Plagiarism -- FAQ for Department of Computing students

Question 1: Define "to plagiarise".

• To take and use as your own (the thoughts, inventions and writings of someone else)
• to pass off the work of someone else as your own
• to copy improperly or without acknowledging sources

• take and use as one's own (the thoughts, writings, inventions, etc., of another person)
• copy (literary work, ideas, etc) improperly or without acknowledgment
• pass off the thoughts, work, etc., of (another person) as one's own

Question 2: What is wrong with the first answer?

FAQ

1. Why is plagiarism not allowed?
   • Plagiarism is theft of intellectual property.  It is dishonest.  We cannot condone this. As a future professional, neither should you.
   • It may involve breach of copyright, which is illegal.  Copyright comes into existence by the mere publishing of work; no registration process is needed.  So copyrighted works are very common.
   • Why should we give credit (marks) to you for work done by someone else?
   • How would you feel if someone else used your work or ideas without acknowledgment or permission?
   • The purpose of exercises is to help you learn the material we teach.  You are not doing this if you use someone else's work instead.
   • It is not fair to the majority of students who did the work themselves if you get credit for work that someone else did.
   • An Imperial degree is a certification to employers and others that you have competence in the degree subject.  It carries a lot of weight because of the College's reputation.  Like any currency, the value of the degree is in the end based on trust, and it must continually be defended.  Students gaining credit through passing others' work off as their own are presenting the certificate under false pretences --- they acquired it in part through cheating, and so in their case the certificate does not mean what it says at face value.  Essentially, it is a forgery.  It devalues the Imperial degree and hurts the College and all our students, past, present, and future.
   
   
2. If I don't just copy but change the work and add my own ideas, how can this be plagiarism?
   It can be.  Read the definition above.
   
   
3. Well then, I don't understand what's allowed and what's not.  When is it OK to use work without acknowledgment, when should/must I acknowledge, and when can't I use work at all?
   • You can use without acknowledgement material in notes issued to you by staff in the Department, and notes you took in lectures, because we already know you have them.
   • When you use publicly available material (like lecture notes on the web, or library books), there are some grey areas:
     • If you simply learn the background material, or part of it, through online notes, etc., and then write your own solution to the exercise, the solution not being substantially similar to material in the notes, then no acknowledgment is needed, though it does you no harm to give one.
     • If you use publicly available material as a base, adapt it a lot to fit the problem you have been set, and add your own contributions too, but your final submission still contains material substantially similar to the source, then you must acknowledge the source.
     • If you are lucky enough (or so you think!) to find work on the web that nearly or exactly solves the exercise, then it cannot be used even with an acknowledgment.  Pasting large chunks of someone else's text into your work is unacceptable and pointless with an acknowledgment, and plagiarism without one.  You must produce your own original solutions to all exercises.
     If in doubt, acknowledge.  It never does you harm, and it may get you extra credit for showing initiative in researching relevant material or for your deep knowledge of the literature.
   • It is never allowed to use other students' work, even with their permission, and even if you give an acknowledgment.  "Other students" means students other than yourself; it doesn't matter whether they are or were at Imperial College or elsewhere.
   If in doubt, ask a member of staff --- e.g., the lecturer or the lab coordinator.
   
   
4. Surely I can use, say, a dictionary without acknowledging it?  That's what it's there for.
   If you use it to correct your spelling, yes.  If you quote material from it, as at the top of this page, then you are using intellectual property belonging to another and you should acknowledge it.
   
   
5. But I hate giving acknowledgments.
   • Why?
   • Because it takes credit away from me and I will get a lower mark.
   • This makes my point.  By not giving an acknowledgment, you are trying to claim credit for someone else's work.  You will probably not get a lower mark if you acknowledge.  You could get a much lower mark if you don't, and are caught.  Don't be selfish: acknowledge where it is due.
   
   
6. What is the purpose of an acknowledgment?  Why does it make everything alright?
   It doesn't always make everything alright: see Q3 above. The reasons for giving an acknowledgment are:
   • It is honest and serves natural justice to name and give appropriate credit to your sources.  It is a matter of your integrity.
   • It is standard academic practice to identify sources of work, so that your own contribution can be judged, and so that the original sources can be examined, if need be, to resolve ambiguities.
   
