Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is using someone else's words or ideas as if they were your own.

• If you copy something from a book or a Web page or any other source and put it in your piece of work as if it were something you had written, this is plagiarism.
• If you take someone else's idea and present it in such a way that it appears to be your idea, this is also plagiarism.

 

Why is Plagiarism Wrong?

Plagiarism is both theft and fraud.

• It is stealing someone else's work to make a gain (improving your marks).
• It is fraudulently presenting someone else's work as yours to make a gain (improving your marks).

Plagiarism breaks the rules of your university.

Plagiarism is cheating, and is therefore not condoned by universities. Universities have different ways of dealing with plagiarism (refer to your Student Handbook for details), such as:

• Having to resubmit that piece of work and having the mark capped at 'pass' level.
• Scoring zero for that piece of work.
• Having to resubmit that piece of work and having the mark for that course unit capped at 'pass' level.
• Scoring zero for that course unit.
• Failing and having to re-sit that year.
• Being thrown out of University

How Do I Avoid Plagiarism?

Make sure it is absolutely clear where you have used someone else's words or ideas.

If you wish to include a quote from someone else, perhaps because they explain something very well, make sure it is marked as a quote.

For example:

• According to The Essay Doctor's Web site, "Plagiarism is using someone else's words or ideas as if they were your own" (www.theessaydoctor.co.uk).

  According to The Essay Doctor's Web site,

  Plagiarism is using someone else's words or ideas as if they were your own (www.theessaydoctor.co.uk).

(This format, indented and italicised, is particularly useful for longer quotes: i.e. more than a sentence).

NOT

According to The Essay Doctor's Web site, plagiarism is using someone else's words or ideas as if they were your own (www.theessaydoctor.co.uk).

 

If you wish to include someone else's ideas (or ideas you got from someone else), make sure that they are properly referenced. For example:

If you use someone else's words or ideas and pretend they are your own, this is plagiarism (www.theessaydoctor.co.uk).

NOT

If you use someone else's words or ideas and pretend they are your own, this is plagiarism.

 

REFERENCES
1) www.theessaydoctor.co.uk

 

For more information, this is a useful external source: https://www.plagiarism.org/

 

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