Plagiarism Workshop (PART I)

Today you are going to do some research on plagiarism, what it is, how it is
defined and how to avoid it in your academic writing. In your writing and study
skills class in HED you will learn how to cite and reference properly.

Your first task is to complete a web quest on plagiarism, set up by Dr Alice Christie at the Arizona
State University West. Please put the following URL into your Explorer page:
http://www.west.asu.edu/achristie/NASA/plagiarism.html#top
You may explore any of the linked pages that you find on this site or related websites to find the
answers to the questions below.

Task 1 – Defining Plagiarism

As outlined on the above webquest, you need to complete the following activities in pairs or teams of
three:
Find at least 3 of the 5 definitions of plagiarism at the various webquest links and write them here:
1. “With no environmental planning strategy for rural area to speak of, Viet Nam's villages suffer
from a myriad of waste management headaches.” (“Villages swamped with environmental
problems”, 2005, viewed 17 July 2007,
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=03SUN230105)
2. ____ “Plagiarism is the use of another person's work without giving proper credit. It can 
happen as a result of a conscious effort to deceive, or as a result of careless research 
methods”( “Striving for excellent”, 2006, viewed 20 Aug 2007,
http://schools.gorge.net/whitesalmon/chs/plagiarism.htm)
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3. “Plagiarism can take many forms:

• Copying any direct quotation from your source material without providing quotation marks or
crediting your source
• Paraphrasing of a borrowed idea without introducing and documenting the source of the idea
• Copying another paper”

(“Plagiarism”, 2004, viewed 20 Aug, 2007,

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/library/infolit/guides/key/kplagiarism.htm)
Task 2 – the Consequences of Plagiarism
Summarize a story of at least one _______________ who plagiarized, and what happened to them to
share with the class:
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Task 3 – Acceptable and Unacceptable Paraphrasing

Many students think it is okay to just change a few words, use a few synonyms and then they can call
work their own. Using the links again on this webquest and its related sites, write your own definition
of the following terms. Another useful site:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html
Acceptable paraphrasing means _______________________________________________________
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Unacceptable paraphrasing means _____________________________________________________
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Task 4 – Checking your understanding of plagiarism

Go to “Site 8: Is it plagiarism?” on Dr Christie’s web quest page and in your group discuss the
questions that are asked there. Note any points you are unsure of below, then go back to the links and
see if you can find the answers!
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Task 5 – RMIT Policy on plagiarism

Read RMIT’s policy on plagiarism at: http://mams.rmit.edu.au/1oavdg0bdd1.pdf

Read RMIT’s Student Discipline Regulation 6.1.1 at: http://mams.rmit.edu.au/j4lb68xx36oj1.pdf

What are some of the consequences of being charged with academic misconduct, which includes
plagiarism, according to these policies?
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