   
7. What form should an acknowledgment take?
   It should be sufficiently precise to allow the source to be identified.  Eg:
   • for a book (or journal article): title, author, publisher (or journal and volume number), year of publication, page number(s)
   • for a web source: URL(s) of all material used, plus brief details of what it is --- e.g., "course notes by Prof XXX, University of YYY", with date of publication if available.  It is not adequate just to cite the URL of a large website where the source and many other documents can be found.  If the source is long, further details should be included, such as "page 23" or "section 4.2" or a section heading, or, failing this, a percent estimate of how far down the relevant material is within the document.
   • If you yourself are submitting webpages (as is sometimes the case), it is easy to include links to original sources --- but links should work, and be clearly visible with appropriate text to click on.
   You can briefly explain how you used the material, if you think this clarifies things.
   Acknowledgments should be accurate.  If we cannot find the material, you may be asked to locate it.  You may want to save copies of web material you use, in case it disappears between submission and marking.
   
   
8. What if I make my work available to others to use?  What if someone steals my work without permission, or finds it lying around?
   If your work is used with your permission, you will be punished.  If it is used without your permission, you may still be punished if you contributed to the theft by recklessness or not taking proper precautions.
   • Do not allow your work to be copied.
   • Do not give or lend your work to other students for any reason, even if you tell them not to copy it.
   • Be careful what happens to your printouts.
   • Keep your home directory privileges set so outsiders cannot read or copy your files.  If you need help with this, ask the Lab Coordinator or CSG.
   • Be careful transferring files to and from home by placing them in your public_html directory.  This is publicly accessible.  Even if there are no links to your files, Google can find them.
   
   
9. What happens if I work together with my friend to produce an original solution?
   If the lecturer/lab coordinator stated that the assignment was to be done jointly, then fine.  If not, and you submit as individual solutions work that was produced jointly, then this is plagiarism and you will be punished.
   
   
10. Am I not allowed to work with other students at all then?
    We encourage preliminary discussions of exercises among students.  Working effectively with others is an important "life skill".  But the work students finally submit should always be their own original work.
    
    
11. I am stuck on the exercise.  Can I ask other students for help?
    By all means discuss work with other students; but do not copy their work, and never ask them for printouts or files of their work to help you or as a guide.  You may always ask lab assistants or the Lab Coordinator for help with labwork, and the lecturer or their helpers for help with coursework.  This is always safe, and you will get better help!  Please contact the lecturer, lab coordinator, the student reps, or the course/year coordinator, if you have difficulties in getting help from these.
    
    
12. I have ten other courseworks to do, the schedule is too demanding right now.  I have personal problems and I've been ill, and I'm completely stressed out.  I have to copy someone else's work just to get the assignment done by the deadline.  It's the Department's fault for making us work so hard.
    Copying is plagiarism.  You will be punished and will probably end up with a low mark as well as a stain on your record.  You would be better off not submitting the exercise at all.  If you have personal problems/illness, the solution is not to cheat but to contact your personal tutor, the senior tutor, or (for M.Sc.) the course coordinator, who may be able to arrange for some allowance to be made.  Possibly you may be allowed to submit late --- this is far preferable to plagiarising.
    
    
13. I found another student's home directory open for access and copied her work, with some original inputs of my own.  Surely I am OK because it's her fault for leaving her directory accessible.
    Using another student's work without permission is a major case of plagiarism.  Please read the definition of 'plagiarism' above.
    
    
14. I found another student's work lying around, and I copied it.  It wasn't very good so I added some improvements of my own.  Surely I am OK because it's his fault for leaving his work around, and anyway I improved it.
    Using another student's work without permission is a major case of plagiarism.  Please read the definition of 'plagiarism' above.
    
    
15. I have a brother in a university in Canada who was set a similar exercise.  He has given me permission to use his solution.  Surely if I just copy parts of it, it's OK, and anyway you'll never catch me.
    This incident happened in a recent year (some details have been modified to protect the guilty).  We did catch them.  It is never allowed to use work of other students, even with their permission.
    
    
16. I found I can buy courseworks off the web by credit card.  They are being sold by commercial organisations.  Surely it's OK to use them if I pay for them?  They are then my property.
    Using such work is a major case of plagiarism.  Please read the definition of 'plagiarism' above.
    
    
17. I don't believe you catch anyone.  Students are too clever, we can hide our cheating.
    We have more years of experience in catching than you have of cheating.  We catch cases every year.  Dealing with them is time-consuming and unpleasant for all parties.  Staff are here to teach you a wonderful subject and open up a world of possibilities to you.  It is saddening and angering for us to find students cheating, and be forced to spend time on disciplinary matters.  It would be better for everyone if you simply did the exercises as intended --- using your own ideas.
    
    
18. What will happen when I am caught?
    The Department is bound by the College's Cheating Offences Policy and Procedures.
    
    
19. Will any record kept on my file affect references written for me?
    Well, what do you think? 
    Please don't commit plagiarism.