CREDIT FOR IDEAS

Last modified by Steve Custer 21 October  2003
Introduction

People sometimes get caught up in the elegance of the expression of others and use those ideas and words without credit.  "That person said it so well.   That's exactly what I should say". The problem comes not when the ideas of others are used but when the material used is not credited or material is quoted and not acknowledged. Documented plagiarism from the literature, from another student, or falsification of data will result in a zero for the final paper. Use of another's ideas with credit is not plagiarism. Therefore, it is important to correctly and copiously cite your sources.

Examples of quotes from real papers followed by quotes from journal articles are presented below. The student papers have not been referenced to preserve the anonymity of the student writer.

1. Was the material acknowledged?

2. Was the material plagiarized?

3. What should the consequence for such writing be?
 

Student Paper

"Leakage affects not only the water level and water quality in the monitoring well, but ground water conditions in the formation may also be disturbed where the leakage water leaves lead to changes of the water quality in and around the monitoring well intake. In a discharge setting the flow direction is upward. The water quality in the monitoring well is then not affected, but the water level in the casing may be lower than the undisturbed head in the formation around the intake (van der Kamp et al., 1993).

Detection of Casing Leaks

Casing leaks can be detected by inspecting the water level data. A casing leak is recognized if the water level appears to be unusually high or low as compared to other monitoring wells in the vicinity. If the leak is large and in a zone of much higher permeability than at the well intake, the well may act hydraulically as if it were completed in the zone where the leak is situated. The response of the well to hydraulic transients such as those induced by water table fluctuations, nearby drilling, or pumping from a nearby well will then reflect conditions in the formation near the leak. Also in such cases, response tests may reflect the permeability around the leak rather than around the intake (Herzog et al., 1988).

The water quality in a monitoring well may be strongly affected by casing leaks if the flow is inward through the casing and down to the well intake (Meiri, 1989). "
 
 

Journal Article (Van der Kamp and Keller, 1993, p. 137).

"Leakage affects not only the water level and water quality in the monitoring well itself, but ground water conditions in the formation may also be disturbed where the leakage water leaves and enters the formation, i.e., the well intake and at the leak in the casing. Even if the rate of leakage is small, after many days the total volume of leaked water may be considerably larger than the standing volume in the well; then a significant volume of the formation will also be affected. Diffusion and dispersion of the leakage water will further increase the extent of this affected zone. If the flow is downward the affected zone will be around the well intake, and in that case purging the well by removing several standing volumes (Herzog et al. 1988) may not eliminate the effects of leakage on water quality in the well.

The magnitude of leakage flow is proportional to the head difference in the formation between the level of the casing leak and the monitoring well intake. Leakage effects are therefore most likely to be important if the casing passes through low-permeability zones, because such zones tend to have large differences of hydraulic head across them.

Detection of Casing Leaks

Casing leakage in a recharge setting is illustrated schematically in Figure 1. The downward hydraulic gradient in the formation results in downward flow through the casing, and the water level in the casing is higher than the undisturbed head in the formation around the intake. If the cumulative downward flow is large enough and a vertical chemical gradient exists it will lead to changes of the water quality in and around the monitoring well intake. In a discharge setting the flow directions is upward. The water quality in the monitoring well is then not affected, but the water level in the casing may be lower than the undisturbed head in the formation around the intake."
 

Student Paper

"Longitudinal Profile

Even the longitudinal profile reflects the effects of lithology on ground water sapping processes. The longitudinal profile of theater-headed canyons reflects the interaction between surface runoff, sapping, and depositional processes. The profile is divided into two zones (Fig. 7). The upper region is characterized by steep headwalls (120-150 m in height), and is generally concave upward. Below the headwall, sapping along the contact between the Navajo Sandstone and the Keyenta Formation has resulted in a profile that tends to approximate the dip of the beds and is usually fairly straight (Laity and Malin, 1985)."
 

Journal Article (Laity and Malin, 1985, p. 207).

"The Longitudinal Profile

The longitudinal profile of theater-headed canyons reflects the interaction of surface runoff, sapping, and depositional processes. It is characterized by the presence of steep headwalls (120-150 m in height) that divide the profile into upper and lower zones (Fig. 3). In the upper reaches, surface runoff cuts a profile that is more or less concave upward. Below the headwall, sapping along the contact between the Navajo Sandstone and the Kayenta Formation has resulted in a profile that tends to approximate the dip of the beds and is usually fairly straight. This form is subsequently modified by incision resulting from overland flow and by episodes of deposition (Gregory, 1938; Cooley, 1962; Euler and others, 1979)"

Student Paper

"Chemical oxidation using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 has been proposed as a method of restoring the infiltration capacity of soil absorption systems when the biological mat of the absorption system becomes clogged. In laboratory studies done by Harkin and Jawson 30% to 50% volumetric solution of hydrogen peroxide applied to hydrologically clogged soil rest ores 13% to 58% percent of the soils initial infiltration capacity (Bicki 1988). The infiltration was restored by chemical oxidation of the biological mat. Biological mats form from the accumulation of suspended solids and associated biological growth that occurs at the gravel/soil interface below effluent distribution lines (Rice 1974). Studies done on well-structured soils by Hargett et al. Report that hydrogen peroxide treatment resulted in slower infiltration rates and system failures after treatment. The hydrogen peroxide treatment oxidized the biological mat but also destroyed soil aggregation and structure, and reduced porosity (Bicki 1988)."
 

