UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT HANDBOOK - Music

NUI Maynooth Music Department Undergraduate Handbook 2009-2010
12. Plagiarism & Unfair Practices
Your work will be judged on its accuracy and cogency, but also on its independence of
thought. With the pressure of work and time, it will sometimes be tempting to lose that
independence and become over-reliant on someone else’s thoughts or writings. This is
a dangerous practice and can lead to severe penalties. The overall term for such
dependence on others’ work is plagiarism. In its most obvious form, this consists of
straightforward, unacknowledged copying of texts or music from one or more sources.
The unacknowledged use of material from books and articles in student essays (and
similarly, the copying of other composers’ material in composition exercises and
portfolios) is a dishonest practice and is viewed in an extremely serious light since it
masks the identity of the author(s) and obscures the assessment process.
It is equally unacceptable to summarise a sequence of points, observations or ideas
made by another without acknowledgement or showing adequate independence of
thought on your part. Close paraphrase of sources often occurs when you make notes:
you must acknowledge the sources of your ideas and avoid recycling literal quotations
as your own work. Collusion (usually the result of work prepared in consultation with
another student) is also unacceptable.
The penalties for plagiarism and collusion range from the failure of the relevant piece of
work to more severe measures for persistent infringements. The table below outlines
marking guidelines for different levels of plagiarism. These penalties are imposed
irrespective of an intention to cheat.
For minor instances of plagiarism, the University Calendar (2009–2010) states that: ‘In
instances where an element forming part of an assignment (from a phrase or sentence
up to a paragraph or two) is found to be plagiarised, marks will be deducted for that
assignment, there will be no possibility of submitting a “makeup” assignment, and
previous and subsequent work submitted in connection with the course may be subject
to particular scrutiny. While the amount of marks deducted will be proportionate to the
extent of the plagiarised material, the deduction may be severe.’
Mark Description
Although predominantly written in your own words and with sources of information
30–35%
individually referenced (i.e. footnoted including page nos or other precise source
information), there is some plagiarised material (unreferenced and/or more-or-less
exactly copying the original wording of the source used).
A significant portion of the essay (a paragraph or more) has been directly copied
20–25%
from other sources irrespective of whether these have been referenced; or a larger
proportion of the essay is based closely on known sources which have been
somewhat paraphrased or recast in own language but without adequately detailed
source-reference footnotes.
For major instances of plagiarism, the University Calendar (2009–2010) states that: ‘In
instances where a significant part or all of an assignment is found to be plagiarised,
zero marks may be awarded for that assignment, there may be no possibility of
submitting a “makeup” assignment, and previous and subsequent work submitted in
connection with the course may be subject to particular scrutiny. In serious cases the
plagiarism will be reported to the Supervisor of Examinations and the Committee of
Discipline.’
Mark Description
10%
Work wholly or substantially directly copied from other sources but with at least
some indirect mention of sources (e.g. no footnote source references but sources
listed in general terms in the Bibliography).
0%
Work wholly or substantially directly copied from other sources and without any
form of acknowledgement or indirect listing of sources (e.g. bibliography absent).
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