Reference help: Reference, don't plagiarise

Plagiarism refers to representing someone else's text, or part of a text, pictorial presentation or translation as one's own work. Both copying direct quotations and adaptation (paraphrasing) from another author's work is considered plagiarism. Also, reusing one's own text from previous work is considered plagiarism (self-plagiarism). Plagiarism is often unintentional, due to ignorance or negligence.

How to avoid plagiarism?

• Always document the sources you have used with in-text citations and include them in the list of references.
• Distinguish another author's words from your own either
  • by quotation marks (short direct quotation, no more than three lines)
  • or as a separate paragraph by indenting the quoted text (long direct quotation). More detailed instructions in reporting guidelines, on Haaga-Helia's website.

Plagiarism is a violation of responsible conduct of research. Other forms are misappropriation, fabrication and falsification. More information on Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) can be found in the RCR Guidelines compiled by Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK).

Haaga-Helia takes a serious approach to plagiarism (Degree Regulations) and uses Ouriginal plagiarism check software to track it (more information further down on this page).

Summarising = rephrasing the information or the idea of the source material in your own words

• Summarising is the recommended method.
• It indicates that you have understood the topic you are writing about: you can sum up the key ideas in your writing.
• The meaning in the original text must not change, even if you rephrase it in your own words.
• Changing just a few words of the original text is not considered summarising.

Quotation = repeating the original source word for word

• The Copyright Act allows you to quote published works without the author's permission (general quotation right).
• Use quotations sparingly.
• Do not take a quotation out of context.
• The quotation must have a relevant connection to your topic.
• Direct quotation must exactly match the original wording, e.g., possible spelling mistakes are not corrected.
• Identify the quotation either
  • by using quotation marks (short direct quotation, no more than three lines)
  • or as a separate paragraph by indenting the quoted text and using a smaller font (long direct quotation)
  • for more information on formatting a quotation, see reporting guidelines on Haaga-Helia's website.

Both methods require appropriate referencing!

Ouriginal (formerly Urkund) is a software used to track plagiarism. Ouriginal makes it possible to check whether theses and other student assignments contain plagiarism. Ouriginal compares a document’s content with materials already saved in the Ouriginal database, open access Internet sites and other e-materials.

Your teacher will tell you if the course assignments are to be submitted via Ouriginal. All theses at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences are checked using the Ouriginal software.

How it works

1. Your teacher will give you an e-mail address, where you will submit your study assignment as an attachment

• The address format is teacher's firstname.surname.HH@analysis.urkund.com or firstname.surname.HH@analysis.Ouriginal.com.
• Note that theses are submitted to Ouriginal via Wihi.

2. Send your assignment as an attachment to the email address

• The preferred format is Word.
• The text must include at least 400 characters.
• The file name should be short, with no special characters, such as comma (,), hyphen (-), or spaces.
• Do not include any other personal information than your name (e.g. social security number or student number).
• Do not share a file that contains any personal or confidential information. For example, if your assignment contains confidential corporate or trade information, deliver them to your supervisor separately, not via Ouriginal. More information on Handling business and trade secrets in theses on Haaga-Helia's website.

3. You will receive an email confirming that your text has been received

• Document will be saved in the Ouriginal database and as a result anyone who plagiarises your work in the future will be revealed.
• If you do not wish your text to be used as a source in Ouriginal plagiarism checks, click the link provided at the bottom of the confirmation email: “Follow this link if you wish to prohibit the use of your document as described above.” A new window will open and by clicking 'Exempt document' you can restrict the visibility of your document.
• After the restriction your document is still saved in the database, but will only be used as reference material when analysing new documents submitted from Haaga-Helia.

4. Ouriginal analyses your assignment and sends a report to the teacher

• Your teacher will assess your assignment according to the Ouriginal analysis. The report will not be sent to the student, but if need be the student can ask to see the report.

Links:

• Kopiraittila Academy
• Kopiosto
• ImagOA: open science and use of images