how much plagiarism is allowed in phd thesis

How to Avoid Plagiarism in Your PhD Thesis?

The unethical practice to represent or publish someone else’s work as your own is considered in the plagiarised content or known as plagiarism.

Or we can say,

Activities of stealing third party intellectual work or its use without their prior permission is known as plagiarism.

A PhD thesis or dissertation is one of the most important elements of your entire PhD which is a written draft of your research and related work. You have to quote other researchers’ work to justify yours! And that is obvious that it might be matched.

Unfortunately, the copied or matched content with other research is considered in the plagiarised piece of content. You can’t submit it, eventually because universities are strict towards uncited and plagiarised content.

The plagiarism in the field of academics is considered as unethical activities or improper practices. Aiming towards quality research and knowledge, universities across the world apply various acts to avoid and stop plagiarism.

In recent times, there are so many softwares available that detect and reduce the level of plagiarism of your thesis. But in my opinion it is better to avoid it, instead of correcting it.

So how to avoid plagiarism? What is it and what is the software we can use to avoid it? All these topics we are going to cover in this article.

Talk of the topics: What is plagiarism? definition and etymology, types of plagiarism, how to avoid plagiarism and software to check it.

What is plagiarism?

Simply put, when you copy some piece of content from others like the written draft, sentences, original findings, articles, figures, graphs, images, videos, titles or even the ideas are considered under the plagiarism material.

In terms of PhD thesis, article writing or dissertation, when you copy some sentences- partially or fully or even use any scientist’s work without giving them credit, it is known as plagiarism.

When we are writing a thesis for a PhD or dissertation , it is common practice that we have to compare our work with others to support our findings, definitely and to give weightage to the work of the original researcher.

But most of the students, copies things, sentences, paragraphs, protocols, methods and even images and represents it that those are their own!

How you feel, when someone stole your hardwork and showed it as your own! You feel bad, obviously.

Plagiarism is an unethical practice commonly noticed in various fields, especially, in journalism and academics. Though it is a question of privilege in case of academic research.

That is why universities have tightened their hands on PhD students to stop plagiarism.

Definition of plagiarism:

“Representing or stealing other’s work like writeup, article, thesis or picture and representing it as your own is referred to as plagiarism.”

“Using third party literature without their consent, prior permission or without giving them credit is known as plagiarism.”

The word plagiarism was derived from the Latin word ‘ plagiarius ’ means ‘ kidnapped ’. The word plagiarism as the “stealing of literature” was accepted in English during 1620. Afterwards, it was used to define literature theft.

What does plagiarism mean?

A thumb rule to express your PhD work or thesis is to use other literature and to make a comparative evaluation. Unfortunately, students actually don’t know how to write a PhD thesis free of plagiarism.

Let me tell you that plagiarism is against the law. The original researcher can file a lawsuit case against you as well. So it is safe to stay away from it.

In a simple language we can say plagiarism means you have stolen some intellectual work from others.

Plagiarism means,

Stealing intellectual properties of other
Using other’s work without their prior permission
Unethical use of copyrighted material
Using other’s work without giving them a fair credit
Stealing or unethical use of someone else’s idea
Unethical reconstruction or refurbishing of third party ideas, products or work.
Using, modifying, copying or stealing sentences, title or entire paragraph of others’.
Representing other’s work as your own.
Unethical use of images or using pictures or images without prior permission.
Use of videos without prior permission.
Scanning or converting text or images unethically.
Recreating some portion of original researchers’ work.

All these activities are considered in plagiarism and trust me, it is a serious offense. You will have to pay a high price for it, if you do so.

So what does it mean?

It means “stay away from plagiarism.”

Read more: How long does it take to get a PhD?

Plagiarism and a PhD thesis:

The PhD thesis or the dissertation is a write up of your PhD work, divided into introduction, review of literature, material and methods, results and discussion and conclusion.

It is a huge write up and you have to give so much information in it. So it is obvious that you have to use other sources to make your thesis trustworth.

But as we said, if using someone else’s work is an act of plagiarism then how to use it?

Knowingly or unknowingly students copy things, and at the end of the thesis, it becomes huge and they don’t know how to solve it.

So it is a wise decision to stay away copying or reconstructing things from the first day of your thesis writing.

Here in this section I have mentioned several tips you can use to avoid plagiarism in your PhD dissertation. But before that let us understand types of plagiarism.

Tips: Cite sentences and material correctly to avoid plagiarism.

Types of plagiarism:

Accidental plagiarism: .

When a person accidentally steals others’ work or unknowing use their material it is considered as accidental plagiarism.

Activities like, avoiding citation, forgetting citing sentences, accidentally matching sentences or title or use of similar words are considered in it.

This type of plagiarism is so common in PhD students because they actually don’t know how to write a thesis in their initial time of PhD.

Self plagiarism:

Using our own literature is also an act of plagiarism? Yet it is.

To use your own article, or work you also have to take permission from other authors or researchers or your guide to use it. Also you have to cite it correctly with your name.

Using your own literature without the citation is also considered self plagiarism.

Direct plagiarism:

When you copy the whole portion of someone else’s work even without citing them it is considered in direct plagiarism. Usually direct plagiarism is so common in academics.

How to avoid plagiarism in PhD thesis?

People often ask me how to remove, avoid or correct plagiarism of their thesis? Well it is not that hard, if you take care of some point while writing your PhD dissertation.

how much plagiarism is allowed in phd thesis

No copy past:

The thumb rule to encounter plagiarism is to stop copying things! Usually students are copying and pasting things from the internet and other related sources. It is not ethically accepted, at least in academics.

One thing is good in it, you are searching something but you are taking the whole piece of information as it is, for your own purpose that is wrong.

The third party source should be written in your own language in your thesis, even though you are using it for reference. Write what you gain or understand from that source.

Cite the source correctly:

Why to use someone else’s finding without giving them credit!

When you are using external information or third party literature, cite it with the name, date, year and other information. There are several ways to do so.

For example,

Tushar Chauhan et al., had reported two cases of Down syndrome from the prenatal samples with translocations.

Translocations in down syndrome were reported previously (T chauhan et al., 2018).

Both sentences are the same, but the representation is different with different styles of citation. And it is also not copied.

Use quotations:

You can also use quotations while including some other work. It is one of the simplest ways to cope up plagiarism issues while writing the thesis.

A proper quote or quotations around the word or sentence indicate that it is not of your own. Note that the complete reference of the quote should be included in the end to navigate.

You can use direct quotes and modify the original sentence without changing its meaning to explain your point.

T Chauhan et al., reported that, “two cases of Down syndrome with translocation.” however in our case though we have reported the Down syndrome but not the translocation.

Here we have quoted the statement of T chauhan et al, and also compared with to prove our point.

Use paraphrasing

Paraphrasing means to restructure the original work or idea or piece of information. Therefore ultimately you are changing the structure of the sentences of the original researcher. It is also valid to some extent if you restructure it correctly and cite it.

Remember, the original sense and meaning of the sentence shouldn’t be altered.

Develop your own writing sense:

To cope up with all these problems, try to develop your own sense of writing and learn correct English writing and grammar.

Grammerly will help you in this. You can read our article on Grammarly to learn more:

But remember, while writing things, don’t forget to cite it and indicate it in the reference section, that is the correct method to avoid plagiarism. Also I recommend avoiding rephrasing the sentence.

It is also against the policy of plagiarism, even though it is not considered in the plagiarism.

Use plagiarism checker:

One of the finest ways to solve your problem while writing a PhD thesis is to use a plagiarism checker.

The plagiarism checker is an online software in which you can check our write up whether it is free of plagiarism or not.

Grammarly’s plagiarism checker software is one of the most trusted PhD thesis plagiarism checkers on the internet.

It checks out text against the possible material or text available on the internet to find whether your text is copied or not.

It also suggests to you what to do with the plagiarised sentences and how to restructure it. It also checks spellings and grammar during the check as well.

And guess what! It is free.

Check your document here:

Why is plagiarism so important?

Students are always worried about what they are writing, they know once it will be covered in the plagiarised material, it will be hard for them to come out.

In academics, especially while awarding some of the prestigious awards or degrees like doctorate or PhD, it is essential for universities to protect researchers’ work.

There are so many legal problems knocking on the desk of universities regarding copying the whole PhD project, stealing the idea of research, copying or stealing PhD titles or even stealing the whole PhD thesis content.

It happens, people are doing this. So it is very important to teach students in the initial phase not to steal work as well as to protect their own work.

For some common PhD topics, it is fine, for those who only want a degree. But for some million dollar ideas, it is the question for value. There are thousands of PhD students whose copyrights are stolen by big giant companies.

These are the reason, universities across the globe are very strict in maintaining the dignity of research and protecting the researcher’s intellectual properties.

