Q Manual

9 Plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when writers claim ownership of written words or ideas which are not their own. It is 'stealing' the intellectual property of other writers and is not allowed in the university. If you blatantly copy texts without acknowledging the source of information, disciplinary action may result and you could be excluded from the university. It is important to point out that simply copying slabs of information or sentences from texts, even if the source of the information is referenced, is not a proper way of writing essays or reports and is not acceptable. You must cite the views expressed in books and articles, but these must also be in your own words and the structure of the piece of writing must also be your own.

In presenting your response to a topic, you are expected to review the literature in the field and incorporate the views of other authors, as expressed in articles and books. In this sense, the authors' views expressed in the literature are used to build up your case. You must formulate your own structure for your writing in response to a topic rather than relying solely on other authors' views. The source of the words or ideas used to support your response must always be acknowledged.

Plagiarism also relates to students copying or basing their written work on that of other students. Of course, students often work together in order to clarify understandings and test out their ideas before they establish their individual responses to topics; this is acceptable practice. However, unless indicated otherwise in the subject outline, the piece of work submitted for assessment must be your own response and must be your own work.

9.2 Academic enquiry and authors' views in articles and texts

When you survey the literature concerning your topic and formulate responses to assignment tasks and topics, you are participating in academic enquiry. The views expressed in the literature for a particular area are not fixed and unchanging. Rather, as authors' published views are constantly challenged and disputed by other writers, the knowledge in the field evolves. You must be aware of this process as you structure your response to their topics and incorporate the views from the literature.

The views of authors expressed in the literature are significant as you respond to your assignment topic. Before forming the structure for your response to the topic, you need to overview thoroughly the field so that you are aware of the findings of the writers in the field. (See Appendix 3 for some ways in which other authors' work can be referenced.)

You must frame your response in the context of the topic which you are writing on. In so doing, you can either draw on the literature to support or substantiate your structure or, if the views expressed in the literature differ from your structure, indicate how it is still valid despite the differences. (See Appendix 5 for a range of methods by which you may relate the research to your own viewpoint.)

9.3 Use of references in writing

9.3.1 Unsuitable use of references

Sometimes when students are unsure of the process in which they are engaged, they rely too heavily on the literature.

The following sample paragraph for a management topic consists of a string of direct quotations and paraphrases. Therefore, the student has failed to demonstrate a knowledge of the literature and key concepts beyond the ability to look up relevant texts and journals. That is, there is no comment from the student writer, either at the beginning of the paragraph, the end, or throughout the paragraph.

The referencing is also inadequate in that the dates have not been included. Also, it is inappropriate to refer to lecture notes because there are no records of spoken comments for others to consult and verify.

Organisations operating under rational-legal authority are marked by division of labour, hierarchy, rules and regulations and impersonal relationships (Robbing, ? p.36). This type of authority "allows supervision and control of a large number of individuals engaged in a common objective or task, maximising coordination and organisational efficiency" (MGC Lecture Notes, 1996). Control is concerned with the methods employed by the organisation to ensure that people perform their tasks in ways which are seen as desirable from the viewpoint of the organisation" (Robbing, ? p. 569).

However, if direct quotations are incorporated in a way which indicates that the student has grasped the key concepts in the literature, it is vital that the student indicates that these are exact words from the text by using quotation marks and then indicating their source, whether through the footnote or the Harvard system. However, direct quotations must be used sparingly. Even if the ideas from the text are written in your own words, the source must still be indicated.

9.3.2 Suitable integration of references

The following sample paragraph for a management topic uses references in an appropriate way. Instead of using direct quotes or paraphrasing, the student has formulated a summary of the views expressed by the cited authors. That is, the writer has put forward comments on the issue and placed them in the context of the relevant literature.

All of the different schools of thought concerning organisational structure
view employees as a vital feature, strongly related to an organisation's
survival and growth. However, there are differences amongst the schools
in that employees are viewed as either rational or social beings. The
significance of employees is evident in the comments of Owen (1995, p.
32) when he states that employees are the best investment for managers,
and Barnard (1995, p. 39) also acknowledges the input of employees,
stating that an organisation is made up of people. Research undertaken
through intense observation has led to the view that people (including
employees) are rational in that their behaviour is patterned. However,
another view is that they are social and this means influenced by non-
rational factors such as emotions (Scott, 1978, p. 22-28). Overall, it is
clear that employees are integral to organisations and an important
consideration for managers in organisations striving for success.

Lines 1-4 contain the student writer's point of view.
Lines 5-12 incorporate references on which the student's view is based.
Lines 12-14 also include the writer's point of view.

