Guides: Referencing and Plagiarism Guide: Avoiding Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism refers to taking and using another person's ideas, writing or inventions as one's own and failing to acknowledge the source.

Plagiarising the work of others is dishonest and is considered cheating. Plagiarism may result in disciplinary action being taken against you. See the Student Code of Conduct.

Plagiarism can be avoided by acknowledging the sources of information used in written work. Remember to reference!

Examples of Plagiarism

Using another person’s ideas or opinions without acknowledging the source of
information.

Failing to place a quote in quotation marks.

Using statistics, maps and illustrations without acknowledging where they came from.

Failing to include sources of information used in the preparation of an assignment in a Reference List.

Cutting and pasting to create an assignment from several sources.

Using information from a website, online database or other electronic source without proper acknowledgement.

Plagiarism Awareness Websites

Common Forms of Plagiarism Information on common forms of plagiarism. Source from University of NSW.
Plagiarism Quiz Take a look at the statements on this page and see whether you can identify which of them are examples of plagiarism. From Cardiff University.
Plagiarism: How to Avoid it A great video introduction to understanding plagiarism

Plagiarising Visual Information

Copying visual information or graphics from a WWW site (or from a printed source) is very similar to quoting text. The source of the visual information or graphic must be cited.

This includes:

What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is to express someone else's ideas in your own words without changing the original meaning.

Paraphrasing involves replacing words, restructuring sentences and rewriting the information in your own words.

Remember that if you are using another person's ideas or writing, you must acknowledge the source to avoid plagiarism. Remember to reference!

7 Steps for Paraphrasing

Step 1: Read the original information carefully, ensuring you understand it fully.

Step 2: Identify the main points and key words and highlight them.

Step 3: Determine what you can change versus what cannot be changed.

Step 4: Cover the text so you cannot see any of it.

Step 5: Write out the idea in your own words using synonyms or phrases of similar meaning where possible.

Step 6: Change the order of the words or structure of the sentences.

Step 7: Then check your paraphrase against the original to be sure that you have not changed the meaning and that the information is accurate.

Websites on Paraphrasing

Paraphrase: Write it in your Own Words You can learn some steps to effective paraphrasing. From Purdue University.
Paraphrasing Steps for paraphrasing effectively and common errors when paraphrasing. From University of Technology Sydney
Paraphrasing, Quoting & Summarising Paraphrasing and summarising allow you to develop and demonstrate your understanding and interpretation of the major ideas/concepts of your discipline, and to avoid plagiarism. From University of NSW.
Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarising On this page you can learn some techniques for summarising, generalising, paraphrasing and quoting. From Charles Darwin University
What is paraphrasing? This short video gives you an introduction to paraphrasing as a way of using references in your academic writing, including how to use reporting and linking words. From RMIT University.

Referencing and Plagiarism Guide: Avoiding Plagiarism