Intellectual property right, copyright and trademark helps not only the PhD students but also others to protect their ideas, intellectual views and findings by stamping it as copyright material.

A recent trend of protectly the PhD title with the copyright stamp is most popular among the students.

The plagiarism matter is also a big problem in the new media but that is a whole different thing that we are not discussing here.

Moreover, universities have opted for an additional level of PhD degree difficulty by introducing plagiarism checking.

A candidate willing to submit their PhD thesis must have to check their thesis for plagiarism in university and university gives a certificate of original work for the next step of submission.

Without the certification of your thesis you can’t submit it to check.

“Shodhganga” , a huge database of PhD thesis of the university grant commission of India, checks and collects PhD theses in order to protect findings and provide quality in the research.

Related article: What is PhD?- History, Definition, Origin, Requirement, Fees, Duration and Process .

My suggestion to avoid plagiarism:

Getting rid of plagiarism is not that hard, you have to take care of several things. You are in the PhD- doctor of philosophy, people expect a high-end precision from you.

Frankly speaking, I never had faced a problem of plagiarism during my PhD, unlike other student’s experience. So i think my style of writing and keeping things up to date will definitely help you.

Read articles thoroughly and make rough notes in your diary or in a computer file. Read as much as you can and make files, like a small summary of the whole article with the title of the article, name of researchers, date and year of publishing and name of journal.

It is obvious that you have to make summaries of more than 200 articles. When you start writing your PhD research paper or thesis, use the summaries of your article instead of re-reading the whole article and wasting time.

Try to summarize the summary note even more elaborate and cite it immediately. Simultaneously make another file of bibliography and enlisted the references with your writing.

Now what happens?

You had summarised the article in your own language and then whilst writing the dissertation you are using some portion of it. Trust me your text or any portion of your thesis never matches with the original research article.

Don’t forget to cite it! Citation and quotations make it trustworthy. This method will help you to cope up with plagiarism and also save time.

You can even use the mandely online software which is the citation management system. We will discuss mandalay in some other article.

As per my personal opinion, during your PhD, you should have to remember the content, methods, authors name of your main 10 to 20 research papers on which your entire PhD work relies.

Further read: A Complete Roadmap for Degree to PhD .

Conclusion:

Plagiarism either knowingly or unknowingly is the biggest problem in PhD. Students actually don’t want to do it, but they don’t know how to write a thesis. Notably, universities teach research methodology during the coursework period of one year.

Still, PhD guides should have to care about it and teach them how to write plagiarism free literature in their own language.

I think this will definitely help you and don’t forget to check out the grammarly plagiarism checker.

What is plagiarism?

Unethical use of intellectual works like articles, sentences, images or video, or use of third party work without their permission is known as plagiarism.

Is plagiarism illegal?

Yes. Stealing ideas of intellectual work is against the law in every country. The original researcher may file a case against you.

How much plagiarism is allowed in PhD thesis?

Even though we follow the health practice, some text can’t be avoided in the thesis, usually up to 20% plagiarism content is considered fair practice.

How to cite PhD literature?

You can use the name, date and year of the original researcher at the end of the portion you have used for your document. also, don’t forgot to add their full citation in the reference section. That is the correct method of citing literature.

How to check plagiarism?

There are so many free plagiarism checker softwares now available on internet, You can use it. go and paste you text and check it. Grammerly is one of the most accurate and trusted plagiarism checker software, i personally recommended.

How to avoid plagiarism?

By citing the literature, using paraphrasing, using quotations, and by developing your own writing style, you can avoid plagiarism.

Dr. Tushar Chauhan is a Scientist, Blogger and Scientific-writer. He has completed PhD in Genetics. Dr. Chauhan is a PhD coach and tutor.

About The Author

Dr Tushar Chauhan

Grammarly: Your PhD writing assistant

10 Genuine Suggestions to Design a PhD Title

What percentage of plagiarism is accepted for a dissertation?

Dissertation

Going by the custom, the content below 10-15% of plagiarism is acceptable, but it also varies and depends upon the requirement of particular universities. Sometimes, even in the case of 15% content similarity, and to know, the content is borrowed from another website, it’s considered as plagiarism. Sticking to 10% or below is favourable to a writer.

I’ve been writing thesis and dissertation from months and firstly, do have research point in the first place, so you do organize the stuff accordingly to write in the required format you’ve been asked. Draft the idea of content that you need to add for dissertation, check-in for online proofreading tools for sentence phrases (eg. Grammarly), and rephrase whenever you see that plagiarized and be creative in writing, alike storyteller.

What is your PhD thesis in one sentence?

Thesis given to name a title or tell the whole story it in one sentence is always mind boggling thing. But, when you start to draft the thesis, pen down the research points that you doing first.

For eg. I’ve done my thesis topic in philosophy. I just want to see the effect of money – what alters the millennials draw through. My topic i chose is classified and focused on both positives and negatives of a coin, that why money is so crucially plotted into younger generations mind. If i’d to summarise the whole thesis in on sentence i.e.., Money is uncannily similar to Jelly.

I made research under so many things in subplots as, money as emotion, why money takes guards in people’s mindset for taking a life in proper standards, etc…

As you research and finalize thesis, show the impact of whatever line you mend to write. NOTE: BE ALWAYS PRACTICAL AND LOGICAL IN WRITING.

Is it possible to write a PhD thesis under 3 months?

Yes, it’s possible to write a PhD thesis within a timeframe under 3 months, when you have a clear structure and direction. I solely examine my papers, divide them indeed and connect all at last connecting all these chapters together.

Following assumptions and some techniques, and if needed a gradual help from online and journals that keep engaging will definitely lower your time and set the task before time. Here are a few things to heed and write a PhD thesis effectively:

Prepare a schedule for every section if needed to get a clear hand to write.
Divide the records and outline them to be focused on crucial aspects that you can develop the subsections of your thesis.
Have alternatives for writing the introduction, at last, basing upon your literature review, the methodologies, and chapters.
Use online proofreading tools like Grammarly, Hemmingway, etc for the English errors that an individual commits without his/her prior knowledge in the thesis.

What is the secret to writing a good dissertation?

The secret to writing a good dissertation is to avoid the mistakes or fix your dissertation mistakes that, you will be invoiced to the task of writing a dissertation there will be a high possibility to draw the attention of a reader. Few tips:

Minimize the number typos and obvious punctuation mistakes
Incorporate the figures and table of contents.
Do not daunt by task “writing up always”
Use an appropriate and consistent style of formatting that goes with University guidelines as well.

Will a mistake in my PhD thesis cause my PhD degree to be revoked?

To revoke a PhD degree by the thesis happens when only there are flaws made in any certain experiments or the data, and taking someones credit upon too.

For example, if an experiment is falsified or deliberately goes wrong in doctoral student thesis, then it can be revoked.

Plagiarism detection and prevention: a primer for researchers

Olena zimba.

1 Department of Internal Medicine No. 2, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, Ukraine

Armen Yuri Gasparyan

2 Departments of Rheumatology and Research and Development, Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust (Teaching Trust of the University of Birmingham, UK), Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, West Midlands, UK

Plagiarism is an ethical misconduct affecting the quality, readability, and trustworthiness of scholarly publications. Improving researcher awareness of plagiarism of words, ideas, and graphics is essential for avoiding unacceptable writing practices. Global editorial associations have publicized their statements on strategies to clean literature from redundant, stolen, and misleading information. Consulting related documents is advisable for upgrading author instructions and warning plagiarists of academic and other consequences of the unethical conduct. A lack of creative thinking and poor academic English skills are believed to compound most instances of redundant and “copy-and-paste” writing. Plagiarism detection software largely relies on reporting text similarities. However, manual checks are required to reveal inappropriate referencing, copyright violations, and substandard English writing.

Medical researchers and authors may improve their writing skills and avoid the same errors by consulting the list of retractions due to plagiarism which are tracked on the PubMed platform and discussed on the Retraction Watch blog.

Introduction

Plagiarism is one of the frequent forms of publication ethics violation. Researchers from all over the world may witness such a violation in their academic environment, and some of them may intentionally or unintentionally reuse their own or others’ intellectual property without proper processing and crediting [ 1 , 2 ].

Medical and allied health researchers are reminded that the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) term defines plagiarism as “passing off as one’s own the work of another without credit” ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/?term=plagiarism ). This term was introduced back in 1990. Since then, global understanding of plagiarism has evolved to reflect a variety of unethical reuses of ideas, texts, and graphical materials [ 3 ].

The global open access movement has made it possible to easily reveal most instances of plagiarism, including copying texts and graphics across digitized old and new sources. The resultant retractions of erroneous and otherwise unethical articles have predominantly affected biomedical authors from China, India and Iran, particularly those who publish in low-impact journals [ 4 ]. The digitization of editorial management and regular scanning of countless online platforms have enabled detection of unethical reuse in manuscripts undergoing peer review [ 5 ]. Peer review digitization has also allowed exposure of instances of stealing ideas and materials which are intended for confidential and privileged evaluation by reviewers [ 6 ].

