UCL REGISTRY AND ACADEMIC

SERVICES

APPENDIX 42

PLAGIARISM

This advice has been brought together in the form of guidance notes for Faculties and/or
Departments/ Divisions when dealing with the plagiarism and suspected plagiarism. It
gives a definition of plagiarism; gives some explanation of why students plagiarise;
provides hints on how to detect and prevent plagiarism; and sets out the College
procedures for dealing with plagiarism.

The Academic Committee recognised the need for more information about plagiarism to
be compiled and established a Working Group on Plagiarism in 2003 to review UCLs
current policies and procedures in respect of plagiarism, to consider services which are
available for the prevention of plagiarism, to liaise as appropriate with the UCL Board of
Examiners Examinations Irregularities Panel, and to make recommendations on these
matters to the Academic Committee.

It was seen as timely to do this because of the increased number of potential cases of
plagiarism; the devolvement of some irregularities to be handled within Departments/
Divisions and the need for greater dissemination of best practice in the light of a review of
recent case history.

This document sets out regulations, procedures and guidelines in respect of plagiarism,
and includes examples of best practice from within UCL.

Departmental/Faculty Requirements

Departments and Faculties are required to implement UCLs rules and regulations on
breaches of the examination regulations, including plagiarism. It is their duty to ensure
that students are aware of what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it; to assist in
preventing plagiarism and ensuring that once suspected, it is handled appropriately and
according to the correct procedures. This document sets out best practice in these areas.

1. What is Plagiarism?

The current UCL definition of plagiarism, and the general advice given to students about it,
is as follows, as published in the Student Handbook and elsewhere:

Plagiarism is defined as the presentation of another person's thoughts or words

or artefacts or software as though they were a student's own. Any quotation
from the published or unpublished works of other persons must, therefore, be
clearly identified as such by being placed inside quotation marks, and students
should identify their sources as accurately and fully as possible. A series of
short quotations from several different sources, if not clearly identified as such,
constitutes plagiarism just as much as does a single unacknowledged long
quotation from a single source. Equally, if a student summarises another
person's ideas, judgements, figures, software or diagrams, a reference to that
person in the text must be made and the work referred to must be included in
the bibliography.
 Self-plagiarism is defined as the presentation of the students own thoughts or
words or artefacts or software where it has been previously submitted for the
award of credit or the completion of a course-unit or module. Any quotation from
the students own published or unpublished works must, therefore, be clearly
identified as such by being placed inside quotation marks, and students should
identify their sources as accurately and fully as possible. A series of short
quotations from several different sources, if not clearly identified as such,
constitutes plagiarism just as much as does a single unacknowledged long
quotation from a single source. Equally, if it is a summary of the students own
ideas, judgements, figures, software or diagrams, a reference in the text must
be made and the work referred to must be included in the bibliography.

When issuing its advice to students as to what constitutes plagiarism, each Department/
Division should quote the full UCL definition given above, and augment it, as appropriate,
with specific local examples drawn from its own discipline, ensuring that the full range of
possibilities in this area is covered.

UCLs definition of plagiarism also includes the following:

Recourse to the services of 'ghost-writing' agencies (for example in the

preparation of essays or reports) or of outside word-processing agencies which
offer correction/improvement of English is strictly forbidden, and students who
make use of the services of such agencies render themselves liable for an
academic penalty.

Use of unacknowledged information downloaded from the internet also

constitutes plagiarism.

Where part of an examination consists of 'take away' papers, essays or other

work written in a student's own time, or a coursework assessment, the work
submitted must be the candidate's own.

Departments/ Division give specific advice about non-originality, plagiarism and

the use of material by others, and students must make themselves aware of
such departmental/ divisional guidelines and abide by them. For some
assessments it is also illicit to reproduce material which a student has used in
other work/assessment for the course or programmes concerned. Students
should make themselves aware of their Department's/ Divisions rules on this
'self-plagiarism'. If in doubt, students should consult their Personal Tutor or
another appropriate teacher.

In addition to the above, and according to the nature of the discipline concerned, other
forms of plagiarism may occur, for example in laboratory-based science subjects, including
the plagiarism of chemical samples, spectra, experimental data, computer outputs, etc.

Students should also be advised that:

Failure to observe any of the provisions of this policy or of approved

departmental guidelines constitutes an examination offence under UCL and
University Regulations. Examination offences will normally be treated as
cheating or irregularities under the Regulations in respect of Examination
Irregularities. Under these Regulations students found to have committed an
 offence may be excluded from all further examinations of UCL or the University
or of both.

2. Why do students plagiarise?

Plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional. The list below is not exhaustive but
contains the most commonly encountered reasons:

On the whole, unintentional:

Misunderstanding about citation

Over-reliance on the original source material
Following practices encouraged or accepted in previous educational experience or
culture
Not fully understanding when group work ceases and individual work begins
Compensating for poor English language skills
Poor note-taking practice

On the whole, intentional:

Leaving the work to the last minute and taking the easy option
Needing to succeed
Sheer panic
Thinking that it is easy to get away with it
Having problems with the workload
Copying others is easier than original work
Sensing that the teacher will not mind and/or notice

3. How to prevent plagiarism?

It is important to ensure that students have been given full details at the start of their
course/programme of study about how to undertake any work that they are carrying out on
their own, particularly if it counts towards the assessment of a module or course. They
should understand what plagiarism means in general and specifically in terms of the
subject area they are covering.

