Academic Code of Conduct & Plagiarism

The University of Potsdam subscribes to a rigorous academic code of conduct with regards to plagiarism. You can find the specifics in the official plagiarism guidelines here. While the legally binding guidelines are only available in German, you can also inform yourself using the English translation.

we would like to provide you with as much information as possible to help you prevent accidental plagiarism in your work.

On this page, you will find a collection of strongly recommended resources to learn about plagiarism prevention, as well as an obligatory form for you to fill out and submit to the Study Board. We strongly recommend that you first familiarize yourself with the provided ressources before submitting the form! The deadline for submission is 30.11.2024.

Fill-out Form: Academic Code of Conduct

You are required to attest your understanding of and adherence to the plagiarism guidelines to the Study Board (cosec-studentrep@uni-potsdam.de)(Subject: "CoSEC - Academic Code of Conduct") by filling out and submitting the following form:

Academic Code of Conduct

Resource 1: What is plagiarism and how do I avoid it?

The Study Board and the Student Reps strongly recommend all students to inform themselves about the concept of plagiarism via completing the training module on Plagiarism from the Elsevier Researcher Academy at the beginning of their studies. At the end of the course, you will receive a certificate, which you may send to the Study Board to show that you understand the issue.

Among the specific offenses constituting plagiarism named in the university guidelines are:

• Submitting a work as your own if it was commissioned from another person
• Submitting another person's work under your name
• Submitting the same or parts of the same work you have written yourself for several different seminars without further indication
• Translating (parts of) texts without marking them as a reference, thus pretending they are your own
• Using (parts of) texts without indicating that the text is a citation (this explicitly also includes using texts from the Internet!)
• Slightly changing and rearranging a text ("paraphrasing") without indicating that the text is a citation
• Paraphrasing and citing a source, but only marking the citation outside of the context in which it is cited (i.e. in a footnote at the end of the written assignment if you cite in your Introduction)
• Participating in academic misconduct through complicity, assistance with or by instigating academic misconduct

For further information on how to properly cite and contextualize your used sources, please also refer to the first page of the abridged UP plagiarism guidelines provided by the Institute for Anglistic and Americanistic here. It includes an illustrative example of how to adopt ideas of others in your argumentation without plagiarizing.

Resource 2: What are the consequences of plagiarism?

As students, there are harsh consequences if you plagiarize work laid out in the university plagiarism guidelines:

• You will fail the written assignment in which you have plagiarized
• The failed assignment will be noted with a reference to academic dishonesty in your student file
• On repeat or particularly grave offenses, the Exam Board may decide to de-register you from the entire degree programme