Thesis and Dissertation Writing in a Second Language: a handbook for Supervisors

Relationship with other texts
A final important point to discuss with students is the relationship their the-
sis or dissertation has with other texts such as monographs, journal articles
and research reports, as well as how they are expected to show the relationship
between what they are writing and what others have written before them on
their topic. Students can be asked how they might use other texts to support
arguments they wish to make, as well as differences between acceptable and
unacceptable textual borrowings (Pennycook 1996) and differences between
reporting and plagiarizing.