9.3.3 Techniques for using an author's ideas

From the above suitable and unsuitable samples, it is clear that you need to use references in a way which is based on your own thoughts and interpretation of the other authors' work.

By learning to summarise, you can avoid having to resort to paraphrasing and the overuse of direct quotations. Summarising forces you to reduce the authors' work to its key points and to capture the essence of the work. The process of eliminating unnecessary detail from the original work forces you to present the material using your own expression. You can then include your own comments, demonstrating your interpretation of the work.

The following approach will assist you to summarise passages:

• read and understand fully the passage;
• write out the main ideas, without the details. (These have been underlined in the following original passage);
• consider these points as a whole and the purpose for using the summary in relation to the structure in the written piece, that is, make an interpretation of the work. For example, it may not be necessary for the points in the summary to follow the same sequence as in the original passage;
• encapsulate the main ideas from the original passage and the interpretation as if telling someone the essence. Of course, jargon or a subject's specialised vocabulary does not have to be changed.

  Original:
  (From: Williams, A., Dobson, P. and Walters, M., (1989), Changing Culture, The Institute of Personnel Management, London, p. l4)

  Culture is learnt

  Individual beliefs, attitudes and values are gained from the individual's environment. The culture of the organization is therefore gained from the environment common to its members. Both the internal and the external environment of the organization influence culture.

  The internal environment comprises the social and technical systems of the organization. Thus, in part, culture is the product of these socio-technical systems. They comprise the decision-making, planning and control procedures of the organization, its technology, the procedures for recruitment, selection and training, and the behaviour of other members - in particular, that of the manager and the work group. Culture has its roots as much in beliefs about the demands of the work environment as it does in the personal attitudes and values of individuals.

  Externally, the organization is embedded in social political, legislative, economic and technological systems. These represent the external environment of the organization. Those operating in different sectors have different markets, technologies and legal constraints. They have different skill and resource needs. These variations place different demands on organizations and create differing learning environments.

  A summary:

  In considering an organisation's culture which includes the values, beliefs and attitudes of its members, it is important to recognise that it is shaped by both internal and external environments. Socio-technical systems such as decision-making, planning and controlling constitute the internal environment. The external environment, which can differ across sectors, includes elements such as the social, political and legislative (Williams et al., 1989; p. l4).

9.4 Paraphrasing, or writing in your own words

In some subjects where you are required to deal with set facts in definitions, statutes or Accounting Standards, it may be necessary to paraphrase or write these in your own words. The following steps will assist you with paraphrasing.

After locating the information to be included in the written piece:

• read the passage several times to understand fully the meaning;
• identify and underline the key words and ideas in the passage;
• write out the key points and think of synonyms for the concepts embedded in these words and phrases in the passage. (Remember, however, that if the key words are specialised vocabulary for the subject or jargon, they do not need to be changed);
• use the synonyms or alternate forms of expression as the framework for the paraphrase and write the paraphrase as if relating to someone the content of the passage;
• consider the role played by the paraphrased passage in relation to comments you are making. Indicate for the reader the nature of the role. (See Appendix 4.)

Original:
(From: Williams, A., Dobson, P. and Walters, M. (1989), Changing Culture, The Institute of Personnel Management, London, p. 20.)

Types of organizational culture
Organizational cultures vary according to the nature of the beliefs, values, and attitudes that are commonly held. These reflect differences in society, history and function.

A Paraphrase
As explained by Williams et al. (1989, p. 20), just as beliefs, attitudes and values which express the different society's history and function differ, so too do organizational cultures.

The main ideas (the jargon) have been incorporated in the paraphrase and the organisation of the original has been changed. In the original, the idea expressed in the first sentence is followed by another idea in the second sentence, whereas in the paraphrase, these two ideas are balanced against each other in one sentence. Even though the author's idea has been expressed in the student's own words, the source of the idea must be referenced.

9.5 Conclusion

Finally, it is very important that your writing is not composed solely of material from texts and articles. Tutors want to see how you have reviewed the literature on the topic and formed your own structure for your piece of writing, based on the body of knowledge or literature in the field.

When information from texts or articles is used to support your response to the topic, it is most important that the sources of references used are acknowledged. There are very serious consequences if this does not occur. A guiding principle is that if words or ideas are taken from a source and used in writing, the source must be acknowledged. The penalties are too great to overlook this very important point.

On a more positive note, appropriate understanding and use of references in the manner described in this chapter will enhance your written work, perhaps with writing becoming a more meaningful experience and most probably earning higher assessment grades!

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