2.1 What is plagiarism?
By recognising what plagiarism is and why it is wrong, you can work to avoid it and demonstrate academic integrity.
Reading other people’s work, words or ideas on a topic helps to develop and refine your thinking and allows you to understand other people’s ideas and views. However, when you use the work, words or ideas of other people and pretend that they’re yours, this is plagiarism.
Some common types of plagiarism include:
- copying someone else’s work in part or in whole and presenting it as your own
- using material directly from books, journals, the internet or any other source without proper acknowledgement
- building on the ideas or words of another person without proper acknowledgement
- using other people’s ideas or designs, materials drawn from outside sources or any outside assistance without proper acknowledgement.
Why is plagiarism wrong?
Plagiarism is not only dishonest, it’s a form of theft. Authors own their work, words and ideas. They’re not yours to take.
When you submit work to be marked that uses the work, words and ideas of others and haven’t acknowledged them properly, you are pretending that it is all your own work when it isn’t. You are trying to get credit for other people’s work.
Other people deserve to be recognised for their own work.