It is all very well to chide people for copying methodology sections, but bear in mind that there aren't an infinite number of ways that a given section can be written, and still be grammatically correct, and with the appropriate style. Moreover, a methods section has to be precise, making different ways of saying the same thing even more difficult.
In science, young researchers are beginning to complain that, when writing reports on very slightly different results from the exact same data set, it is wasteful and possibly more inaccurate to rely on new writing rather than what has been written best about a given data set and series of experiments. I recommend we be allowed to write, "see Smith 2014 for a full review of methods for this," or words to that effect. Right now, both the style guides and ethical guidelines don't allow for this.
Beth - 10 years ago
Copying any part of another person's report constitutes plagiarism. Even if the entire class knows the methodology, you must ensure that you understand and can articulate it on your own.
It is all very well to chide people for copying methodology sections, but bear in mind that there aren't an infinite number of ways that a given section can be written, and still be grammatically correct, and with the appropriate style. Moreover, a methods section has to be precise, making different ways of saying the same thing even more difficult.
In science, young researchers are beginning to complain that, when writing reports on very slightly different results from the exact same data set, it is wasteful and possibly more inaccurate to rely on new writing rather than what has been written best about a given data set and series of experiments. I recommend we be allowed to write, "see Smith 2014 for a full review of methods for this," or words to that effect. Right now, both the style guides and ethical guidelines don't allow for this.
Copying any part of another person's report constitutes plagiarism. Even if the entire class knows the methodology, you must ensure that you understand and can articulate it on your own.