Academic integrity for students

At Royal Roads University, we define plagiarism as follows:

the act of presenting the ideas or works of another as one's own. This applies to all materials including essays, work term reports or assignments, laboratory reports, seminar presentations, computer programs, research projects and results, postings in discussion groups, and statistical data. The use of such material either directly or indirectly without proper acknowledgment (i.e., footnotes or endnotes) is contrary to the norms of academic behaviour and is subject to severe penalty, up to and including expulsion from the university. — RRU Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy

The Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy also reminds us that intentional improper citation may constitute plagiarism. Examples include:

  • not using quotation marks to indicate someone else’s work
  • not acknowledging significant concepts from someone else’s work
  • not acknowledging someone else's work when paraphrasing
  • not actually consulting the source being quoted

Unintentional plagiarism

Plagiarism is not always intentional. In some cultures, it's expected that students will not cite sources. For example:

(In) Asia and the Middle East...college students are expected to quote or paraphrase the best known political or religious authorities without attribution because readers, especially professors, are expected to know what texts are being circulated. Indeed, it might be a serious insult to the teacher if the student writer formally cites the text being borrowed — Cultural Perspectives on Plagiarism

Helping students avoid plagiarism

To help students avoid plagiarism, design your course in a way that makes it difficult for them to plagiarize.

To learn more about plagiarism and how to help your students avoid it, see the plagiarism resources at the Royal Roads library.

Resources for further reading: