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Plagiarism?

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Hi, I have been asked to evaluate a development programme and have included a 1 page reference to Kirkpatricks 4 levels of evaluation whereby I explain where this started from and the four levels.  The person who I have given the report to has suggested this may be Plagiarism.  Has anyone else come across this when referring to other methodologies within reports? 

5 Responses

  1. Plagiarism
    “Nunans”

    Accusation of plagiarism focus on using someone else’s work and claiming it as your own. When writing reports and assignments as long as you clearly cite your sources and ensure you’ve appropriately referenced them, it’s unlikely that you could be accused of plagiarism.

    As you’re evaluating a development programme, I think it’d be difficult not to refer to Kirkpatrick’s work as it underpins much of what’s been written on the subject.

    I suggest you check what has triggered this person’s concerns,as if you’ve done the above, there shouldn’t be a problem.

    Julie

  2. Snap!

    Hi Nunans,

    I certainly can’t improve on Julie’s reply, but can add to it.  I had exactly the same situation with Maslow in a previous job.  I pointed out that it was properly attributed, and I couldn’t talk about motivation without mentioning the major theorists.  They insisted I referenced a book in the footnotes, and I obliged the request. 

    Good luck!

    Nikki

  3. Copyright in training

    Diverting slightly from plagiarism, copyright breach is a bit of a problem too – one insurance company I worked with said that the majority of claims from trainers were paying off copyright infringements!

    With  the programmes I’ve developed, where a source is known I’ve always asked and sought permission. Most organisations are fine – as long as you don’t reproduce their intellectual property in an inappropriate way.

    Having been involved in licensing and copyright in the past, this is an area which I am quite passionate about.  I wrote a couple of articles some while back – http://thecompletetrainer.blogspot.com/search/label/Copyright (on my blog).

    I must congratulate you on wanting to check, and make sure you were not plagiarising or infringing copyright. Check first is a much better mindset than check later (and pay later!).

    All the best,

    Carolyn

     

     

  4. Plagiarism or Not?

    I have always followed the principle that if you copy from one source that’s plagiarism, but if you copy from several sources that’s research!

    Taking tongue from  cheek, I don’t think you can go far wrong if you attribute the source.  It’s always best to get explicit permission to quote directly, but it’s not always possible.

    David Skinner
    Garsdale Training Ltd