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(BUTTON) Search with google * Become a supporter * Subscribe * Sign in/up * (BUTTON) My account + Comment activity + Edit profile + Email preferences + Change password + Sign out * (BUTTON) International edition + switch to the UK edition + switch to the US edition + switch to the Australia edition * Jobs * Dating * Holidays * The Guardian app * Video * Podcasts * Pictures * Newsletters * Today's paper * The Observer * Digital archive * Crosswords * Facebook * Twitter * Jobs * Dating * Holidays * UK * UK politics * Education * Media * Society * Law * Scotland * Wales * Northern Ireland (BUTTON) More Graduation A cut and paste affair Thanks to the internet, it's easier than ever to plagiarise – but as those who have been copied or caught copying will testify, it is still far from acceptable practice Huma Qureshi Sat 18 Apr 2009 00.01 BST * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email * (BUTTON) View more sharing options * Share on LinkedIn * Share on Pinterest * Share on Google+ * Share on WhatsApp * Share on Messenger * (BUTTON) Close Mat Gazeley whose work was copied by another student [ ] Mat Gazeley, whose work was copied by another student. Photograph: Graham Turner/Graham Turner Shakespeare did it (well, sort of). Martin Luther King did it (allegedly, in his doctoral thesis). Even some journalists do it. Last year, Adam Smith of the Birmingham Mail infamously admitted to it in a drunken video on YouTube. His public confession made national headlines. With examples like these, what's so wrong with a bit of plagiarism? Quite a lot, says John Biggam, who lectures at Glasgow Caledonian University and who had his book, Succeeding with Your Masters Dissertation, plagiarised by another lecturer on the web. "A lot of students think it is acceptable to copy or plagiarise somebody else's work because there's this idea that everyone is doing it anyway," he says. "It seems like it's not really a serious issue, but it is. If it's a minor case, you could end up losing marks on a dissertation or having to resit a module. If it's widespread and a student has been found to have plagiarised often, then the most extreme punishment they could face would be expulsion." With the internet blurring the boundaries of ownership (where anyone can upload or download any text, song or film), it has never been easier to adopt someone else's work as your own. According to Biggam, the definition of plagiarism within an academic context is: "Where a student copies text verbatim without providing sufficient acknowledgement of the source, thereby giving the impression that the words are their own." This includes paraphrasing someone else's ideas or theories but failing to credit the original source. Sarah Cole*, 23, graduated last summer in English at the University of Southampton. She admitted to paraphrasing half an essay while up against a tight deadline. "When I got my essay back, I was too scared to find out what my tutor's comments were on it," she says. "As for getting in trouble, I was meant to speak to my personal tutor about it, but I was so terrified that I didn't. I managed to avoid him for the rest of that academic year. In the end, I received half marks for the essay, and it didn't go on my permanent record." Cole was lucky to get off relatively lightly. For others, plagiarising can spell the end of your degree – even if you are unwittingly involved. Mat Gazeley, 25, was in his final year studying international relations at the University of Westminster when he offered to lend his laptop to one of his housemates. "It wasn't a big deal to lend him my computer and I didn't think anything of it," he says. "I never thought he'd be completely rinsing one of my essays word for word." For months, Gazeley had no idea that his housemate had ripped him off. It wasn't until he logged on to check his final-year results while on holiday that he realised something was wrong. "The website told me that it couldn't give me a definite overall grade and the only marks it did give me were much lower than I'd anticipated. Then when I got home, there was a letter from the university saying that I was suspected of colluding with another student in plagiarism. I completely freaked out." Through a process of elimination, Gazeley slowly realised who had copied him. "My housemate called me and I asked him if there was something he wanted to tell me. He just said, 'Oh yeah, I think I borrowed one of your essays'. I told him he needed to do the right thing and call up our tutors and explain. He did, but I've not spoken to him since." After a hearing held at the university, Gazeley was cleared. But he dreads to think what could have happened. "My entire career could have been jeopardised. I could have lost my degree and everything I had worked for," he says. "I'd always worked so carefully, and the idea that my achievements were being threatened by someone who had gone behind my back was simply unbelievable. " If you are caught in serious and deliberate plagiarism, it could end up on your final academic transcript. If a potential employer asks to see your transcript as part of the selection process, you can probably say goodbye to your chances of getting the job. Deliberate cheating suggests laziness, a lack of trustworthiness and a failure to take responsibility for one's own work. "It certainly wouldn't look good to a future employer if they knew you had engaged in plagiarism," Biggam says. But how can you avoid plagiarism, when part of the university learning process is to absorb expert theories and demonstrate your grasp of them by reproducing them in written work? The answer, says Biggam, comes down to meticulously referencing every source used in every piece of written work you hand in. "Referencing as a skill is incredibly important and a lot of students underestimate its worth," he says. "If you get into the habit of always referencing, you are not only acknowledging your source, but also showing that you are well-read, have skills of accuracy, are able to be consistent and methodical, and have the ability of checking one source against another." The preferred method of referencing, adopted by most universities, is the Harvard author and date system; most universities have student guides to referencing available on their library websites. At Glasgow Caledonian University, Biggam is testing the use of plagiarism detection software, called Turnitin, which monitors work for any copied phrases. "Often, it might be a genuine mistake – a student might simply forget to reference a quote or a source. In which case, a simple chat with the student can point it out. But a minority of students do it deliberately," he says. "If they know they are being monitored, then they may at least think twice about it." * Name has been changed Topics * Graduation * Students * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email * Share on LinkedIn * Share on Pinterest * Share on Google+ * Share on WhatsApp * Share on Messenger * Reuse this content most viewed * UK * UK politics * Education * Media * Society * Law * Scotland * Wales * Northern Ireland back to top IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk * become a supporter * make a contribution * securedrop * ask for help * advertise with us * work for us * contact us * complaints & corrections * terms & conditions * privacy policy * cookie policy * digital newspaper archive * all topics * all contributors * Facebook * Twitter © 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. [p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Graduation%2CStudents%2CEduca tion]