Intellectual theft is increasingly viewed as a serious ethical transgression in countries entering the global academic competition and adjusting their research and development policies to the universally acceptable norms. The awareness of various forms of plagiarism is growing due to the international research cooperation and quality publishing that involve academics with various language and cultural traditions. However, the issue of plagiarism in the globalized world of science is complicated due to variably perceived definitions of the unethical conduct, recycling of one’s own published materials, and unacceptable duplication of identical scientific information in different languages [ 7 ].

Editorial guidance on plagiarism

Global editorial recommendations contain a number of points instructing journal editors how to deal with suspected plagiarism and redundant/overlapping materials at pre- and post-publication stages. Core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) encourage editors to define plagiarism in their instructions and explicitly guide readers on how to reuse their published articles [ 8 ]. Also, all authors of manuscripts and published articles with misappropriation of intellectual property should be aware of their full responsibility for any wrongdoing at any stage. In case of suspicion, editors may question all co-authors and related authorities [ 9 ].

The Council of Science Editors (CSE) defines piracy and plagiarism as related violations of publication ethics with unauthorized reproduction of ideas, data, methods, and graphical materials, including those of the plagiarist (self-plagiarism and duplicate publication) [ 10 ]. Plagiarism, falsification, and fabrication are viewed by the CSE as different forms of research misconduct which may justify academic sanctions imposed by relevant national bodies and professional societies. To avoid any accusations of plagiarism, authors need to properly process primary literature and credit generators of ideas and other intellectual properties. Editors, in turn, should be skilled to identify copied and redundant materials by using advanced software and various other means.

Finally, the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) reaffirms editorial intolerance of plagiarism in unpublished and published manuscripts and proposes to treat self-plagiarism differently, particularly in the case of linguistically redundant description of methods and other inevitable and unintentional duplications [ 11 ].

Creative thinking and plagiarism

Plagiarism is often revealed in works of novice non-Anglophone authors who are exposed to a conservative educational environment that encourages copying and memorizing and rejects creative thinking [ 12 , 13 ]. The gaps in training on research methodology, ethical writing, and acceptable editing support are also viewed as barriers to targeting influential journals by medical students and graduates [ 14 ].

The ease of accessing quality online articles of experienced authors, unawareness of plagiarism, and uncertain research ethics policies may push researchers in some academic institutions to copy, recycle, and produce unethical publications [ 15 , 16 ].

A large survey of Western and Eastern European Bachelor and Master degree students ( n = 1757) revealed diametrically opposite approaches to increasing awareness of plagiarism and arranging anti-plagiarism courses, with Polish students lacking training in these fields [ 17 ]. Additionally, a survey of 1100 undergraduate medical students in Pakistan pointed to a high percentage of unawareness of plagiarism (87%) and instances of plagiarism (71%) [ 18 ]. Finally, a nationwide survey of 706 Iranian medical graduates and faculty members revealed that the majority of the surveyees (74%) had not received any training on plagiarism [ 19 ]. The same survey revealed that 11% had not even heard about such an ethical transgression.

The existence of numerous editing and copying agencies preying on novice researchers, students, and authors may further complicate the issue and negatively affect scholarly publishing in China and some other non-Anglophone countries [ 9 ].

Instances of plagiarism

Several forms of plagiarism can be distinguished based on confounders of this misconduct ( Table I ). Depending on author intentions, plagiarism is classified into intentional and unintentional (accidental) forms [ 20 ]. The former is a deliberate unethical act aimed at misleading readers by skilled authors who steal ideas, texts, and graphics and present stolen materials as their own. Its detection is followed by academic sanctions and other punishments. The unintentional form may surface due to incorrectly paraphrasing and referencing previously published works [ 21 ].

Common instances of plagiarism

Inexperienced authors are often blamed for such misconduct, involving unattributed copying of text passages, scientific facts, and others’ ideas. Properly editing and referencing such manuscripts prior to journal submission and correcting erroneous articles by publishing apologies to readers could be sufficient in cases of unintentional plagiarism [ 22 ].

Experts distinguish plagiarism of ideas, words (texts), and images (graphics) [ 3 ]. Ideas can be stolen by unethical evaluators of grant projects, journal manuscripts, or other scholarly materials during the peer review, which is intentionally delayed to allow the plagiarist to publish his/her own article with misappropriated ideas first. Misappropriation of ideas and methodologies is a more serious and inconspicuous misconduct than copying of words [ 23 ].

Textual plagiarism manifests in various forms which can be detected by advanced search engines and software that analyze similarities across a sizeable amount of digitized publications. Direct, or word-for-word, and translational forms of plagiarism are relatively easy to detect by employing search engines and anti-plagiarism software [ 24 , 25 ]. Paraphrasing and patchwork plagiarism may confuse plagiarism detection systems by plagiarists’ attempts to replace a few words in the original text and misappropriate phrases and sentences. Careful manual checks and analyses of keywords and references may help to correctly interpret the similarity reports generated by software.

Plagiarists may intentionally increase the list of references by citing non-existent sources or incorrectly cite primary sources taken from secondary ones (systematic reviews) with the sole aim of misleading readers and concealing plagiarism of secondary publications [ 20 ]. A form of manipulation (“Trojan citation”) is also reported in connection with referring to relevant items to cover up substantive plagiarism and confuse journal editors and anti-plagiarism software [ 26 ].

Current anti-plagiarism software may detect unacknowledged recycled (self-plagiarized) texts, the so-called salami (data stemming from a single study spread across several papers) and augmented (opposite to salami) texts. Accusations of plagiarism in such cases require thorough manual checks of all similar parts, particularly by experts in the professional field.

Detecting identical abstracts requires special consideration due to the similarities of some full texts with congress abstracts and preprints, which are unpublished items and do not account for plagiarism. As such, authors should be advised to provide notes in their manuscripts, linking to previously posted congress abstracts and reposted preprints.

While concentrating on textual similarities, editors employing anti-plagiarism software often overlook graphical overlaps which may reveal compound forms of ethics violation and copyright infringement [ 27 , 28 ]. Thorough graphical analyses are particularly required for manuscripts with tables, figures, depiction of technological processes, and chemical formulae [ 29 ]. Questioning authors about the authenticity of all materials, requesting official reuse permissions from copyright holders, and referencing primary sources of reused or modified graphics may help to avoid unethical conduct and copyright infringement [ 30 ].

With the advent of anti-plagiarism software, some journal editors set limits of minor, moderate, and unacceptable copying and text recycling. They argue that less than 10% of verbatim copying, particularly in Methods section, could be tolerated provided there are no linguistic options to paraphrase [ 31 ]. Accordingly, 15–20% of textual overlap is judged as less tolerable and more than 30% as unacceptable. Although such a quantitative classification helps stratify anti-plagiarism measures, most experts advocate a zero tolerance policy since even a small percentage of copying may reveal complicated and concealed ethics violations [ 32 ].

Plagiarism detection

Researchers should be aware of what constitutes plagiarism and how to detect it ( Table II ). Those authors who master academic English, familiarize themselves with bibliographic searches, and advance their graphics designing skills may avoid most instances of plagiarism, duplication, and copyright infringement. Those who employ anti-plagiarism tools should combine software and human-detection options.

Strategies for plagiarism detection

Although none of the currently available anti-plagiarism systems is perfect [ 33 ], overlooking the importance of related editorial checks may affect the authenticity of scholarly publications and lead to the so-called predatory practices [ 34 , 35 ]. Generally, employing popular online platforms such as Google Scholar, Grammarly, and PlagScan makes it possible to improve the quality of references, readability, and linguistic style of scholarly manuscripts and increase their likelihood of acceptance by influential journals [ 36 ]. The role of processing manuscripts through freely available plagiarism detection tools is difficult to overestimate, since most researchers and faculty members, particularly in developing countries, lack access to proprietary software [ 37 ].

Preliminary evidence suggests that there are differences in the prevalence of textual plagiarism across academic disciplines, necessitating careful checks in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics journal submissions [ 38 ]. Additionally, in the era of digitization and open access, reviews are more likely to contain “copy-and-paste” written sections, pointing to the particular need for checks of this type of article [ 39 ].

Plagiarism detection and verification is largely based on text-matching search engines and computer software that report similarity scores. The advanced software is integrated with numerous publishers and online platforms to allow scanning of potential overlaps among countless open-access and subscription literature items [ 40 ]. Perhaps the most advanced anti-plagiarism system is iThenticate, which is employed by most established publishers to report the overall similarity score and similarity score from a single source [ 41 ]. The system offers options to filter direct quotations, bibliographies, and methodologies to minimize chances of erroneous reports [ 42 ]. High overall similarity scores (>35%) often point to plagiarism requiring outright rejection or retraction [ 43 ].

