Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Jones, and I'm really pleased that you are here to learn with me today.

Today's lesson is called "Research and planning a blog," and we will be looking at plagiarism and how to reference sources you use in your work.

So let's get started.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit Using media to gain support for a cause.

Today's lesson is called "Research and planning a blog," and by the end of this lesson, you'll be able to research and use content ethically to avoid plagiarism.

There are two keywords in today's lesson.

Plagiarism.

Plagiarism is using someone's work as your own without credit.

And reference.

Reference is giving credit to sources used in your work to show where your information came from.

There are two sections to today's lesson.

The first is explain plagiarism, and the second is identify referencing techniques.

So let's start with explain plagiarism.

Laura is asking, "Why not just copy something from the internet? It's so easy, and everyone does it, right?" While it may seem easier to copy and paste information, this is actually plagiarism, because plagiarism is using someone else's work, ideas, or words without giving proper credit.

Plagiarism and copyright infringement are covered by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 in the UK.

It is important to consider where your work has come from and give that credit if you are using someone else's work.

Let's have a quick check.

True or false? If plagiarism involves copying copyrighted material without permission, then it is breaking the law.

Is that true or false? Pause the video to consider your answer and then we'll go through it.

Let's check your answer.

The answer is true.

When plagiarism involves copying material that is protected by copyright without the owner's permission, it becomes a legal issue.

Well done if you got that correct.

There are different types of plagiarism.

There is direct plagiarism, which is copying text word for word from where you found it.

Patchwork plagiarism is when you are mixing different sources without acknowledgement.

There is accidental plagiarism, which is where you are failing to reference sources properly.

And there is plagiarism in computing, which is copying code or digital content without permission or credit.

Let's have a look at this original poem.

"I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high over vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host of golden daffodils." This is an alternative poem.

"I walked alone, as alone as a cloud that was floating over valleys and mountains when suddenly I saw a congregation, a mass of yellow flowers." The alternative poem has been paraphrased.

Without a reference, this is an example of plagiarism.

It is failing to reference sources properly.

Laura's asking, "Why is plagiarism a problem?" It's because it's unethical, it's dishonest, and it is unfair.

There are consequences.

GCSE coursework penalties.

If you are found to have plagiarised your work in GCSE coursework, then those penalties will be enforced.

Loss of credibility and reputation.

There are legal issues as well.

Copyright laws protect original work, and unauthorised use may break licencing agreements.

And using someone else's code without permission may break software licences.

Laura is asking, "I find it very easy to use someone else's work, but I do not want to plagiarise.

How do I avoid doing it?" Use your own words: summarise or paraphrase information, but make sure that you reference your sources.

Acknowledge where you've got your information from.

Use quotation marks around anything that you are using which is a direct quote from a source that you have located.

Keep track of any sources that you are using.

Always note website URLs, authors, and any publication dates.

And be careful with AI-generated content.

Ensure that it is fact-checked and correctly referenced.

Let's have a quick check.

Which of the following is a good strategy to avoid plagiarism? Is it A, copying large sections of text and changing a few words? Is it B, using your own words to summarise information and referencing your sources? Is it C, not keeping track of where you found your information? Pause the video and go back through the slides to consider your answer, and then we'll go through it.

Let's check your answer.

The answer was B, using your own words to summarise information and referencing your sources.

Well done if you got that correct.

Let's look at an activity, and you'll need your worksheet for this.

Explain what plagiarism is and why it's important to avoid plagiarism when creating digital content.

Pause the video, use your worksheet, and then we'll go through the answer.

Let's have a look at the answer.

Plagiarism is using someone else's work, ideas, or words without giving them proper credit.

It's important to avoid because it's dishonest and unfair to the original creator and can result in legal issues due to copyright infringement.

Well done if you got that correct.

Let's look at the second part of today's lesson, develop referencing techniques.

Jun is asking, "Referencing seems like a lot of extra work.

What's the point? Why can't I just use what I find?" And the reason for this is it shows respect for the original creator.

It helps readers find where the original source came from and it also avoids accusations of plagiarism.

Jun is asking, "Okay, so what do I do when I create online content? For example, a blog post." And that is where we need to consider in-text references, which is a brief mention of the author in the text.

For example, Smith, 2023.

We can also use footnotes, which is located at the bottom of a page and it's notes at the bottom of the page with full source details.

We also need to consider adding a bibliography, which is a full list of sources that's located at the end of a document.

And when we think about referencing in computing, some programming licences require credit when using open-source code.

This is an example of a footnote reference, which is shown by a small superscript number in the text linked to a numbered source at the foot of the page.

And you can see here that at the end of the word atmosphere is the number three, and when you look at the footnote, it tallies across so that we have number three, we have the name and the link of where that came from.

This is an example of footnote referencing.

Let's have a quick check.

