of 0% for the assignment (d) cancellation of registration for the module concerned (e) a decision that the infringement is of such a serious nature that it be referred directly to the Student’s Disciplinary Committee.  In the event of the student being found guilty, the student’s name is placed on the plagiarism register and all documentation related to the offence is filed in the faculty records  In the event of the student being found not guilty, the allegation will be withdrawn and the academic employee who laid the complaint informed accordingly  Decisions taken by the Plagiarism Committee are submitted to the Head of the relevant faculty for ratification.  Students are provided with written reasons for any sanctions imposed  The decision is subject to appeal by the Academic Dean who may refer the matter back to the Plagiarism Committee or refer the case to the Director of Research (1)

Level 3 Repeated Offences and/or Major Offences that are Possibly Intentional and Suggest Collusion or Deliberate Dishonesty – Intentional Plagiarism and Broad in Scope The alleged offences considered at level three are those where, in the opinion of the Plagiarism Committee and the Academic Dean, the circumstances are such that the matter cannot be dealt with appropriately at departmental or faculty level and the penalty is likely to exceed that of lower level infringements.

If a student has been found guilty of Level 3 Plagiarism any degree or certificate that may have been awarded where the plagiarised paper has formed part of the award may be overturned and withdrawn by MANCOSA.