Journal Article (Bicki, 1988, p. 108).

"Chemical oxidation using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) has been proposed as a method to restore infiltration capacity of soil absorption systems when the biological mat or crust in the absorption system becomes clogged (Harkin et al. 1975). Harkin and Jawson (1977) demonstrated in laboratory column and field studies that a 30 to 50 percent volumetric solution of H2O2 applied to hydraulically failing soil restored 13 to 38 percent of the soil's initial infiltration capacity. Infiltration was restored by chemical oxidation of the biological mat or crust. Biological crust formation is due to the accumulation of suspended solids and associated biological growth that occurs at the gravel/soil interface below effluent distribution lines (DeVries 1972, Rice 1974, Bouma 1979). Subsequent studies on well-structured soils by Hargett et al. (1985) report that H2O2 treatment resulted in slower infiltration rates and system failures after treatment. The hydrogen peroxide treatment oxidized the biological crust but also destroyed soil aggregation and structure, and reduced porosity."

Citation

If you are having trouble with how to cite papers in your text, an example may help.
Please note how Pitlick (1993, p. 657-69) uses references and refers to figures and tables in the text, or refer to figures and tables section of this book. Also look at Wegmann and Pazzaglia (2002) for assistance with format.  You will need Acrobat Reader to read this link.  Remember, this paper was passed out in at the beginning of the course.  If you lost it, go to electronic reserves.  If necessary, you may also refer to format rules for the Geological Society of America Bulletin, but the format rules are not complex and are illustrated below.

"Of various watershed-scale disturbances, floods have received perhaps the most attention from geomorphologists. Indeed, the literature contains many examples and descriptions of how floods have modified stream channels (see Baker et al., 1988, or Beven and Carling, 1989). From this work, it seems clear that the largest floods (meaning "large" in terms of discharge per unit drainage area or in relation to the mean annual flood) occur in small drainage basins in arid and semiarid regions (Costa, 1987). It is less clear why some floods are more effective in modifying stream channels than others. Wolman and Gerson (1978) suggest that geomorphic effectiveness was determined largely by climate, but topography, lithology, and vegetation are important as well. They further suggested that geomorphic effectiveness could be evaluated in terms of the length of time required for a landform to recover its prior condition. What constitutes "recover" in the case of rivers remains somewhat ambiguous, but examples might include the reconstruction of floodplains (Hack and Goodlett, 1960; Schumm and Lichty, 1963) or the restoration of preflood channel width (Osterkamp and Costa, 1987), hydraulic geometry (Lisle, 1982), bed elevation (Kelsey, 1980), and sediment loads (Newson, 1980). When viewed in t his context, recovery essentially involves the re-establishment of a quasi-equilibrium channel in response to changes in discharge and sediment load."

"Details of the Lawn Lake flood are described thoroughly by Jarrett and Costa (1986) and Blair (1987). A peak discharge estimated by the slope-area method of about 500 m3/s occurred just downstream of Lawn Lake. Above the Roaring River alluvial fan, the peak discharge of the flood was estimated to be 340 m3/s; Jarrett and Costa (1986) suggested this was about 300 times the 500-yr flood for Roaring River. The peak discharge on Fall River near the outlet of Horseshoe Park (Fig. 1) was estimated to be 200 m3/s, which is about eight times the 500-year for this stream (Table 1). Two aspects of the Lawn Lake flood are important in the context of this study."
 
 

Data Falsification


Another problem in science today is data falsification. Both plagiarism and data falsification are breaches of academic conduct which can have serious repercussions. Society and the University should and do  take such conduct very seriously.  A real letter from the U.S. Geological Survey will be distributed in class as an example of the consequences.  Do you know of examples of cases where such ethical issues have come up?

Discussion Questions:

Plagiarism
  1. Was the material from VanderKmp and Keller (1993) plagiarized?
  2. Was the material from Laity and Malin (1985) plagiarized?
  3. Was the material from Bicki (1988) plagiarized?
  4. What is plagiarism?
Citation
  1. What problems are you having with citation?
  2. How does one cite an idea where the author's name does not occur in the sentence?
  3. How does one cite an idea for multiple-author papers?
  4. How often (and where) does one cite a series of ideas from one source used frequently in a paragraph?
  5. How are quotes handled in a paper?
  6. How are figures and tables cited? (See Section on Figures and Tables)
Consequences
  1. What is the consequence for falsification of data on the job?
  2. What is the consequence for falsification of data or plagiarism in this course?

Assignment:

  1. Read the material on plagiarism, citation, and falsification.
  2. Go through your paper and be sure the ideas of others are cited and that the citation is done in the correct format.
  3. Because you should be writing, there is no other assigned work.

Grade

2% for attendance and participation.

Time Commitment:

0.5 hr reading  for class
1.5 hr writing