True or false? Footnotes provide a full list of sources at the end of a document, while a bibliography provides notes at the bottom of a page.

Pause the video to consider if that is true or false, and then we'll go through the answer.

Let's check your answer.

The answer is false.

Footnotes appear at the bottom of a page to provide detailed source information, while the bibliography is a list of sources at the end of a document.

Well done if you got that correct.

The Harvard referencing system is widely used for academic writing, especially in the UK.

In-text references have a basic format and it has the author's name, usually the surname, followed by the year, for example, Smith, comma, 2023.

You can also have direct quotes which include page numbers, so you have the same format of the author and the year.

So you have the surname Smith, comma, 2023, comma, p.

45 to reference what page number to go to to look for that direct quote.

Remember, direct quotes have the quote marks around it.

The Harvard reference list is used in the bibliography at the end of a piece of work, and that is where we have the author or authors' last name and first initial, and we can have more than one.

There's a full stop followed by the year, and then the title of the book followed by the place of publication, colon, and the publisher.

For example, Smith, comma, J, full stop.

In brackets, 2023, the year of publication, followed by the title, "Introduction to Computing." London, which is the place of publication, colon, and the publisher's name, TechPress.

The Harvard referencing format for an online source is slightly different.

You have the author or authors or an organisation, full stop, followed by the year in brackets, followed by the title of the webpage.

And notice that that is in italics, followed by a comma, and then the name of the webpage, the website, full stop.

Available at, and then the URL, the web address of where it is, and in brackets the date that you accessed it.

So you have the word accessed, colon, followed by the date.

Let's look at an example.

We have the author's name Smith, J.

The year, in brackets, 2023, followed by the title of the webpage, The impact of global warming, comma, in italics remember.

Followed by the name of the website, which is Climate Research Institute, full stop.

Then we have the words available at with a colon, followed by the URL.

How do I locate that using which web address? And then in brackets we have the word accessed, colon, and the date that I accessed that information, followed by a full stop.

Let's have a quick check.

What is the basic format for an in-text reference in the Harvard referencing system? Is it A, author, title, year? Is it B, author, year? Or is it C, author, page number? Pause the video to consider your answer and then we'll check it.

Let's check your answer.

The answer is B, the author, comma, year.

Well done if you got that correct.

Shortly, you will start researching your cause so that you can create a blog post.

Before you start researching your course, think about how to evaluate the credibility of the information that you will come across.

Think about check the author and the source.

What's the purpose of the article? Check when the article was written.

Check the facts.

We want to make sure that it is a trustworthy and reliable source of information.

When researching, use Creative Commons sources.

Remember that we can actually use a search engine on Google, type in our search term, look at images, go to tools, and then under usage rights, we can filter to Creative Commons licences so that we know we are using sources of information, sources of images that we can use and credit appropriately.

This is an example of what information you should collect when researching.

We have a table here with the headings article or the website title.

We have the URL.

We have notes, quotations, who to credit or cite.

And then we evaluate the credibility of the source.

How can you prove that this is a reliable source? So we have an example answer completed in here.

We have Ghana businessmen turns waste plastic into profit.

That's the title.

We have the URL.

And then in the notes, quotations, who to credit or cite, we have in quote marks, "Plastic waste is becoming an increasing problem all over Africa, but in Ghana, one man is turning it into a business opportunity.

BBC Africa's One Minute Stories went to find out more." And then evaluating the credibility of the source.

It was written in June last year, and these facts also appear on other websites.

So it looks like it's a credible source of information to use in your own work.

Let's look at an activity, and you'll need your worksheet for this.

You're going to start to research your cause so that you can create a blog post and complete this table for each source you use.

You can add more rows to add more sources.

So as you research, you want to think about adding in the article or the website title, the URL of where you found that information, any notes, any quotations or who to credit or cite.

And also notes on evaluating the credibility of the source.

How can you prove that that was a reliable source to use in your own work? Pause the video, use your worksheet, and start to research your cause and use this table to document any sources of information that you want to use in your own work.

Let's have a look at some example completions.

This is the one that we looked at before on the example, so you can see here how this was filled in.

So remember, yours is going to be different depending on the cause that you have chosen for your blog post.

So make sure that you do have the article or the website title, the URL of where you found that information, any notes or quotations, remembering to use quote marks around any direct quotes, any information about who to credit to, and then the any notes on evaluating the credibility of that source to prove it is reliable to use.

Well done if you've completed that and have some sources of information ready to use in your own blog.

In summary, plagiarism is the act of using someone else's work or ideas without giving them proper credit.

Referencing techniques are essential tools to credit the sources you use and prevent plagiarism.

The Harvard referencing system is a widely used method, particularly in academic writing, for correctly acknowledging sources.

Well done for completing this lesson on researching and planning your own blog.