Regular iThenticate checks have made it possible to minimize, but not exclude, unethical publications [ 44 ]. The reported similarity scores should not replace editorial decisions and should be accompanied by careful reading and validation of references [ 45 ].

Compared to textual similarity detection, image plagiarism detection is a more challenging task, since it often requires both image processing and semantic mapping techniques [ 46 , 47 ]. Google Images is a widely available search engine that can be used to reveal identical or manipulated images processed by Google [ 48 ]. However, this engine fails to detect copied and modified graphical materials. Semantic analyses are particularly useful in such a scenario of image modification. In fact, processing image legends through textual similarity tests may point to misconduct with modified images.

Attempts are underway to propose an advanced system for tracking plagiarism of graphics [ 49 ]. In the meantime, journal editors with a special interest in publishing graphics need to instruct their authors on what constitutes image plagiarism and how to ethically reuse related contents [ 50 ].

Retractions due to plagiarism

Although retractions of published articles are generally not frequent, their analyses may reveal country- and discipline-related differences in editorial strategies, misconduct prevention policies, and enforced measures [ 51 , 52 ]. Examining details of retracted articles which are publicly discussed on the Retraction Watch blog may also prioritize ethics topics for postgraduate education [ 53 , 54 ].

With the widespread use of iThenticate and other plagiarism detection software, numerous related retractions have taken place over the past decade. When retraction notices in PubMed are compared, similar percentages of plagiarism (about 20%) were mentioned in 2008 and 2016 samples [ 55 ]. The number of retractions due to plagiarism varies across countries and academic disciplines, with the U.S., China, Germany, Japan and the U.K. accounting for 3 out of 4 retractions in a sample of 130 surgery articles [ 51 ]. The same study estimated a plagiarism rate of 16% in these articles. Also, an analysis of 176 retractions in obstetrics and gynecology indicated 40 cases of plagiarism (23%) [ 56 ]. In rehabilitation and sport sciences, retractions due to plagiarism were reported in 11 (26%) and 7 (13%) cases, respectively [ 57 ]. And finally, an analysis of 22 rheumatology retractions revealed 7 (32%) cases of plagiarism in review articles [ 58 ].

Conclusions

Plagiarism continues to affect the integrity of scholarly publications worldwide. Digitization and open access provide numerous opportunities for accessing and disseminating scientific information. However, some researchers and authors are tempted to intentionally or unintentionally embark on shortcuts and construct their articles with copied and unattributed texts, graphics, and ideas. Arguably, educating authors how to systematically access and process literature and how to master academic English may prevent most instances of modern-day plagiarism. Systematic searches are necessary for choosing new topics and avoiding redundancies. Processing retrieved articles, appropriately referring to published scientific facts, and writing in one’s own words may further improve the ethical standing of new manuscripts.

Researchers and research managers alike need to learn more about globally acceptable writing practices, regularly analyze retractions due to plagiarism, and avoid related errors in their practice. Knowledge of global editorial guidance and plagiarism detection and prevention strategies is essential for successful writing and targeting influential ethical journals. Journal editors should enforce a “trust, but verify” policy by performing plagiarism checks, inquiring about authors’ writing practices, and asking for disclaimers if suspicion of plagiarism persists.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Plagiarism and what are acceptable similarity scores?

Dec 1, 2020 • knowledge article, information.

The Similarity Report is a flexible document that provides a summary of matching or similar text in submitted work compared against a huge database of Internet sources, journals and previously submitted work, allowing students and instructors to review matches between a submitted work and the database scanned by Turnitin. Therefore, the Turnitin Similarity Report does not define whether or not a student's work is plagiarized. The instructor responsible for the course - as a subject matter expert - has a duty to exercise academic judgement on the work that is submitted to Turnitin for their classes. The percentage that is returned on a student's submission (called similarity index or similarity score) defines how much of that material matches other material in the database, it is not a marker as to whether a student has or has not plagiarized. Matches will be displayed to material that has been correctly cited and used, which is where the instructor's academic judgement must come into play. Please find our guide links below on how to interpret the Similarity Report and its similarity score: If you are a student, click here . If you are an instructor, click here .

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UCL Doctoral School

Self-Plagiarism

Guidance on incorporating published work in your thesis

How you can include published work in your thesis and avoid self-plagiarism

Doctoral candidates who are worried about what they can include in their thesis can follow this guidance. It covers the inclusion of previously published papers and how to integrate them properly.

Publishing first, then submitting thesis for examination

If you've published before submitting your thesis:

an appropriate citation of the original source in the relevant Chapter; and
completing the UCL Research Paper Declaration form – this should be embedded after the Acknowledgments page in the thesis.
Before using figures, table sheets, or parts of the text, find out from the editor of the journal if you transferred the copyrights when you submitted the paper.
When in doubt, when you do not own copyright, get formal approval from copyright owners to re-use the material (this is frequently done for previously published data and figures to be included in a doctoral thesis; please see more information on the UCL Copyright advice website ).
ensure the style matches that of the rest of the thesis, both in formatting and content,
add additional information/context where beneficial, such as additional background/relevant literature, more detailed methods,
offer additional data not included in the publication, such as preliminary data, null findings, anything included in supplementary materials.
If you worked together with co-authors, your (and their) contributions to the publication should be specified in the UCL Research Paper Declaration form.

Examples of including previously published work in your thesis

After gaining approval from the copyright holder, you would be allowed to copy and paste sections from the published paper into your thesis.

You might make minor edits to the text to ensure that it fits the overall style of your thesis (e.g. changing “We” to “I”, where appropriate) and that it is written in your voice (see bullet point on ‘Initial drafts of papers’ below).

You might also incorporate additional text/figures/Tables that did not appear in the original publication.

Unacceptable

You cannot embed the unedited pdf of the published paper into your thesis.

You also cannot copy and paste the entire paper without making any attempt to match the style to the rest of the thesis.

Submitting thesis first (and the degree is successfully awarded) and published after

If your thesis is published first, then this must be declared to a journal publisher so that you can check with the editor about the acceptability of including part of your thesis.

You must make sure that you have cited the original source correctly (your thesis for example) and acknowledged yourself as author. Where possible, you could also provide a link.

This applies not just to reproducing your own material but also to ideas which you have previously published elsewhere.

Tips for reusing material in final thesis

We strongly recommend you write your upgrade document (and/or any progression documents) in the same style and format as you would your final thesis. This will help you plan the format of your final thesis early and you can then reuse as much of your upgrade material in your final thesis as makes sense.

Initial drafts of papers

We strongly recommend you keep your initial drafts of papers for use in your final thesis; this way it is written in your voice (not that of your supervisors, co-authors, or journal editor) and will be less likely to affect any copyright issues with the publisher. This does not mean you cannot incorporate supervisor corrections; however, all text should be written by you and not subject to vast rewriting/editing by others as is often the case with journal publications. You should still cite your published work where relevant.

Plan your thesis structure and project timings carefully from the start

This means considering thesis structure, time of upgrade/progression reviews, and, if appropriate, which chapters might be turned into publications and when.

Prioritise the thesis over any other priorities

Furthermore, as you approach the final months before your submission deadline (which you should check carefully with your supervisory team and funder as expectations may vary), we strongly encourage you to prioritise the thesis over any other conflicting priorities, e.g. internships, publications, etc…

Remember to follow these guidelines to ensure the appropriate use of published work in your doctoral thesis while avoiding self-plagiarism.

What is Self-Plagiarism

The UCL Academic Manual describes self-plagiarism as:

“The reproduction or resubmission of a student’s own work which has been submitted for assessment at UCL or any other institution. This does not include earlier formative drafts of the particular assessment, or instances where the department has explicitly permitted the re-use of formative assessments but does include all other formative work except where permitted.”

Read about this in more detail in Chapter 6, Section 9.2d of the UCL Academic Manual page .

How self-plagiarism applies to Doctoral Students

Re-use of material already used for a previous degree.

A research student commits self-plagiarism if they incorporate material (text, data, ideas) from a previous academic degree (e.g., Master's of Undergraduate) submission, whether at UCL or another institution, into their final these without explicit declaration.

Note on Upgrades

The upgrade report is not published nor is it used to confer a degree, and is therefore excluded from the above definition of “material”.

In effect, the upgrade report (and any other progression reviews) is a form of “thesis draft” owned by the student and we encourage the reuse of material in the upgrade report in the final thesis where relevant.

As a result, material written by yourself can be used both in publications and your final thesis, and the self-plagiarism rule does not apply here. However, since your final thesis will be ‘published’ online, there are several rules you must follow.

