How to avoid plagiarism
Plagiarism is when you copy someone else’s work or use their ideas in your essay, course work, thesis, etc., and then do not acknowledge that you have done this. Types of plagiarism Collusion – If another student allows you to copy their work and you then present the work as your own, you are deliberately trying to deceive the lecturer who is marking your work. This is known as collusion. Copy and paste – This is when you copy a piece of work from the internet, an electronic book or journal or word document and paste it into your work without acknowledging the source. If you copy and paste you should always use quotation marks and reference the source appropriately. Word switch – If you copy a sentence or paragraph and change a few words and don’t reference it, this will still be classed as plagiarism. It is better to paraphrase than to quote wherever possible. If you copy a phrase you should copy it word for word, use quotation marks and reference it appropriately. Concealing sources – If you have cited a piece of work from a text this does not mean you do not have to reference any other text you refer to from that work. No matter how many times you refer back to the text you must acknowledge the source, even if it is in the very next paragraph. Self-plagiarism – this is when you re-use your own previously written work or data in a new assignment and do not reference it appropriately. This could be conceived as deceiving your lecturer. Things to remember: If you use material from previous coursework you must reference it appropriately Never use the same essay for different lecturers If re-sitting a course do not submit the same essay Misinterpreting common knowledge – common knowledge is information which is well known to all in a particular field and is easily verified by consulting standard textbooks or encyclopaedias such as wellknown formulas or equations. If the facts are common knowledge there is no need to provide a citation but if you are in any doubt it is better to be safe and cite your source. You can be accused of plagiarism if you expand upon common knowledge and do not cite your source. You can avoid plagiarism by: Paraphrasing – this is when you read a piece of work and then rewrite it in your own words while retaining the ‘flavour’ and ‘ideas’ of the original text. Paraphrasing demonstrates that you have understood the academic context of the piece and allows you to support your argument. Quoting – this is when you use the exact words of an author in your work. Quotations help support your arguments and help to reinforce or raise a new point. According to a survey carried out by FreshMinds ‘one in four students admitted to plagiarising work.’ (Batty, 2004: p.2) Referencing and citing – It is very important that you reference and cite your work properly. If you do reference your work correctly you can help increase your marks and avoid being accused of plagiarism. See the Citing & Referencing guide which will show you how to reference your work correctly.
NU October 2008