Writing a Research Paper at the University: Authorship vs Plagiarism

Abstract: Considering the need of producing academic texts at the university, many undergraduate students do it by copying texts that were already published. In this study we discuss the presence of plagiarism versus authorship marks in the introduction of academic articles produced by freshmen in a licenciateship degree. Therefore, we emphasize the issue of plagiarism and authorship, particularly from the perspective of the enunciative Bakhtinian studies and then present the theoretical basis of Literacies, with the most recent studies on Literacies and Socio-Rhetorics. Data analysis revealed and confirmed academic writing as a complex activity, given the practice of plagiarism found in the analyzed productions. The lack of knowledge of academic writing and of the subject matter itself contributed to the practice of plagiarism.