Listed below are a few key areas that should be covered:

Information on the definition of plagiarism and how it relates to the piece of work set

Procedures for dealing with possible cases of plagiarism should be drawn to their
attention

A dedicated session aimed at programme level, at least, in line with UCL policy,
should be given, ideally at the start of session, though allowance should be made
for later starters and part-time students

A dedicated session at module level should be given, which highlights additional

requirements for a given module, remembering that there may be students taking
the module from outside the Department/ Division who will not be aware of
discipline-specific requirements
 Written guidelines should be issued to all students, either hard copy or online, prior
to submission of the piece of work

In these, the scope of the work should be made clear, including: when group work
ends and individual work starts; how and when to reference; how and when to
quote; how best to deal with note-taking.

The matter of citation is important as there are differing practices in citing sources
across disciplines

As part of the delivery of the module, if possible examples of plagiarism occur in

drafts or practice essays etc., students should be advised accordingly and a log
should be made that such advice has been given

Details of submission should be clear, including the date for submission and where
the work should be handed in

Students should complete a cover sheet for all assessed work which should include
the following: signed confirmation by the student that it is their own unaided work
and that he/she has read and understood guidelines on plagiarism; the date of
signature; a stamp showing date of receipt

It will help to prevent plagiarism if students are set original and different assignments each
session, as students have and will gain access to previous sessions work from other
students.

It is also highly recommended that submission is made in electronic form as well as hard
copy as this may aid the method of detection.

4. How to detect plagiarism?

If plagiarism is suspected in any piece of work, whether assessed or non-assessed,

submitted by a student, it must always be investigated. In some recent cases that have
come before the Examinations Irregularities Panel, students have claimed that they have
always done their work in this way, and have never encountered any problems or
difficulties before. It is essential that good practice in this area is instilled in students at the
earliest opportunity, as timely identification of any malpractice can prevent more serious
problems occurring later on in a students career.

Given the extremely diverse areas where plagiarism can occur and the differences
between the various disciplines, it is not possible to give a fully comprehensive list of all
indications that a piece of work may be plagiarised, either in part or in full. UCL is using
the JISC plagiarism service, which utilises Turn-It-In, to assist with the identification of
possible plagiarism. For further information, please go to www.ucl.ac.uk/registry/ucl-
staff/plagiarism, or contact Dr Bob Muid on extension 31399 or at r.muid@ucl.ac.uk.

For those who do not use this service, there are some typical signs that could indicate that
a students work may be plagiarised. These include:

Internal differences within the body of the work in, for example, style, spelling,
punctuation, use of fonts, italics, language, grammar and construction.
 The work submitted is of a (much) higher standard or a different nature (e.g. in terms of
linguistic expression) than one would normally have expected to receive from a
particular student.

Internal inconsistencies in references in either the main body of the text or bibliography,
or in both. This can also include any significant omission of a particular source or
sources which one would otherwise normally expect to find cited.

Statements that are unsupported by the remainder of the text, e.g. as we can see from
the table above where there is no table.

The work submitted is either partly or largely irrelevant to the task set, or is generally of
a poor quality in relation to what has actually been asked for, though is competent
enough in it.

Referencing which appears inadequate or flimsy in relation to the detail of what is being
said.

Any instinctive familiarity with the material in the assessed work on the part of the
assessor (i.e. the Im pretty sure Ive seen this somewhere else before feeling that
one sometimes gets!).

Marked similarities between the work of two or more students. This can either be
within the same cohort, or could be between students from different year groups.

If plagiarism is suspected, then a useful starting point in trying to identify it is to undertake

some spot checks on the references. Frequently, students will include some references to
works they have consulted and used, but not do this consistently and in full, e.g. they may
well cite the odd sentence or conclusion correctly, but not make any adequate reference
to other, substantial parts of the works they have been using verbatim. A quick scan of the
works in question should reveal whether or not they have been plagiarised.

Another typical scenario is that students will make reference to one or more works along
the way, but not to the actual work or works that they have been using. An indication that
this might be the case is when there would appear to be some significant omissions in the
references or bibliography, e.g. a major monograph on the subject appears not to have
been consulted. In such cases, it is always worthwhile consulting these to see whether the
student has, in fact, been using them.

Should these checks not produce any hard evidence, but you are still unsure whether or
not plagiarism has occurred, it is helpful to consult a colleague who is familiar with the
subject matter in question; he or she may well have some knowledge of the source or
sources in question.

