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Media Literacy: Library Tutorials

Academic Integrity

Academic dishonesty may refer to cheating, dishonest conduct, plagiarism, and collusion in your academic work. Specific examples of these types of activity may include : misrepresenting others’ work as your own, such as not acknowledging any paraphrasing or quoting, use of another student’s material, incomplete acknowledgment of sources (including Internet sources), or submission of the same work to complete the requirements of more than one course.

You may access additional information on Academic Honesty through the links below:

 Academic Honesty Lib Guide

KSU's Administrative Policy regarding Academic Honesty

Plagiarism is using someone else’s words or ideas as if they were your own without giving credit to that person. It may be intentional or unintentional.

Examples

  • Failure to acknowledge sources of words, sentences or ideas
  • Failure to acknowledge sources of illustrations, images, pictures, and audio recordings
  • Failure to include a reference list or falsifying a reference list
  • Failure to put quotation marks around direct quotations
  • Submitting the same paper for two different classes
  • Inappropriate collaboration: having someone else write your paper for you or you writing a paper for someone
  • Paying someone to write your paper or take an exam for you
  • Purchasing a paper from the Internet

Consequences

  • Your instructor may refuse to accept the assignment for credit
  • You may fail the assignment
  • You may fail the course
  • You may be required to attend Plagiarism School
  • You may be dismissed from the University
  • You may forfeit your degree

Why is it wrong to plagiarize?

  • It violates Kent State University Policy
  • It’s dishonest & misleading
  • It devalues the author’s original work
  • It’s cheating yourself:
    • Students are expected to create/ add to knowledge
    • Short circuits the learning process

Tips on How to Avoid Plagiarism

Do's Don'ts
Do your own work; Start early Do not copy and paste
Take careful notes on all the resources you use (both print and electronic) Do not buy a paper from the Internet
Let your voice come through Do not let someone else write your paper for you
Read article, set aside then write your paper Do not write a paper for someone else
Use strategies such as paraphrasing, summarizing and quotations Do not copy your classmate's work
If you use direct quotations, use quotation marks Do not submit the same assignment for two different classes
Introduce each source using in-text citations Do not use article spinner or other online sites to help in paraphrasing text you found elsewhere
Include a bibliography or reference list of all sources used in your paper  
When in doubt, cite!  

No need to cite when:

  • Using ideas from your own experiences, opinions, insights, observations or conclusions
  • Reporting results from your own experiment
  • Using “common knowledge”- e.g.  “The earth revolves around the sun.”

Learn more...

Academic Honesty & Plagiarism Website

University of Southern Mississippi- Plagiarism Tutorial

Plagiarism and ESL writers- Purdue University's Online Writing Lab

Sharing information- (Module)- University of Idaho

How to recognize Plagiarism

More Plagiarism related Resources

Plagiarism School

This page contains information useful for faculty who wish to refer their students to Plagiarism school:

Plagiarism school is a remedial measure that is run by the University Libraries. The purpose of Plagiarism School is to take advantage of the opportunity to reeducate and reform students who are caught plagiarizing. It is appropriate for first-time offenders and should be used as a way to mitigate a sanction applied by the instructor. For example, if the student was given a failing grade for the assignment or course as a result of plagiarizing, the student could be offered the chance to do the assignment again for a grade after completing plagiarism school. Participating in Plagiarism School does not eliminate the need to report incidents of plagiarism in accordance with university policy.

Here are a few points to note about plagiarism school

  • It is important that the instructor expressly states in their syllabus how plagiarism and cheating are defined and how incidences of plagiarism and Cheating will be handled.
  • Please note that the library will not provide Plagiarism school sessions for students who are involved in Cheating cases.
  • Faculty are encouraged to consult with their respective departments and/ or the School of Digital Sciences on how to handle plagiarism cases and how to help students avoid plagiarizing.

If a professor chooses to sanction a student and refer them to plagiarism school the procedures are outlined on the Plagiarism website:http://libguides.library.kent.edu/plagiarism/faculty-info

Please also consult the KSU Administrative policy section E on the responsibilities of the instructor: http://www.kent.edu/policyreg/administrative-policy-regarding-student-cheating-and-plagiarism

Should a professor/ instructor choose to use the  Honor Pledge- a copy can be obtained by clicking on the link below. Please read carefully information/ guidelines on using the pledge in an ethical manner: https://www.kent.edu/plagiarism/honor-pledge-0

Learn more:

Plagiarism: Information for Faculty:

The Honor Pledge

                                                            

 Safe Assign is the plagiarism detection software used at Kent State. It is freely available for use by students and faculty and is available on Blackboard. The library offers students the opportunity to submit papers as drafts to be checked for plagiarism. Depending on the results of the originality report, the student may be offered the opportunity to meet with a librarian so they can provide them with strategies on how to avoid plagiarism. If no plagiarism issues are detected , the student will get an email informing them of this outcome. To learn more about the library's Safe Assign services please consult the  Academic Honesty and Plagiarism Lib Guide and click on the Safe Assign Link.

  • Please see additional information on how to Interpret Safe assign Reports by clicking on the link below:
  • Additional information on citation tools and citation management can be found on this Lib Guide under the tab " Research & Writing Resources"

More Library Tutorials

Library & Technology Workshops

Students can sign up for library and technology workshops at https://training.kent.edu

Library workshops include:

 Avoiding Plagiarism and Citation Basics

Searching Databases and Google Scholar

How to do a literature Review

How to manage your research using citation management tools such as Zotero, Mendeley and Endnote

Getting started with systematic Reviews

Software for Systematic Reviews

Learn More....