For additonal detail, visit the UCL Discovery web page .

Links to forms

UCL Research Paper Declaration Form for including published material in your thesis (to be embedded after the Acknowledgements page).

Form in MS Word format (DOCX)
Form in LaTeX format (TEX) , thanks to David Sheard, Dept of Mathematics
Form in PDF preview (PDF)

Helpful resources

Step-by-step guide and FAQs on publishing doctoral work
Information about your own copyright
Information on online copy of your thesis

How much plagiarism is allowed?

The world is constantly changing, and so are our beliefs about it. That is why we need to establish an independent mindset and critical thinking to rely on. Originality in our manifestation, including writing, is a crucial part of it. That is why educators and content creators need to check their papers for similarity to avoid plagiarism.

What percentage of plagiarism is acceptable ? The question is worth 10.3 billion search results. Well, to those looking for a simple answer: no, there’s no single benchmark. Or could zero plagiarism count? Different universities, colleges, and high schools have different standards. What is good and allowed for one, will be a red flag for another one.

Mostly, no more than 20% of text coincidence can be tolerated, while more means the text is not original. Although, even if that 20% is just a single copy-pasted piece of text, it’s considered borrowed.

What percentage of plagiarism is acceptable in university

How much plagiarism is allowed also depends on the type of the paper. The acceptable percentage varies within the limit of the mentioned 20%. Each case is individual, and the educational institution, the teacher, and the nature of the detected similarities should be taken into account. However, obviously, how much plagiarism is allowed in research paper differs when we talk about a regular essay or a dissertation.

One should keep in mind that the similarities found may be unintentional plagiarism. It happens that the students accidentally copy someone else’s ideas out of pure coincidence or based on the resources they have studied without realizing they are repeating the information.

That’s why if you notice plagiarism in your student’s work, it’s time to talk to them, figure out the reasons, and map the possible ways out. To help you do this, we’ve prepared a checklist you can share with your students. You can send it to them the way it is, or use it as an inspiration to create your own one—it’s up to you.

A Comprehensive Checklist on How to Avoid Plagiarism

The obvious answer is to produce original content. But cases might differ, so check out a few tips to polish your writing.

#1. Avoid Direct Quotes and Paraphrasing

First, say your goodbyes to copy-pasting or rephrasing someone else’s thoughts. Instead, read different sources of information on your topic, jot down key points, and then write their essence in your own words. Examples:

#2. Proper referencing

How much plagiarism is allowed? Example of a Citation Generator for citing a web page

To err is human. Spotting and fixing the mistakes (and learning from them) can make you superhuman. Double-checking the text can enable you to find those “Oh, I’ve already read it somewhere” parts. Here, I mean that sometimes you can mimic your own style, even not knowing that. Reviewing the same content after a while can help you have a fresh look at it and find those self-plagiarized sentences or paragraphs. It can also allow you to discover tricky referencing issues when you might have missed citing something properly. In case you don’t trust yourself, ask one of your mates to review your paper.

#4. Enriching vocabulary to avoid clichés

Another common reason for plagiarism is using the same phrases you can come across on thousands of websites. It’s not about some industry-specific terms you might desperately need in your physics, nursing, marketing, or any other assignment. I mean rather generic phrases and idioms like “as easy as a pie,” “sky’s the limit,” “sad but true,” etc. Not to mention some of them might be inappropriate for academic writing, if you overuse them, they’ll drop your content originality. To avoid that, we recommend:

Reading more books, scientific journals, and so on to expand your general knowledge and vocabulary, as a result.
Jotting down new words and phrases you haven’t known before and trying to use them in your speaking or writing. If applicable, of course.
Using synonyms to eliminate tautology. You can find some good ones in the Thesaurus , or Power Thesaurus . Feel free to use those tools whenever you see some repeated words or idioms.

#5. Scanning texts with plagiarism checkers

To be on the safe side, I would advise checking your paper with specialized tools, like PlagiarismCheck.org before submitting it. This will help you make sure you’ve produced an original piece of content. A huge plus of such tools is that they can define all possible types of plagiarism, including copying your own style. For example, PlagiarismCheck.org delivers a report with highlights of the matching parts and links to the sources those pieces of text come from.

Let’s wrap it up

If we come back to our initial question: “ How much plagiarism is allowed ?”, the answer is still “None in a perfect world.” Yet, we live in reality, so up to 20% might be tolerated. We suggest minimizing even those numbers by educating your students on how to produce unique content.

Anyways, if you need to scan for plagiarism , try PlagiarismCheck.org . We’ve built it with academic integrity in mind, so it includes AI checker GPT and can spot ghostwriting by comparing student’s writing style from previous works and the current ones. And if you have any questions—be sure to get in touch with our team.

Discover how PlagiarismCheck.org can empower your workflow!

Why You Need a Plagiarism Checker Tool. Top Benefits and Features

What is a plagiarism checker and where can I find one?

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UGC guidelines for plagiarism | Levels of plagiarism as per UGC regulation 2018

This blog post aims to provide details regarding UGC guidelines for plagiarism .

Page Contents

UGC REGULATIONS, 2018 for PROMOTION OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PREVENTION OF PLAGIARISM IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

The following rules related to Plagiarism shall apply to the students, faculty, researchers and staff of all Higher Educational Institutions in the country.

To create awareness about responsible conduct of research, thesis, dissertation, promotion of academic integrity and prevention of misconduct including plagiarism in academic writing among student, faculty, researcher and staff.
To establish institutional mechanism through education and training to facilitate responsible conduct of research, thesis, dissertation, promotion of academic integrity and deterrence from plagiarism.
To develop systems to detect plagiarism and to set up mechanisms to prevent plagiarism and punish a student, faculty, researcher or staff of HEI committing the act of plagiarism.

Similarity checks for exclusion from Plagiarism

The similarity checks for plagiarism shall exclude the following:

All quoted work reproduced with all necessary permission and/or attribution.
All references, bibliography, table of content, preface and acknowledgements.
All generic terms, laws, standard symbols and standards equations.

The research work carried out by the student, faculty, researcher and staff shall be based on original ideas, which shall include abstract, summary, hypothesis, observations, results, conclusions and recommendations only and shall not have any similarities. It shall exclude a common knowledge or coincidental terms, up to fourteen (14) consecutive words.

Levels of Plagiarism

Plagiarism would be quantified into following levels in ascending order of severity for the purpose of its definition:

Level 0: Similarities up to 10% – Minor similarities, no penalty

Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40%

Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60%

Level 3: Similarities above 60%

Penalties in case of plagiarism in submission of thesis and dissertations

Institutional Academic Integrity Panel (IAIP) shall impose penalty considering the severity of the Plagiarism.

i. Level 0: Similarities up to 10% – Minor Similarities, no penalty.

ii. Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40% – Such student shall be asked to submit a revised script within a stipulated time period not exceeding 6 months.

iii. Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60% – Such student shall be debarred from submitting a revised script for a period of one year.

iv. Level 3: Similarities above 60% -Such student registration for that programme shall be cancelled.

Penalties in case of plagiarism in academic and research publications

I. Level 0: Similarities up to 10% – Minor similarities, no penalty.

II. Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40%

i) Shall be asked to withdraw manuscript.

III. Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60%

ii) Shall be denied a right to one annual increment.

iii) Shall not be allowed to be a supervisor to any new Master’s, M.Phil., Ph.D. Student/scholar for a period of two years.

IV. Level 3: Similarities above 60%

ii) Shall be denied a right to two successive annual increments.

iii) Shall not be allowed to be a supervisor to any new Master’s, M.Phil., Ph.D. Student/scholar for a period of three years.

Detection and Handling of Plagiarism | Charges of Plagiarism

If any member of the academic community suspects with appropriate proof that a case of plagiarism has happened in any document, he or she shall report it to the Departmental Academic Integrity Panel (DAIP). Upon receipt of such a complaint or allegation the DAIP shall investigate the matter and submit its recommendations to the Institutional Academic Integrity Panel (IAIP) of the HEI.

The authorities of HEI can also take suomotu notice of an act of plagiarism and initiate proceedings under these regulations. Similarly, proceedings can also be initiated by the HEI on the basis of findings of an examiner. All such cases will be investigated by the IAIP.

UGC guidelines for phd thesis format

How to start a Ph.D. research program in India?

UGC assistant professor eligibility/ selection criteria

Free and Paid plagiarism checkers for research papers/ thesis

Sources: UGC

Student Handbook 2023/24

11. plagiarism and referencing.

Queen Mary defines plagiarism as: “Presenting someone else’s work as your own, irrespective of intention. Close paraphrasing, copying from the work of another person, including another student, using the ideas of another person without proper acknowledgement or repeating work you have previously submitted – at Queen Mary or at another institution - without properly referencing yourself (known as ‘self plagiarism’) also constitutes plagiarism.”

