Our first task is to answer the question:

Why do we write?

Pretty obviously to communicate something so that readers can:

• feel
• understand
• derive inspiration
• feel challenged / amused / edified etc etc.

…and so that we can demonstrate things like our:

• skill
• knowledge/ mastery  of our subject 
• creativity
• the ability to help others understand 

Essentially there is a reason for this: to LEARN (something) and to move our capability forward.  Let me try to explain what I mean.

My old university : Bournemouth University, had a great coat of arms with the legend:

Discere Mutari Est. Which means:  To Learn is to Change

We write to change ourselves but mostly to change the reader and thus the world.  Poets do it, Mathematicians and Scientists and creative writers do it……. and its purpose and outcome is to enable others to learn, and through that learning, to enable change (development and improvement) to take place.  Where scientific and academic writing is concerned, we write to be read by others who might add their intellect, knowledge and creativity to ours and test what we have said / suggested and push forward the boundaries of what we know: a sort of evolution, a moving onward if you will.

So, how does this link to Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the antithesis of all that has been said above:

• nothing is displayed but the copier’s cynicism and laziness
• nothing has moved forward: the sum total of knowledge, understanding and learning has not advanced one inch.

The simplest, most economic and memorable definition of Plagiarism that I know is:

Plagiarism is citation without attribution.

Meaning that an original writer has had his material read and copied by a reader who then uses this material in his own ‘work’ without giving due credit to the real author.  Whether the original work was quoted, paraphrased or just in the thinking of the copied work is irrelevant [if it is used and not attributed – it is plagiarism]- relying upon it and passing it off as ones own work when it is not is effectively stealing someone else’s intellectual capacity and claiming it as one’s own.

At university this is considered an educational ‘sin’ if you like: a student puts his name on something saying: ‘This work is all mine – attribute the mark to me’, when the work isn’t original at all: it is the product of theft.  It is also asking the university to effectively register a false mark and award the student his qualification based upon it.   Plagiarism is nothing more than willful, repetitive cheating: cheating on teachers, the academic system and on peers, colleagues and friends who have done their own work duly citing and fully attributing any work of others they might have used.   I have written a good bit on this elsewhere on this site if you find yourself in need of further background:

Academic Plagiarism.

Plagiarism Again.

Your Task

1. What are the very best ways to avoid the risks associated with plagiarism and to be credited for good research work done in the preparation of assignments?    [Amongst other things, I am expecting you to consider the role of referencing systems and how you might use them effectively].

2. What sorts of plagiarism are there and are some thought of as being ‘worse’ than others? [Provide some classic examples – not just those mentioned on my site]. What are the typical, ‘tell-tale’ signs of plagiarism ?  What tools are available to universities and their teaching staff to check student work for plagiarism.

3. What are the sorts of penalties and sanctions that may well be applied by Universities who discover plagiarism in student work?  In the light of this, is it worth ever taking the risk?  Might it be a case that there is less work & effort and greater reward in learning how to cite and attribute work properly than there is in attempting to hide plagiarism from teachers and their software tools and weapons?

After all this:

A) Produce in English a (non-plagiarised!)and high-impact two-page A4 ‘Thinkpiece’ on the subject of: ‘Plagiarism and How to Avoid it’ , designed to be read and easily understood by all UHA students and incorporated into their Course Handbooks and to be hosted prominently upon the websites of all the UHA faculties.

B) Design and Deliver a provocative 30 to 40 minute ‘workshop‘ (NOT straight presentation) to be used with seminar-sized (TD) groups of First Year University students designed to convince them that plagiarism is not an option.  The ‘Thinkpiece’ (see A above), might well feature in this.  The workshop is to be designed to involve students and get them to participate: NOT to just to present to/at them.  It is, of course, to be delivered in English.