Written by Caterina 2022 Cohort
Plagiarism is an important topic in academia, and my university, the University of Sydney, takes plagiarism very seriously and takes different measures against it. Next, I will compare the University of Sydney (USYD) and Simon Fraser University (SFU) and how these two universities deal with plagiarism. The official USYD website defines plagiarism in this way: “Plagiarism means presenting work that is not your own without acknowledging the source of the work. It doesn’t matter whether you do this on purpose or accidentally.” (The University of Sydney, 2022) This includes submitting work purchased or obtained from an external source, self-plagiarism, and collaboration with others without proper acknowledgment. USYD has a dedicated Academic Integrity Unit. They are responsible and handle all students’ academic misconduct.
In addition, the school provides an online plagiarism detection tool by the name of Turnitin. In USYD, all student assignments are uploaded through Canvas, their works are automatically entered into Turnitin for checking similarity after upload. However, if the study with a similarity greater than or equal to 13%, the project will be submitted to the Academic Integrity Unit, which will make a manual judgment based on the actual situation. If the student is determined to have committed academic misconduct, the university will give the student two weeks to prove that the assignment is original. Penalties for plagiarism can be severe, such as failing grades, suspension, or expulsion.
Even the university will revoke a graduating student’s diploma if they are found to have engaged in academic misconduct. However, they will give freshmen a chance because they need to learn these academic rules; for example: using their previous work directly is a form of plagiarism. There is a special session during orientation week to teach students how to avoid plagiarism. Meanwhile, the official website provides a comprehensive guide on avoiding plagiarism and resources and support to help them understand the importance of proper citation and referencing.
Their online library also automatically generates 8 citation styles for students to learn and apply. The strange thing is that USYD needs to define or explain common knowledge. Similarly, Simon Fraser University takes plagiarism very seriously. The university defines “plagiarism as the use of another person’s work, ideas, or words without proper citation or acknowledgement.” (Simon Fraser University, 2021) Like the University of Sydney, Simon Fraser University provides resources and support to help students understand the importance of proper citation. SFU also uses Turnitin to check students’ work, but SFU even has a plagiarism tutorial in canvas. I think this is good for students to understand plagiarism more visually. Because in the tutorial, SFU directly gives students examples to judge and teaches them how to use citations. Penalties for plagiarism can range from failing a course to expulsion, depending on the severity of the offence. Simon Fraser University has a dedicated department, the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution, which is responsible for addressing incidents of academic misconduct, including plagiarism. In conclusion, both the University of Sydney and Simon Fraser University take plagiarism very seriously and have policies to prevent and address it. While the specific details of the policies and procedures may differ between the two universities, both provide students with adequate information and resources to prevent plagiarism. Citations List: The University of Sydney. (2022).
Academic dishonesty and plagiarism. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/academic-dishonesty.html Simon Fraser University. (2021). Avoiding plagiarism. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from https:// www.lib.sfu.ca/help/academic-integrity/plagiarism#what-is-plagiarism