Finally, there is a growing tendency for students to use the internet in the preparation of
their work, and some are unable to resist the temptation to download and import large
sections of material into their work, passing it off as their own. There is now a wide range
of scientific and other articles and journals available in this way, as well as a large number
of sites offering ready-made essays to students on just about every topic imaginable.
The fact that it is possible to import such material without having first to type it out has
made this form of plagiarism increasingly popular, and many of the cases of plagiarism
that we now deal with are of this type.
Just as it is a straightforward task for students to copy in this way, so it is also a relatively
easy task to detect it through search-engines, and in particular Google.

To undertake a Google search, you should first identify some key phrases within the
body of the text you are investigating which seem, to you, perhaps not to be entirely of the
students own making. These can be: phrases that you suspect are beyond the linguistic
competence of the student; phrases which are unusual or which stand out; dense
technical concepts not fully explained; etc.

You should then search for these in Google [www.google.com]; the site contains useful
tips on how to conduct searches, and you will find these by clicking on Advanced Search.
It is always helpful, however, to confine the nature of the search by putting the text you are
seeking in quotation marks; this means that Google will only look for that set of words in
that particular combination. For example, try checking the phrase for light with a
Gaussian spectral profile you will easily discover its source!

On occasion, a Google search may not initially yield conclusively positive results, yet just
the odd phrase or two. It is, however, worth bearing in mind that plagiarism is itself
increasing rife on the internet, and it can pay to be persistent! A recent search undertaken
on an essay about Ibsens The Dolls House (it is worth looking in Google for Dolls
House essays, by the way) revealed that at least three sources had been plagiarising odd
sentences from each other, but eventually Google located the original source of all of
these three, and the source that the student had plagiarised about 90% of her essay from.
Interestingly (and not untypically), the student cited only one of the minor websites in her
bibliography, but not the one from which her essay was largely taken.

5. Building the case

When you are satisfied that there is a possible case of plagiarism to be considered, you
should undertake the following steps:

Collate all the information gathered so far, indicating the areas of possible plagiarism in
the students work.

Determine whether the case is of a minor nature to be handled by the course/module

organiser or whether it is of a more serious nature. See UCL's Procedure in Respect of
a Breach of the Examination Regulations for further information. However, it is always
helpful to consult the Chair of the Board of Examiners.

If it has not been done already, inform the Chair of the Board of Examiners as early as
possible if the case is likely to be of a more serious nature.

The Chair of the Board of Examiners will either consult other examiners responsible for
examining the work or ask you to do so.

The Chair of the Board of Examiners should ask you and the other examiners to
continue to mark the work as normal (ie as if it has not been plagiarised and assign a
provisional mark to it. At the same time, s/he should ask you to offer advice on the
extent of the plagiarism (in terms of percentage and severity), and whether, in your
opinion, it was intentional or unintentional. You should also note what mark should be
given to the unplagiarised parts of the work.
 The Chair of the Board of Examiners, in consultation with the examiners, should
consider whether to follow the option of interviewing the student, where the origins of
the work are unclear and there is still some uncertainty concerning the originality of the
submitted work. This is allowable within the Examination Regulations.

A decision has to be made as to whether there is enough evidence to indicate possible

plagiarism.

The case must now be clearly set out which will involve printing out the plagiarised
source(s) and indicating the areas of plagiarism by cross-referencing the work, and will
include completion of the form as specified in UCL's Procedure in Respect of a Breach
of the Examination Regulations.

The case must then be referred to the Chair of the Board of Examiners, who will deal
with it according to UCL's Procedure in Respect of a Breach of the Examination
Regulations.

Where work is suspected, the original should be retained until the case has been finally
determined. Care should be taken when considering at what point a student should be
informed of the allegation. Factors to be taken into account are the timing of the detection
vis--vis examination period or deadlines for significant assessed work. In addition, early
detection and early indication to the student might assist in preventing further cases of
plagiarism, particularly where it might be unintentional.

6. Dealing with the case

On receipt of a fully documented case of plagiarism, the Chair should consult UCL's
Procedure in Respect of a Breach of the Examination Regulations. In accordance with
these, s/he should determine whether the case can be dealt with internally or should be
referred to the Examination Irregularities Panel.

In all instances, the Chair of the Board of Examiners should keep a record of all proven
cases of plagiarism (and any penalty imposed) within the Boards remit and report on
them, as appropriate to the Director of Registry and Academic Services, in accordance
with UCL's Procedure in Respect of a Breach of the Examination Regulations. This will be
particularly important in those instances where a student has plagiarised on more than one
occasion, which will determine whether the matter has to be referred to the Central
Examination Irregularities Panel or not, and for the assessment of the level of the penalty.

7. Further reading

It is essential that you consult UCL's Procedure in Respect of a Breach of the Examination
Regulations, which can be found at
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Registry/UCLStaff/Pink_Book/EIregs/index.shtml

Other useful websites include:

www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/assessinglearning/03/plagMain.html
www.study-skills.net for Peter Levins Beat the Witch-hunt! Peter Levins Guide to
Avoiding and Rebutting Accusations of Plagiarism, for Conscientious Students
www.tla.ed.ac.uk/services/LTforums/archive/reasons.pdf