An introduction to academic writing

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An introduction to academic writing
plagiarismwww.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/plagiarism

• Dr Tony Lowe
• a.j.lowe_at_adm.leeds.ac.uk

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How far have you travelled to study here?

• Less than 10 miles
• Between 10 and 50 miles
• Between 50 and 100 miles
• Between 100 and 500 miles
• Between 500 and 1000 miles
• Between 1000 and 10000 miles
• Over 10000 miles

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In writing an assignment I cut paste several
significant sections of text from the Internet
into my document. Will I

• Get a good mark for my assignment.
• Get a poor mark but pass my assignment.
• Fail my assignment.
• Be accused of plagiarism and be penalised.

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Structure
Structure

• Knowledge creation
• Disseminating knowledge creation
• Good academic writing
• Note taking skills
• What is plagiarism?
• Plagiarism detection TurnitinUK
• Summary

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Knowledge Creation

• Ultimate goal of the University is the creation
  of new knowledge.
• Need to understand boundaries of existing
  knowledge
• Then conduct research to advance these boundaries
• Finally communicate the new knowledge
• Teaching
• Journal and conference papers (writing)

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Good Academic writing

• Evaluate the existing knowledge in this area.
• Describe how the new knowledge was discovered
  (experiment, synthesis, survey etc.)
• Discuss the implications of the new knowledge on
  future research etc.
• Written is a manner that allows a reader to check
  the review of existing knowledge and repeat the
  activity to confirm/contest the new knowledge.

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Academic writing II

• Characteristics of academic writing
• Structured
• Clear
• Appropriate language and style
• References are used where existing knowledge is
  used

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References Style

• Which of the 2 submissions describing a cooking
  study would get the higher mark?
• Jones (1980) Smith (1975) both advocate using
  water to cook potatoes. Interestingly Ramsden
  (1895) argues for cooking oil describing taste
  improvements. In this case taste was not
  important and so water was used.
• We used water to cook our potatoes because
  flavour was not important

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Referencing

• There are 3 components to a reference
• In text reference (e.g. Jones 1994)
• The paraphrased/quoted version of the original
• Full reference details

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Paraphrase
Berners-Lee et al (2001) argue that incorporating
artificial intelligence techniques into the
mechanisms of the Internet will result in new
systems with potential to make a large impact on
society. References Berners-Lee, T., Hendler,
J. Lassila, O., 2001, "The semantic web",
Scientific American, May pp36.
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Quote
According to Berners-Lee et al (2001) "the
Semantic Web is an extension of the current web
in which information is given well-defined
meaning, better enabling computers and people to
work in cooperation". References Berners-Lee,
T., Hendler, J. Lassila, O., 2001, "The
semantic web", Scientific American, May pp36.
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Which of the following assignments will get the
best marks?

• An assignment using a number of quoted references
• An assignment with no references at all
• An assignment using a number of paraphrased
  references
• An assignment with one long quoted reference

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Note taking skills

• Knowing that you are going to reference your
  sources requires you to document your
  research/reading in a rigorous way.
• Always write out the full reference details with
  any notes.
• Where you copy phrases, sentences indicate this
  with quotation marks so you know when you include
  it in your assignment.
• There is training and IT tools available to help
  (see Library and Skills Centre web sites).

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Plagiarism what is it?

• Plagiarism is defined as presenting someone
  elses work as your own. Work means any
  intellectual output, and typically includes text,
  data, images, sound or performance.(Office of
  Academic Appeals Regulation 2005)

Office of Academic Appeals Regulation, 2005,
Section 2.1 of the published procedures on
Cheating, plagiarism and fraudulent or fabricated
coursework (available online at
http//www.leeds.ac.uk/AAandR/cpff.htm - viewed
6th Aug 2005)
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Plagiarism is serious

• All cases are reported and go on your student
  record.
• Penalties vary from written warnings, re-sitting
  modules to expulsion from the University!

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Why does the University take plagiarism so
seriously?

• To make life difficult for students.
• Because it is big in the media at the moment.
• Because it undermines the Universitys reputation
  and the reputation of its degrees.
• Because plagiarising students miss out on
  learning.
• All of the above.

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"The small-world phenomenon (Milgram 1967 Pool
and Kochen 1978) has long been an object of
popular fascination and anecdotal report. The
experience of meeting a complete stranger with
whom we have apparently little in common and
finding unexpectedly that we share a mutual
acquaintance is one with which most of us are
familiar-"it's a small world!" we say. More
generally, most people have at least heard of the
idea that any two individuals, selected randomly
from almost anywhere on the planet, are
"connected" via a chain of no more than six
intermediate acquaintances, a notion made popular
by the Broadway play (and later movie) Six
Degrees of Separation (Guare 1990)." Student
Version The concept of the small world
phenomenon is widely recognised as the notion
that any two individuals, selected randomly from
almost anywhere on the planet, are connected via
a chain of no more than six intermediate
acquaintances. ...Reference "Network,
Dynamics, and the Small-World Phenomena", Duncan
J. Watts, 1999, American Journal of Sociology,
Volume 105, Number 2, September, pp493 - 527

• Not plagiarism
• Plagiarism
• Dont know

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Plagiarism detection

• Subject experts knowledge of the discipline and
  its literature.
• Changes in writing style, inappropriate writing
  style.
• Electronically using Turnitin.

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Plagiarism detection

• The University uses a computer system to detect
  plagiarism. This checks assignments against
• Internet web pages
• Other assignments from the class
• Electronic journals
• Assignments from other Universities
• All the above

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Summary

• Learn about how to produce good academic writing.
• Note taking
• Referencing
• Structuring an argument
• Manage your time effectively!
• If in doubt ask your lecturers!
• Go on training

www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/plagiarism
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Questions?