Plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism, the act of taking somebody else's work and presenting it as your own, is an act of academic dishonesty, and Birkbeck takes it very seriously.
Examples of plagiarism include (but are not restricted to):
- copying the whole or substantial parts of a paper from a source text (e.g. a web site, journal article, book or encyclopaedia), without proper acknowledgement
- paraphrasing another's piece of work closely, with minor changes but with the essential meaning, form and/or progression of ideas maintained
- piecing together sections of the work of others into a new whole
- procuring a paper from a company or essay bank (including Internet sites)
- submitting another student's work, with or without that student's knowledge
- submitting a paper written by someone else (e.g. a peer or relative) and passing it off as one's own
- representing a piece of joint or group work as one's own.
If you knowingly assist another student to plagiarise (for example, by willingly giving them your own work to copy from), you are committing an examination offence.
Information and Guidance
Sources of information relating to how Birkbeck views and deals with suspected plagiarism can be found here.
Sources of guidance including Birkbeck's guide to plagiarism, avoiding plagiarism and useful online resourses can be found here.
What happens if plagiarism is suspected?
Where an examiner (of examinations and other written coursework) suspects plagiarism, s/he has a responsibility to report this to the College. Where there is evidence of plagiarism, the relevant procedures in the regulations will be followed and the person responsible will be contacted accordingly.
- Taught programmes of study and MPhil/PhD degrees: see the procedures for dealing with plagiarism and other examination offences.