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Botany 121 Plant Diversity Copying: Fall 2025 Students new to college often do not fully understand plagiarism. Briefly, plagiarism is the representation of another person's work, words, thoughts, or ideas, as one's own. Plagiarism includes copying material and using ideas from sources without proper acknowledgement. Plagiarism also includes sentences that follow an original source too closely, often created by simply substituting alternative text for another person's words. Plagiarism (copying without acknowledgement), copying (with or without acknowledgement) and using "robotic", AI-generated essays are not allowed. All work must be original and written in your own words. Clearly, you are not creating information; you are reporting on the work of others. However, you must rewrite information from your sources in your own words and acknowledge your five most important sources in the References section of your exams (see Style Guide).

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How to avoid plagiarism and copying First, it is more likely that a student will copy or plagiarize if they procrastinate and are pressed for time in order to meet the deadline for submission of an exam. Start early. When reading the online text and the sources you are using, take handwritten notes just as you would do in an in-class setting. Do not "take notes" by the copy-paste technique because it leads to using these passages as you write your exams. Instead, try to rewrite the passages as you read them, the first step in adding originality. Use multiple sources for each subtopic of your answers and, again, take brief notes in your own words for each source. Organize your notes by topic. This is easily done by using index cards that can later be organized along the theme of your answers. Write your final exam answers from your handwritten notes and, again, rewrite (again) and expand these notes in your own words. Once you have a final draft of an answer, return to your sources, check for accuracy, and review for possible additions and revisions, but do not add material or wording copied directly from your sources. Artificial Intelligence (AI) uses algorithms ("robots") to create essays. Clearly, a student using AI-generated essays has not written the material and submitting essays in whole or in part from AI generated essays is copying from source material and is not allowed. Finally, on a printout of the exam assignment cross out each area of each question and each sub-topic that you have addressed in your paper. Too often, all parts of the assignment are not addressed and points are lost for an incomplete answer. Read your finished paper out loud to yourself and make edits as necessary. You also may want to have someone read your exam for readability, grammar and flow. Turnitin.com Exams are submitted to Turnitin which will compare your work to an unbelievably large database of student papers and published reports, articles and books. Turnitin also has algorithms that are 98 percent effective at identifying such essays. When you submit your assignments, Turnitin compares your answers with their database for similarity and checks for AI-generated essays. They are awesome (read evil) at finding copied and AI generated material. Each source is highlighted in a different color and a link is provided to the original source in the instructor's version of your exam. I will see your paper with these sections highlighted. Following are examples of what I would see for assignments submitted to Turnitin when copying occurs.

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Submitting AI-generated Wording SOURCE Photosynthesis is used by plants and other photoautotrophic organisms in terrestrial ecosystems to create organic matter. In this process, the energy of sunlight is gathered by pigments like as chlorophyll and converted into chemical energy through a series of chemical processes. Electron transport chains play a critical role in this process because they move electrons from high-energy molecules to low-energy ones, resulting in the energy needed for photosynthesis. In summary, primary production is the process through which autotrophs produce organic matter that serves as the energy supply for the ecosystem. Deep-sea autotrophs and terrestrial autotrophs use different methods to produce organic matter, with chemoautotrophs using chemosynthesis and photoautotrophs using photosynthesis. Electron transport chains are critical in both processes because they allow electrons to be moved from high-energy molecules to low-energy ones, so producing the energy required for organic matter creation.   STUDENT SUBMISSION Plants and other photoautotrophic organisms in terrestrial ecosystems are the primary producers that create organic matter. In this process, the energy of sunlight is gathered by pigments like as chlorophyll and converted into chemical energy through a series of chemical processes. Electron transport chains play a critical role in this process because they move electrons from high-energy molecules to low-energy ones, resulting in the energy needed for photosynthesis. In summary, primary production is the process through which autotrophs produce organic matter that serves as the energy supply for the ecosystem. Deep-sea autotrophs and terrestrial autotrophs use different methods to produce organic matter, with chemoautotrophs using chemosynthesis and photoautotrophs using photosynthesis. Electron transport chains are critical in both processes because they allow electrons to be moved from high-energy molecules to low-energy ones, so producing the energy required for organic matter creation. Submitting another's work, word-for-word, as one's own SOURCE A Natural Setting: A History of Exploration and Settlement in Yosemite Valley Since its first discovery by non-indigenous people in the mid-nineteenth century, Yosemite Valley has held a special, even religious, hold on the American conscience because its beauty makes it an incomparable valley and one of the grandest of all special temples of Nature. While Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, perceptions about the Valley have evolved over time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concerns as man has become more attuned to his relationship and impact on nature.   STUDENT SUBMISSION A Natural Setting: A History of Exploration and Settlement in Yosemite Valley Since its first discovery by non-indigenous people in the mid-nineteenth century, Yosemite Valley has held a special, even religious, hold on the American conscience because its beauty makes it an incomparable valley and one of the grandest of all special temples of Nature. While Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, perceptions about the Valley have evolved over time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concerns as man has become more attuned to his relationship and impact on nature. Contains significant portions of text from a single source without alterations SOURCE A Natural Setting: A History of Exploration and Settlement in Yosemite Valley Since its first discovery by non-indigenous people in the mid-nineteenth century, Yosemite Valley has held a special, even religious, hold on the American conscience because its beauty makes it an incomparable valley and one of the grandest of all special temples of Nature. While Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, perceptions about the Valley have evolved over time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concerns as man has become more attuned to his relationship and impact on nature.   STUDENT SUBMISSION The Beautiful Yosemite Valley From the time of its first discovery by non-indigenous people in the mid-1800s Yosemite Valley has held a special, even religious, influence on the American conscience because its beauty makes it an incomparable valley and one of the grandest of all of our national parks. And Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, while perceptions about the Valley have developed over time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concern as humans have become more sensitive to their relationship and impact on nature. Paraphrases from multiple sources, made to fit together SOURCE A Natural Setting: A History of Exploration and Settlement in Yosemite Valley Since its first discovery by non-indigenous people in the mid-nineteenth century, Yosemite Valley has held a special, even religious, hold on the American conscience because its beauty makes it an incomparable valley and one of the grandest of all special temples of Nature. While Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, perceptions about the Valley have evolved time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concerns as man has become more attuned to his relationship and impact on nature.   STUDENT SUBMISSION An Untouched View: A History of Settlement and Change in Yosemite Valley The first non-natives to see Yosemite Valley were probably members of the mid-nineteenth century Joseph Walker Party, who crossed the Sierra Nevada from East to West. The first descriptions of Yosemite came almost 20 years later. From the start, the valley has been renowned for its natural beauty, and highly regarded as he center-piece of Yosemite National Park, attracting visitors from around the world. While Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, perceptions about the Valley have changed through time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concerns as man has become more attuned to their relationship and impact on nature.