For further information on the policy click here: Academic Misconduct 2023-24

Plagiarism is a serious offence and all students suspected of plagiarism will be subject to an investigation. If found guilty, penalties can include failure of the module to suspension or permanent withdrawal from Queen Mary.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand plagiarism and how to avoid it. The recommendations below can help you in avoiding plagiarism.

Be sure to record your sources when taking notes, and to cite these if you use ideas or, especially, quotations from the original source. Be particularly careful if you are cutting and pasting information between two documents, and ensure that references are not lost in the process.
Be sensible in referencing ideas – commonly held views that are generally accepted do not always require acknowledgment to particular sources. However, it is best to be safe to avoid plagiarism.
Be particularly careful with quotations and paraphrasing. Quotations need to be recorded accurately, and references are required when paraphrasing someone else’s ideas.
Be aware that technology, such as Turnitin, is now available at Queen Mary and elsewhere that can automatically identify possible plagiarism.
Ensure that all works used are referenced appropriately in the text of your work and fully credited in your bibliography.
If in doubt, ask for further guidance from your module convenor, Programme of Study: Academic Coordinator or PG law tutors ( [email protected] )
There is an Academic Integrity course to assist you in understanding and avoiding plagiarism. Please see on the School of Law QMplus home page, under the section 'Important Links'

How to Check for Plagiarism?

Open Access
First Online: 24 October 2021

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Samiran Nundy 4 ,
Atul Kakar 5 &
Zulfiqar A. Bhutta 6

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The word ‘Plagiarism’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘Plagiare’ which means ‘to kidnap or abduct’. In scientific literature, it means the ‘wrongful appropriation’ and ‘stealing and publication’ of another author’s ‘language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions’ and depicting it as one’s own creative work. Plagiarism amounts to academic untruthfulness and a breach of journalistic integrity [1].

Copying from one it’s plagiarism, copying from two it’s research. Wilson Mizner, American playwright, raconteur and entrepreneur (1876–1933).

You have full access to this open access chapter, Download chapter PDF

Rising from Plagiarising

1 What Is Plagiarism?

2 Why Is Plagiarism So Rampant in India?

There are many reasons why plagiarism is common in India. There is the compulsory thesis before the final postgraduate examination which students need to finish in time so they find the ‘cut and paste’ technique to be a convenient shortcut to writing the manuscript or even doing the research. The other reason is that they have never attended research methodology workshops where plagiarism is discussed. They do not know that plagiarism is a serious offence that can be punished with suspension or expulsion from their institution in other countries. The unfamiliarity with the English language, lax checking by their supervisors and an absence of punishment are other reasons for this. Plagiarism reflects the poor standards of our medical publications [ 2 ]. However, it is also a global phenomenon and not unique to India [ 3 ].

3 What Action Can Be Taken Against you if your Manuscript Is Found to be Plagiarized?

All types of plagiarism can attract disciplinary action which may range from removing the published paper, legal and monetary repercussions and academic and professional damage to your reputation. All good journals and many universities check the manuscripts for this through online checking systems which are now widely available. We should have a ‘zero tolerance policy’ for such acts.

4 Does Plagiarism Apply Only to Written Text?

No, this statement is not true as plagiarism applies to text in manuscripts as well as images, clinical photographs, tables, graphs, and pictorial data.

5 Is There a Gazette of India Notification on Plagiarism?

Yes , the University Grants Commission (UGC) has a regulation, dated 31 July 2018 regarding promotion in academic institutions and on the prevention of plagiarism. It defines 20 terms like plagiarism, author, academic integrity, script, source, etc. It also describes a penalty for a plagiarized thesis and dissertation. It also mentions that all students should submit a soft copy of their theses or dissertations to some central information and library centre [ 4 ].

6 What Is the UGC’s Classification of Plagiarism?

In 2018, it classified plagiarism in educational institutions into various levels. If similarity is less than 10%, no action is taken. However, if the level of plagiarism increases above this, the action given below is recommended [ 4 , 5 ].

Level 1—10–40% similarity. No marks or credits shall be awarded for the plagiarized script. The revised manuscript should be re-submitted within 6 months.

Level 2—40–60% similarity. No marks or credits shall be awarded for the plagiarized script. The student is entitled to resubmit the revised script after 1 year but not exceeding 18 months.

Level 3—above 60% similarity. No marks or credits shall be awarded for the plagiarized script. Registration for the course itself is cancelled.

7 What Are the Sections in Articles which Are Excluded from Plagiarism Checks?

The areas which are excluded are: [ 4 ].

Quoted statements (quoted work can be reproduced with all the necessary permissions).

References/Bibliography.

Table of Contents.

Preface/Acknowledgements.

Standard symbols/Generic terms.

8 What Do Words Quote, Paraphrase and Similarity Mean?

A quote is using or repeating the same words as in the original text. If this is done it should appear under inverted commas. For example, Hippocrates stated ‘I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous’.

A Paraphrase is rewriting the original idea in our own words. While doing paraphrasing the central concept or the meaning of the text is not changed.

Similarity is copied text and is like the original text. The original and the text written are exactly the same.

9 What Are the Various Types of Plagiarism? [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]

Total or Complete Plagiarism

This depicts a severe form of plagiarism. In this, the investigator passes off someone else’s script or study as his own, and submits it under his own name.

Direct Plagiarism

Direct or verbatim plagiarism is a type of complete plagiarism when one section of the text is copied rather than the whole text.

Self- or Auto-plagiarism

Auto-plagiarism, also known as self-plagiarism or duplication, happens when authors reuse sizeable portions of their previously published work without attribution.

Paraphrasing plagiarism

This is the most common type of plagiarism seen among students. It involves the use of the original author’s manuscript after making some minor changes in the sentences and creating a new article.

‘Cut and paste’ plagiarism

This type of plagiarism is becoming common among students because of the easy accessibility of scientific information on the internet.

Mosaic/patchwork plagiarism

Mosaic plagiarism may be difficult to detect because it interposes someone else’s a few sentences or paragraphs within the text.

Accidental Plagiarism

This can be either intended or unintended. Even for this, there is no excuse and the consequences are often the same.

10 How Can we Check for Plagiarism?

Many sites are now available - free or paid. Grammarly©, Whitesmoke©, Prewriting aid©, Duplichecker©, Plagarism © Check.org©C, Quetext ©, small SEO plagiarism checker©, copytext©, viper©, checkforplagiarism.net©, Wordpress Plugin©, Plagium©, etc.

11 How Does a Plagiarism Report Appear?

Once a check is done, the report looks similar to the Fig. 24.1 . The lines and sentences which have been copied are highlighted in various colours as is the source from which it has been copied.

Review in an article with 92% plagiarism, along with the sources (published with permission editor—Current Medical Research and Practice)

12 How Much Plagiarism Is Usually Allowed for a Paper to Be Accepted?

When it is an original paper, the author should aim at zero plagiarism. However, in many journals, a similarity of up to 15% is allowed. For a chapter in a book, this limit is about 5% and in a thesis, less than 10% is accepted.

13 What Is the Difference between Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement?

Plagiarism is claiming credit for a work you did not do or using someone else’s work without proper attribution.

Copyright infringement is a broad term covered under the law. In this, an author uses someone else’s work without obtaining their permission.

14 What Are the Five Rules for Avoiding Plagiarism?

Plan to finish your project well in time before submission.

Recognize the concept behind the manuscript you need to cite.

Never do ‘copy–paste’; it seems to be a shortcut but eventually it takes double the time to correct the mistakes.

Use your own language to build up the manuscript.

Use an online plagiarism device to check before final submission.

15 Conclusions

Plagiarism is a type of research delinquency that consists of copying someone else’s work or idea without giving him proper credit.

Plagiarism extends not only to the text but also to tables, charts and pictures.

An awareness about the risks of plagiarism is low among the students and researchers in developing countries.

To avoid the copy–paste culture, students should be instructed to read articles completely and carefully and then write a paper in their own words.

Sinha R, Singh G, Kumar C. Plagiarism and unethical practices in literature. Indian J Opthal. 2009;57:481–5.

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Gasparyan AY, Nurmashev B, Seksenbayev B, Trukhachev VI, Kostyukova EI, Kitas GD. Plagiarism in the context of education and evolving. J Korean Med Sci. 2017;32:1220–7.

Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018 (lasted accessed 27th March 20202). Available on https://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/7771545_academic-integrity-Regulation2018.pdf .

Kadam D. Academic integrity and plagiarism: the new regulations in India. Indian J Plast Surg. 2018;51:109–10.

