{"id":8271,"date":"2025-09-02T19:02:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leko.service.th-nuernberg.de\/owl\/?post_type=artikel&p=8271"},"modified":"2025-11-25T12:59:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T11:59:41","slug":"avoiding-plagiarism-when-using-ai-writing-tools","status":"publish","type":"artikel","link":"https:\/\/leko.service.th-nuernberg.de\/owl\/en\/artikel\/avoiding-plagiarism-when-using-ai-writing-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoiding Plagiarism When Using AI Writing Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What is plagiarism?<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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Plagiarism means the adoption of texts, ideas or research results without proper citation.<\/cite><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Whether intentional or unintentional: in academia, plagiarism contradicts the principles of scholarly work. Consequences<\/b> include failed exams, in severe cases even expulsion and failed careers in science and politics.<\/p>\r\n

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The most common forms of plagiarism are:<\/h3>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

1. Direct plagiarism or full plagiarism:<\/b>
The verbatim copying of text passages without quotation marks and without citing the source.<\/p>\r\n

2. Mosaic plagiarism or patchwork plagiarism:<\/b>
The compilation of text fragments from different sources that are inserted into one\u2019s own text without quotation marks and citations.<\/p>\r\n

3. Paraphrase plagiarism:<\/b>
Rewriting texts of others in one\u2019s own words without proper citation. Even if the wording is changed, the idea or line of thought of the original text remains and must therefore be cited.<\/p>\r\n

4. Structural plagiarism:<\/b>
The adoption of outlines, structures, or chains of argument from other texts without pointing this out.<\/p>\r\n

5. Idea plagiarism:<\/b>
The use of ideas, concepts, theories, or research results of others without citing them. Even if no exact text passages are copied, the source of the ideas used must be indicated.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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When must I cite what?<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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It is not necessary to cite everything that is general knowledge.<\/cite><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Whether you give sources when adopting a structure or an idea depends on what is known as the level of originality<\/b>:<\/p>\r\n

If you present generally known, undisputed knowledge in your field, usually no citation is required. Sometimes it is hard to determine whether something belongs to this basic knowledge in the field. When in doubt, cite too much rather than too little.<\/p>\r\n

However, if it is<\/b> an original idea, a specific number, a model or a theory that can be traced back to a person, you must clearly indicate its origin by a citation.<\/p>\r\n

The same applies to adopting a structure<\/b>. If you take over an innovative outline from academic literature, you can, for example, mention in the introduction that you based your structure on source XY.<\/p>\r\n

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If you are unsure: Better to cite too much than too little.<\/cite><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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Risks when using AI writing tools<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

You may have read that generative AI does not produce plagiarism, but unique texts<\/b>. And that is true \u2013 these large language models do not simply copy sentences from their vast training data but generate a new, independent text for each prompt according to statistical principles.<\/p>\r\n

As a rule, AI writing tools therefore do not create literal plagiarism. Nevertheless, AI writing tools generate texts that are partially or entirely based on existing content.<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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Particularly problematic are the following practices:<\/h3>\r\n<\/div>\r\n