Plagiarism is using other people’s words or ideas without giving them credit, so that it looks as if they’re your own words or ideas.
You’re plagiarising if you...
- copy text (even short pieces) word for word from any source (articles, books, websites, lectures, lecture slides, emails with your lecturer, etc.) but don’t put them in quotation marks (“ ”) and reference whose words they are
- use ideas or arguments from any source (articles, books, websites, lectures, lecture slides, emails with your lecturer, etc.) but don’t reference whose ideas they are. Even if you explain the idea or argument in your own words, you still have to give credit to the person who came up with it
- use someone else’s writing and just put in synonyms (different words that mean the same thing) here and there. You must either quote the text directly or properly paraphrase it in your own words (See the link at the end for help with this.)
We really want to help you avoid plagiarising so we’ve provided some information below which we hope you’ll find useful. If you are at all unsure, please ask for assistance from your lecturers.
Some of the main reasons for plagiarising are (1) that students don’t really know what it is or how not to do it; (2) that they run out of time and panic, and just copy and paste something to get it finished; and (3) that they feel insecure and worried that their own writing isn’t good enough for an academic essay.
These are common problems and they can all be sorted out. (1) Use this guide to get familiar with plagiarism and how to avoid it. (2) Give yourself plenty of time to work on your essay or take-home exam, but, even if you are doing it right before it’s due, remember that even the worst last-minute work will get you more marks than something that’s plagiarised.
Many students are scared they’re going to accidentally plagiarise, or just aren’t sure how to avoid it. It can be hard to figure out just what is and isn’t ok in academic writing, so it’s important to read up about it and check your work carefully. (Use the links at the end for help with this.)
- Ask your lecturer if you have any specific worries. Not sure if you really explained something in your own words enough or if you’re copying the original text too much? Just ask! (After you’ve carefully read the paraphrasing resource listed on the bottom right.)
- We can’t check everything for you, but we’re happy to help with particular questions to give you a better idea of what you need to do to avoid plagiarism
- Remember that it’s not enough just to put in quotation marks (“ ”) when using someone else’s words – you have to give an in-text reference at the end of the quotation, too, and put the full details of the source of the text in your bibliography as well
- Don’t make this mistake the other way around either: It’s not enough just to give an in-text reference after using someone else’s words – you also have to put their words in quotation marks (“ ”)
- You should use just an in-text reference, and no quotation marks, only when you’re writing about someone else’s idea or argument but explaining it in your own words. This is because quotation marks tell the reader (your lecturer or tutor) that the words inside them belong to someone else, not the writer of the paper (you). In-text references tell the reader than the ideas you’re writing about, or that the quotation is about, belong to someone else
But how exactly do you paraphrase other people’s ideas? And how can you be really sure you don’t plagiarise?
Visit the Writing Place or checkout these two great resources to get you started:
- Here’s a plagiarism guide, with some quizzes to help you check if you’re understanding it, from The University of Southern Mississippi: http://lib.usm.edu/plagiarism_tutorial.html
- Paraphrasing can be difficult. Here’s a great guide to getting it right from Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/1/
(citing = referencing; citations = references)
All lecturers use Turnitin – a plagiarism detection software – so be aware that IF YOU PLAGIARISE, YOU WILL GET CAUGHT.