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Department of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, India

Samiran Nundy

Department of Internal Medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, India

Institute for Global Health and Development, The Aga Khan University, South Central Asia, East Africa and United Kingdom, Karachi, Pakistan

Zulfiqar A. Bhutta

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Nundy, S., Kakar, A., Bhutta, Z.A. (2022). How to Check for Plagiarism?. In: How to Practice Academic Medicine and Publish from Developing Countries?. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5248-6_24

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Turnitin and plagiarism.

As a PhD student, the work you produce in the early stage of your programme (1st Year Board Report) and in the latter stage (thesis submission) will be reviewed via the Turnitin Similarity Report.

This is to check for any issues that might impact on progression or any inadvertent plagiarism which can then be addressed.

From September 2019, Turnitin is in place for supervisors of PG research students to check for these issues. These checks are made on your:

1st Year Board Report (mandatory)
Thesis Submission (mandatory)
Ad hoc Documents (optional) - this may include chapter submissions or 2nd Year Annual Reviews

Your supervisor will submit your work to the Turnitin system and discuss any significant similarity issues with you should they arise. Your work will not be stored in the Turnitin repository.

Turnitin timings:

1st Year Board Report - submit to Turnitin with enough time to have potential problems addressed before the Board meeting takes place
Thesis submission - submit to Turnitin with enough time to have potential problems addressed before you submit your thesis for examination
Thesis corrections - submit to Turnitin with enough time to have potential problems addressed before you submit your thesis corrections

How to avoid plagiarism

Please review the guidance on avoiding plagiarism . You should also ensure you have read the guidance on proofreading , and academic misconduct.

The College has also produced a document of their academic expectations which you are advised to review.

It is important you understand what plagiarism (and self-plagiarism) covers so you can avoid it and the penalties that may follow.

If you have any queries, you should discuss these with your supervisors.

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UGC Tightens Anti-Plagiarism Norms. Similarity Above 10% To Invite Trouble

The new regulation is known as university grants commission (promotion of academic integrity and prevention of plagiarism in higher educational institutions) regulations, 2018..

Copied content in PhD thesis can now cost students their registration as well. UGC 's new anti-plagiarism policy allows up to 10% content similarity. With similarity above it, students will be asked to withdraw the manuscript. The policy which was drafted in 2017 has finally been approved by the HRD Ministry. Academicians will be denied one annual increment for similarities within 40%-60% and for plagiarized content with above 60% similarity they shall not be allowed to be a supervisor to any new Master's, M.Phil., Ph.D. Student/scholar for a period of three years.

The new regulation known as University Grants Commission (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018 shall apply to the students, faculty, researchers and staff of higher educational institutions.

Students, faculties and researchers will be trained for using a plagiarism detection tool, approved by the University. In June at Shirdi, briefing the reporters about the importance of anti-plagiarism tools , HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar had said that, 'one person's Ph.D. thesis has been wrongly used by some others to complete their theses. As such cases are on the rise, we have decided to use software such as 'Turnitin' and others to keep a check on such theses.'

In another development earlier this week in Rajya Sabha Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, informed that in the past three years, three cases of plagiarism in writing Ph.D thesis have been found by UGC . 'The UGC has informed that three cases have come to their notice in last three years against Chandra Krishnamurthy, vice chancellor of Pondicherry University (2015); Anil Kumar Upadhyay, reader of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi (2017); and Vinay Kumar Pathak, vice chancellor of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow (2018),' he told the Parliament.

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Funding endowed chair in agricultural economics reflects couple’s global vision brought home: “Purdue is special in our lives”

Story by Nancy Alexander
Photos by Bosch Studios Photography
May 13, 2024

B ob and Karen Thompson have operated as a team, both throughout their 55-year marriage and in their long-standing commitment to sending Purdue Agriculture students abroad and welcoming international students to their home.

Now the Thompsons are strengthening the international focus of Bob’s former department by endowing the Robert and Karen Thompson Chair in International Agricultural Economics. The couple hopes the position will ensure a leading scholar in an international aspect of the discipline such as trade, development or comparative agricultural policy “to help solidify the commitment to the international focus in the offerings of the department,” he says.

The Thompson Chair is open-ended by design. “As a former dean, I understand that the college has to have the flexibility to respond to greatest needs and opportunities that come along that you never see coming,” Bob says.

Thompson knows about unanticipated opportunities. He grew up in New York state, so close to the Canadian border that the news source in his home was the Canadian Broadcasting Company, which he credits with “more of an international perspective than the average American community would get.”

Despite his emerging interest in international affairs, his options for study abroad were limited. Some local high schools sent students overseas through American Field Service (AFS) programs. “I really wished my little rural high school — I was in a graduating class of 20 — would get an AFS program, but it never did,” he recalls.

Thompson’s focus on agricultural policy emerged as an undergraduate at Cornell University, where he became intrigued by international food issues such as hunger and poverty. He applied for the university’s two study abroad scholarships — and ended up as first runner-up for each of them. Based on his interest, however, officials told him that if he was accepted to another program, Cornell would support him with additional scholarship funds.

Thompson wasn’t selective about his destination. “My first choice was ‘wherever,’” he says.

“Wherever” turned out to be Denmark for his junior year, where he met Karen, then a student in elementary education who grew up on a small farm on the Danish island of Bornholm. The couple maintained a long-distance romance for two years after Bob returned to Cornell and then completed a master’s degree at Purdue.

Bob and Karen standing closely while looking down at a photo album

Shortly after they married in August 1968, the Thompsons went to Laos with International Voluntary Service, a Peace Corps-type program that allowed the two citizens of different countries to serve together, working with local agriculture and home economics extension agents.

Karen immigrated to the U.S. when they returned from Laos in 1970. That summer, they came to Purdue for her to complete her elementary education degree and Bob to begin a PhD program in agricultural economics. After earning her teaching degree in 1971, Karen started a master’s degree in special education.

In summer 1972, the Thompsons went abroad again, this time to Brazil, where Purdue had an institutional strengthening program with the Federal University of Viçosa dating to the 1950s. Bob collected data for his thesis and taught agricultural production economics in Portuguese, while Karen taught the elementary school-age children of Purdue professors on the Viçosa project.

Now a family of three — their daughter, Kristina, was born in Brazil — the Thompsons returned to Purdue in January 1974. At the May commencement, Karen received her master’s degree, and Bob received his PhD and joined the agricultural economics faculty. Their second child, Eric, arrived a year later. As a faculty member, Bob developed a nationally recognized program in international trade and agricultural development.

In 1983, the family moved to Washington, D.C. for a one-year leave that extended to four. There Bob served as a senior staff economist for the President’s Council on Economic Advisers, and later, assistant secretary for economics for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Thompson returned to Purdue as dean of the College of Agriculture in 1987 and was a strong advocate for study abroad. At the beginning of his tenure, only one student in the College of Agriculture was studying overseas. When he left six-and-a-half years later, 10 percent of agriculture students graduated having had an international experience.

Thompson equates his one year in Denmark, two in Laos and two in Brazil, all within a nine-year time frame, to “a second PhD program.”

Having on-the-ground international experience made me much more effective as a professional doing research in other countries. Agriculture is such a global industry. To be a well-prepared professional in any agricultural occupation requires having a global vision or perspective.” - Bob Thompson

In 1993 Thompson left the dean’s position to return to his passion for developing agriculture and reducing hunger in low-income countries. He became president and chief executive officer of the Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development; and later moved back to Washington, D.C. to become director of rural development for the World Bank.

In Washington, Karen became volunteer curator of the Smithsonian Institution’s lace collection in its American History Museum. Her mother had taught her the basics of bobbin lace, and over time she honed her skills through training courses in several European countries. In addition to research and writing on lace made in colonial Ipswich, Massachusetts, the only U.S. site of a commercial bobbin lace industry, Karen continues to teach online courses on the technique.

Thompson’s commitment to study abroad laid the groundwork for the nearly 40 percent of Agriculture students who now graduate having studied abroad in hundreds of wide-ranging programs the college offers through International Programs in Agriculture (IPIA).

The Thompsons were so passionate about providing international opportunities to undergraduates that they endowed the Robert L. and Karen H. Thompson Scholarship to support students who participate in international study programs in agriculture.

IPIA asks the scholarship recipients to send the couple a postcard from their overseas institution. “Those are so nice to receive,” Bob says. “The comment that you hear most often is that it’s ‘a life-changing experience.’ It certainly was for me.”

Ensuring that agriculture students experience different cultures firsthand is good for Indiana agriculture, Karen adds. “It’s great for the ones who go back on the farms, but for the ones who are hired by agribusiness, the firms want international experience.”

Bob credits Karen for managing family and hosting responsibilities while he taught, conducted research and served in administrative positions. In addition to raising bicultural and bilingual children, the Thompsons regularly welcomed international students and friends to their home. Karen recalls learning to prepare an American Thanksgiving dinner before she had ever had one herself.

