| Reporting purpose (present) | Reporting methodology (past) | Reporting results (past) | Point of view of author |
|---|---|---|---|
| aims to | analysed | confirmed | argues that |
| considers | compared | demonstrated | claims that |
| is concerned with | conducted | identified | concludes that |
| defines | drew on, used | found that | challenges |
| describes | investigated | highlighted | holds the view that |
| explains | interviewed | mentioned | is critical of |
| focuses on, provides | measured | established | notes that |
| presents | surveyed | reported that | proposes, suggests |
| states | used | showed | questions |
| Style | In-text example | Typical field |
|---|---|---|
| APA | (Mill, 1859, p. 12) | Science, social science, psychology |
| MLA | (Mill 12) | Literature, languages |
| Chicago (footnote) | ¹ J. S. Mill, On Liberty (London, 1859), 12. | History |
| Harvard | (Mill 1859: 12) | Business, some social sciences |
| Vancouver | (1) | Medicine, life sciences |
Your department picks the style. An LLM will help you follow it.
Breaches (light → severe)
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Sanctions (light → severe)
|
| Country | Typical response |
|---|---|
| UK | 0 for the paper, then referral for a hearing. |
| USA | Range — honour-code expulsion to a warning. School-dependent. |
| Australia | Formal misconduct process; fail grade; possible expulsion. |
| Germany | Depends on the Prüfungsordnung — up to loss of degree. |
Writing Research Papers — excerpts from Oxford, Harvard, ANU, UBC, Cape Town.
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Cite if any of the following is true:
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Do not cite facts every educated reader in your field already knows.
Water boils at 100 °C. Goethe wrote Faust. Germany is in Europe. |
| Tool | Version | What I used it for |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 2026-04 | Proofreading grammar on §3. |
| DeepL | web, 2026-04 | Translating two quotations from German. |
| — | — | Ideas, argument, and final wording are mine. |
Erlaubte Nutzung. Studierende dürfen grundsätzlich KI als Hilfsmittel verwenden, um allgemeine Aufgaben zu erledigen, jedoch nur in dem Maße, wie es im Unterricht von der Lehrperson erlaubt wurde. KI darf als Lernunterstützung genutzt werden, um Ideen zu entwickeln oder zu erweitern, und sollte das kritische Denken fördern, nicht ersetzen.
Unzulässige Nutzung. KI darf nicht für Leistungsnachweise verwendet werden. KI darf keine vollständige Arbeit ohne eigene Reflexion ersetzen oder Kompetenzen vortäuschen. KI darf nicht genutzt werden, um Lernziele zu umgehen.
Transparenzpflicht. Jede Nutzung von KI muss offengelegt werden. Dabei muss der Zweck der Nutzung sowie das verwendete KI-Tool angegeben werden.
Verantwortung der Studierenden. Studierende sollen KI verantwortungsvoll und ethisch nutzen sowie kritisch hinterfragen. Die Verantwortung für den abgegebenen Text liegt stets bei den Studierenden. Sie dürfen keine von KI erzeugten Inhalte übernehmen, die nicht verstanden wurden.
Zulässige KI-Tools. Im besten Fall wird die KI der Universität Heidelberg genutzt (YoKi). Weitere KI-Tools in Absprache mit der Lehrkraft.
Stock phrases are useful scaffolding. If the whole paper is scaffolding, the reader hears no-one.
analyse: break a subject down into smaller parts, describe, explain, and assess each part. — The New Oxford Dictionary of English
The most common type of undergraduate writing. Usually require an indication of point of view, stated at the end. The aim is to increase the reader's understanding by providing the facts of what, when and why.
Relevant for Fine Arts and Architecture. The writer applies principles of composition and design to interpret visual elements, describes details of the work, and uses descriptive and visual vocabulary to interpret and evaluate effect or style.
discuss: write about a topic in detail by examining it from different perspectives. — The New Oxford Dictionary of English
More exploratory than analytical essays. Present different perspectives and have a critical element. An opinion or thesis is usually expected but may not be stated in the introduction. The writer concludes with a decision.
reflect: think deeply and carefully about something and evaluate its value. — The New Oxford Dictionary of English
Common in the Arts and Social Sciences. Require a personal response to an experience, an explanation of how you have been changed by it, and analysis using academic theory. First-person pronouns are usually acceptable.
argue: give reasons for your idea or opinion; justify; show or prove. — The New Oxford Dictionary of English
Your task is to agree or disagree with a thesis and justify your stance with logical reasoning and evidence. You write with conviction and caution, acknowledge other opinions, and present counter-arguments before answering them.
