Look at the reasons students plagiarise. Discuss with your neighbor.

1. Which of them do you consider valid, if any?

2. Can you add to the list?

3. How can we decrease or avoid plagiarism? How can the tutors/teachers help you?

Task 3.

Read the material carefully and match the titles with parts of the text.

 

A) Distinguish between scholarly and non-scholarly books

B). Avoid self-published material at all costs

C) Focus on scholarly, peer-reviewed sources

D) Consider the author’s scholarly reputation

E) Understand academic standards.

Scholarly writers are held to higher rules of rigor than casual writers and even some branches of journalism. As such, you must hold your sources to a higher standard as well. Academics have a long memory; too many transgressions into the land of unreliable sources and you’ll be a marked writer with a marred reputation.

 

Within each field, there are a handful of scholarly thinkers considered the giants of the discipline. For example in literary theory, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucalt are three towering figures whose work provides the bedrock of the discipline; citing them would go a long way toward establishing your credibility as a scholar within the field. This is not to say that less-established scholars’ work is not credible. Sometimes, citing a scholar who goes against the tide of established thinking provides you with ammunition for a compelling devil’s advocate argument. In academia, these types of arguments are sometimes more valued than those based on the writings of famous thinkers because they suggest you have the ability to question accepted thinking and push the boundaries of the discipline.

 

These sources should be your first avenue of research when undertaking an academic project. They have the highest possible level of credibility, and you can always feel safe using them. There are two elements to unpack for this designation: “scholarly” and “peer-reviewed.” Scholarly sources are written by experts in a particular discipline for other experts in their field. They are written to inform, not entertain, and assume a high level of previous knowledge because they are written specifically to people who have a vested professional interest in technical information relevant to their specialization. Peer-reviewed articles are not only written by experts, but are also read and evaluated by a panel of peers — other experts in the field. This panel of experts determines whether or not the sources used in the article were credible, whether the methodologies used in studies are scientifically sound, and render a professional opinion as to whether or not an article meets the academic standard of integrity. Only then will an article be published in a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal.

 

If an author is unable to convince a publisher to house their ideas, it’s likely because their ideas carry little weight. Never cite an author who self-published their work.

 

If an author has had their manuscript accepted for publication that means that someone has deemed their ideas worthy of discussion. However, there is a significant and important difference between books published for scholarly and non-scholarly purposes. Scholarly books are written with the sole purpose of informing; they offer new ideas, criticize old ones, and present new data or theories relevant to an audience of academic scholars. Non-scholarly books might deal with scholarly subject matter sociology, for example, or politics. However, they are written to entertain a lay audience, not to inform a scholarly audience and can result in your work being failed automatically. The best way to avoid it is to take careful notes of where you found your information, and to always acknowledge the work of others i.e. finish your essays with a bibliography.

 

Classroom video 1.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx3RiK_aceQ

Task 1