“Our children grew up with the American part of the family, the Danish part of the family, but also the international students at Purdue, because they really became our third family, to us and our children,” she says. “And it’s so important for the international students to get to know an American home and family.”

Not surprisingly, the travel bug also bit the Thompsons’ children. Kristina studied in Denmark in high school and college before volunteering with the Peace Corps in Benin and later, in Rwanda with her husband, Tom. The couple currently is assigned to Cotonou, Benin, where she is the Peace Corps’ country program and training director, and Tom teaches in the international school.

Both Eric and his wife, Amy, are Purdue graduates. Eric spent his junior year in Purdue Engineering at a German university and completed graduate study at the Danish Technical University. He now works in human hearing research for the Air Force. Their son is a high school senior, and their two daughters both studied abroad as college students.

“You detect a pattern here?” Bob asks, smiling.

The international perspective that the Thompsons cultivated in their own home has over time changed the College of Agriculture, by broadening student horizons through study abroad, and now, in a new chair in agricultural economics that promises to impact teaching and research.

Bob and Karen stand side-by-side while embracing in front of a wooden shelving unit

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COMMENTS

What Plagiarism level of master thesis is acceptable?
None, if it's real plagiarism. If it refers to standard definitions (vector space) or references, this may indicate false positives. Anything else should be close to 0. What do you mean "it comes out 32 percent?" The acceptable "plagiarism level" of any academic work is 0.
How much % of plagiarism is allowed? Will my references be excluded
The maximum allowed percentage of plagiarism should be commonly less than 20%. However, from the same reference, it should not exceed 5%. We must completely understand that the plagiarism is never ...
What is an acceptable percentage of plagiarism?
You can repeat this as often as you like with all your sources. With your Plagiarism Check order, you get a free pass to use the Self-Plagiarism Checker. Simply upload them to your similarity report and let us do the rest! The "Exclude Small Matches" number is set too high. By default, the plagiarism report shows similarities of 9 words or ...
thesis
At the same time, for a thesis, someone should definitely check all potential cases of plagiarism that an automated tool provides. Otherwise the department would use the automated checking tool in a plain wrong way. If the rating is "90% plagiarism", but all cases found by the tool are false-positives, then this should be fine. -
How to Avoid Plagiarism in Your PhD Thesis?
By citing the literature, using paraphrasing, using quotations, and by developing your own writing style, you can avoid plagiarism. Dr Tushar Chauhan. Dr. Tushar Chauhan is a Scientist, Blogger and Scientific-writer. He has completed PhD in Genetics. Dr.
What percentage of plagiarism is accepted for a dissertation?
By admin February 22, 2022 Dissertation. Going by the custom, the content below 10-15% of plagiarism is acceptable, but it also varies and depends upon the requirement of particular universities. Sometimes, even in the case of 15% content similarity, and to know, the content is borrowed from another website, it's considered as plagiarism.
Plagiarism detection and prevention: a primer for researchers
The same study estimated a plagiarism rate of 16% in these articles. Also, an analysis of 176 retractions in obstetrics and gynecology indicated 40 cases of plagiarism (23%) . In rehabilitation and sport sciences, retractions due to plagiarism were reported in 11 (26%) and 7 (13%) cases, respectively .
what percentage of plagiarism is acceptable?
Answer: There is a lack of consensus or clear-cut-rules on what percentage of plagiarism is acceptable in a manuscript. Going by the convention, usually a text similarity below 15% is acceptable by the journals and a similarity of >25% is considered as high percentage of plagiarism. But even in case of 15% similarity, if the matching text is ...
Plagiarism and what are acceptable similarity scores?
Plagiarism and what are acceptable similarity scores? The Similarity Report is a flexible document that provides a summary of matching or similar text in submitted work compared against a huge database of Internet sources, journals and previously submitted work, allowing students and instructors to review matches between a submitted work and ...
Guidance on incorporating published work in your thesis
Remember to follow these guidelines to ensure the appropriate use of published work in your doctoral thesis while avoiding self-plagiarism. What is Self-Plagiarism. The UCL Academic Manual describes self-plagiarism as: "The reproduction or resubmission of a student's own work which has been submitted for assessment at UCL or any other ...
How much plagiarism is allowed?
If you or your students wonder how much plagiarism is allowed in their papers, the answer is none. But a maximum of 20% can be allowed, depending on the institution. ... how much plagiarism is allowed in research paper differs when we talk about a regular essay or a dissertation. Type of content. What percentage of plagiarism is acceptable ...
Why Plagiarism Less than 19% is allowed? Is there any ...
Plagiarism of whatever percentage is still plagiarism and should not be allowed. For an academic/scholarly work such as thesis or dissertation, universities and education commissions may allow a ...
UGC guidelines for plagiarism
Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40% - Such student shall be asked to submit a revised script within a stipulated time period not exceeding 6 months. iii. Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60% - Such student shall be debarred from submitting a revised script for a period of one year. iv.
PDF Plagiarism Issues in Theses
Where research degree examiners suspect that a thesis contains minor plagiarism, this will be explored with the student during the viva. However, where research degree examiners suspect that a thesis ... In general it is acceptable academic practice for a PhD student to include intheir thesis material that has been previously written and published
Who is responsible for detecting plagiarism in a PhD thesis?
Given the complexity of the modern PhD thesis, and the number of references to other works in the literature that such a work would normally contain, being able to catch plagiarism can be difficult. This is especially true when you only have a printed version of the thesis to work from.
Student Handbook 2023/24: Plagiarism and Referencing
Student Handbook 2023/24. 11. Plagiarism and Referencing. Queen Mary defines plagiarism as: "Presenting someone else's work as your own, irrespective of intention. Close paraphrasing, copying from the work of another person, including another student, using the ideas of another person without proper acknowledgement or repeating work you ...
How to Check for Plagiarism?
If similarity is less than 10%, no action is taken. However, if the level of plagiarism increases above this, the action given below is recommended [ 4, 5 ]. Level 1—10-40% similarity. No marks or credits shall be awarded for the plagiarized script. The revised manuscript should be re-submitted within 6 months.
Turnitin and plagiarism
Turnitin and plagiarismAs a PhD student, the work you produce in the early stage of your programme (1st Year Board Report) and in the latter stage (thesis submission) will be reviewed via the Turnitin Similarity Report.This is to check for any issues that might impact on progression or any inadvertent plagiarism which can then be addressed.From September 2019, Turnitin is in place for ...
PDF Guidelines for Handling Plagiarism
(1) Plagiarism refers to the act of a person using someone else's ideas without citing the source. Plagiarism acts include but are not limited to those listed below: (a) Presenting the work or research data of others as the result of one's own work. (b) 2Using the concept of research work of others, the results of experiments,
PDF Similarity Detection and Plagiarism Verification of M.Phil
M.Phil./Ph.D. Similarity and Plagiarism Verification Research Council Similarity Detection and Plagiarism Verification of M.Phil. Dissertation/Ph.D. Thesis (UGC Regulation 2018 on Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions)
UGC Tightens Anti-Plagiarism Norms. Similarity Above 10% To Invite Trouble
New Delhi: Copied content in PhD thesis can now cost students their registration as well. UGC 's new anti-plagiarism policy allows up to 10% content similarity. With similarity above it, students ...
UGC Rules Regarding Plagiarism by Indian Academicians
The definition of plagiarism has been defined in Section 2 (k) of UGC Act 1956, the regulation as, "…an act of academic dishonesty and a breach of ethics. It involves using someone else's work as one's own. It also includes data plagiarism and self-plagiarism.".
Funding endowed chair in agricultural economics reflects couple's
Karen immigrated to the U.S. when they returned from Laos in 1970. That summer, they came to Purdue for her to complete her elementary education degree and Bob to begin a PhD program in agricultural economics. After earning her teaching degree in 1971, Karen started a master's degree in special education.

How to Avoid Plagiarism in Your PhD Thesis?

What is plagiarism?

Definition of plagiarism:

What does plagiarism mean?

Plagiarism and a PhD thesis:

Types of plagiarism:

Self plagiarism:

Direct plagiarism:

How to avoid plagiarism in PhD thesis?

No copy past:

Cite the source correctly:

Use quotations:

Use paraphrasing

Develop your own writing sense:

Use plagiarism checker:

Why is plagiarism so important?

My suggestion to avoid plagiarism:

Conclusion:

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UGC guidelines for plagiarism | Levels of plagiarism as per UGC regulation 2018

UGC REGULATIONS, 2018 for PROMOTION OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PREVENTION OF PLAGIARISM IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Similarity checks for exclusion from Plagiarism

Levels of Plagiarism

Penalties in case of plagiarism in submission of thesis and dissertations

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Detection and Handling of Plagiarism | Charges of Plagiarism

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