For each breach, write the code of the sanction (S1–S8) you think most fairly applies in a German university context. Multiple sanctions may be reasonable; commit to one and be ready to defend it.
| Breach | Your sanction (S1–S8) |
|---|---|
| B1 — Missed citation in one paragraph | |
| B2 — Patchwriting | |
| B3 — Paraphrase with no citation | |
| B4 — Direct copy-paste, no marks, no citation | |
| B5 — AI-written paper, no declaration | |
| B6 — Bought paper | |
| B7 — Ghost-writing service | |
| B8 — Self-plagiarism |
Pair you would defend hardest: because:
Zemach p. 43.
| Statement | Citation? |
|---|---|
| Germany is in Europe. | ☐ |
| In 2023, Germany had a GDP of €4.1 trillion. | ☐ |
| Kant was born in Königsberg. | ☐ |
| Some scholars argue Kant was influenced by Pietism. | ☐ |
| Mill thought the individual was sovereign over their own mind. | ☐ |
| "Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign." | ☐ |
| Statement | Cite? |
|---|---|
| The European Union has 27 member states. | ☐ |
| Marx famously called religion "the opium of the people". | ☐ |
| ChatGPT was released in November 2022. | ☐ |
| Recent studies show that AI tools improve student writing. | ☐ |
Your rule of thumb for borderline cases:
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Author | Person or organisation that produced the original text. |
| Source | Any work — published or not — where you found the idea. |
| Citation | The reference in your text that shows where the idea came from. |
| Quotation | Another person's exact words, inside quotation marks. |
| Signal phrase | Phrase that introduces a quote or paraphrase, e.g. "Mill argues that…". |
| Paraphrase | The same idea, in your own words. |
| Patchwriting | A paraphrase that stays too close to the source's wording. |
| Common knowledge | A fact an educated reader in the field already knows. No citation needed. |
| Voice | The pattern of word, rhythm and structure choices that only you make. |
| Accountability | The fact that a named person can be held responsible for a text. An LLM cannot. |
| Reporting verb | Verb introducing a paraphrase or quote, e.g. argues, found, showed. |
| Kennzeichnungspflicht | German labelling duty — every AI-generated element must be declared. |
| Prüfungsordnung | The examination regulations of a German university or faculty. |
Hand this sheet in at the next lesson, OR fill in the online form (link in your email). Whichever you prefer — only one counts.
| Name (or student token): | Date: |
Q1. Match each term to its definition. Write the matching letter next to each term.
| Term | Answer | Definition | |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLM | a) a computer model trained on a very large collection of text, used to predict the next word | ||
| Prompt | b) the maximum amount of text the model can "see" at one time | ||
| Token | c) the instruction or question you write for the model | ||
| Context window | d) a chunk of text (often part of a word) that the model processes | ||
| Temperature | e) patterns the model learned from its training data that do not match reality fairly | ||
| Training-data bias | f) a setting that controls how predictable or varied the output is |
Q2. True or false: "Token rot" means the computer runs slowly after many prompts. ☐ True ☐ False
Q3. Why is writing a prompt in clear English usually better than writing it in broken English? (Tick one.)
Q4. Which of these is NOT one of the DO tips from Lesson 1? (Tick one.)
Q5. Fill in the gaps.
A is the instruction you give the model; a is what the model gives back.
Q6. Match each term to its definition.
| Term | Answer | Definition | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | a) the reference in your text that tells the reader where the idea came from | ||
| Source | b) any published or unpublished work where you found the information | ||
| Citation | c) the person or organisation that produced the original text | ||
| Quotation | d) saying the same idea in your own words | ||
| Signal phrase | e) a fact most educated readers in the field already know; no citation needed | ||
| Paraphrase | f) the exact words of another person, shown in quotation marks | ||
| Common knowledge | g) a phrase that introduces a quotation or paraphrase, e.g. "Mill argues that…" |
Q7. A student writes: "Progressive taxation reduces inequality." — Which of these is true? (Tick one.)
Q8. Source — Mill, J. S. (1859). On Liberty, p. 12:
"Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign."
Which is the best paraphrase? (Tick one.)
Q9. Fill in the gap.
A paraphrase usually contains no run of more than consecutive words from the source.
Total: 9 marks, scaled to 5 % of your final grade. No negative marking. No penalty for spelling. Hand in by 10 May.