Academic Integrity - Referencing, Citation & Avoiding Plagiarism: Avoiding plagiarism

Acknowledge all sources – if using information from others, indicate where it came from in your text and reference list using a citation style.

Record where all quotes or new ideas come from – when making notes in preparation for assignments.

Paraphrase correctly – express the information of others in your own words, along with an in-text citation and reference.

Quote correctly – when directly quoting from a text make sure you include the appropriate quotation marks or indentation. Include a reference at the end of your text also (See your School’s Style Guide for details).

Find out the citation style for your school and familiarise yourself with it. Keep the style guide to hand when writing assignments so you can include in-text citations and references in the correct format.

Common knowledge is knowledge that is known and accepted as true by members of a discipline. Here are some examples of common knowledge:

• Water freezes on 0 degrees Celsius.

• Mary Robinson was the first female president of Ireland.

• Berlin is the capital of Germany.

Information that needs to be cited includes research undertaken by others, statistics, and ideas, interpretations or analyses of primary research or the work of others. Specific dates, numbers, or facts the reader would not know unless s/he had done the research also need to be cited.

If you are unsure if something is common knowledge or not, it is best to simply cite it. 

Common Knowledge is further explained on the Purdue University's Writing Lab.

Directly quoting the text

When using the exact words of another person it is essential that you indicate this in your text. The correct way to do this is by including quotation marks and usually a page number (depending on your reference style).

Below is an example of how to quote in your text correctly.

Original piece

The following ORIGINAL text has been taken from the book The Google Story.

“Not since Gutenberg invented the modern printing press more than 500 years ago, making books and scientific tomes affordable and widely available to the masses, has any new invention empowered individuals, and transformed access to information, as profoundly as Google.”

From: Vise, David A. (2005) The Google Story. Macmillan: London

Example of correct quotation

Google has revolutionised the way people access information in today’s information technological society.

“Not since Gutenberg invented the modern printing press ... has any new invention empowered individuals, and transformed access to information, as profoundly as Google.” (Vise, 2005 p. 1)

Google’s easy to use search engine enables users to access information quickly and efficiently through various options, including Google Scholar and Google Book Search.

This is the correct way to use a direct quote because

• the direct quote is in quotation marks
• the page number has been included

When to use quotations

• when the exact words are relevant to your argument
• when something is expressed in a unique way
• when rewriting would cause loss of impact

Quotations should be used sparingly and should not be the dominant feature of your essay. However, some short quotations can make a strong impact. When using someone’s words you must use quotation marks, and state precisely where the quotation comes from i.e. cite the author, date and page number at the end of the quotation.

How to use quotations

Place a short quotation into the text (fewer than 40 words) using double quotation marks. Longer quotations should begin on a new line, and be in a free-standing block of typewritten lines.

Place the passage you are using in quotation marks, and give the author/source of information. Within a quotation use three dots (…) to indicate omitted words.

Example using APA Style

He stated that Google has "empowered individuals and transformed access to information" (Vise, 2005 p. 1).

OR

Vise (2005) argues that Google has "empowered individuals and transformed access to information" ( p. 1).

Paraphrasing is writing the thoughts and ideas of others in your own words. All paraphrased information included in your work must be cited. An in-text citation must be included beside the paraphrased piece of text. You must include a full reference in your reference list to the source of your paraphrased information. Some citation styles also require a page number for the paraphrased information to be included as part of the in-text citation.

The following ORIGINAL text has been taken from the book The Google Story.

“Not since Gutenberg invented the modern printing press more than 500 years ago, making books and scientific tomes affordable and widely available to the masses, has any new invention empowered individuals, and transformed access to information, as profoundly as Google.”

From: Vise, David A. (2005) The Google Story. Macmillan: London

Unacceptable paraphrasing of above text - plagiarism

The most important invention that has affected access to information since Gutenberg invented the modern printing press and made books affordable and widely available, is Google, an invention that has empowered individuals and transformed access to information around the world.

This passage is considered plagiarism because

• The writer does not cite the author as the source of the ideas
• The passage is too close to the original text
• Only a few phrases or words have been changed

If one or more of the above criteria are included in any piece of work, it is considered plagiarism.

Acceptable paraphrasing of above text - not plagiarism

It has been stated that Google has revolutionised the information world by providing access to information through the internet. Vise notes that Google is the most radical information development since Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. (Vise, 2005, p.1)

This is acceptable paraphrasing because

• The author of the text has been cited correctly
• The writer has used their own words
• The writer gives credit for the ideas in the passage

The Internet is a popular source of information for student papers. To avoid plagiarising these sources follow the same guidelines as print sources.

• when referring to ideas or quotations from a website, you must cite that source in your text.
• when copying visual information or graphics such as images or data charts from the Internet, the source of the visual information or graphic must be cited.
• each reference style has particular rules about including URLs, website names and accessed date information, check with your school style to see what guidelines are given.

Examples

For example in the APA style the Author of the website should be cited in-text, and a full reference given at the end for the website including the URL.

In-text citation, APA Style:

Another approach (Gambill, 2011) suggests...

Reference List entry, APA Style:

Gambil l, G (April 6th 2011). Assad's survival strategy. Foreign Policy. Retrieved April 18th, 2011, from  http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/04/06/assads_survival_strategy

Undergraduate Module

An essay was submitted by a student who had already submitted the same essay for another module within their programme in the previous year. The examiner noted that the essay only partially addressed the topic of the given assignment. The student stated that they did not know anything about self-plagiarism and thought it would be acceptable to submit an essay again, because it was their own work. 

Note: Self-plagiarism occurs when a student submits their own work which has already received credit. It is important to be aware of the different types of plagiarism, as unintentional plagiarism can still result in a sanction. 

Undergraduate, Thesis Module

Examiners noted irregularities and unusual characteristics in a student's undergraduate thesis. Much of the content of the thesis did not relate to the research conducted by the student. Another person’s name was discovered to be associated with the file submitted by the student. The examiner was able to trace the source material to an “essay mill” type website. In this case, the student admitted that they had submitted a thesis which they had bought online from an ‘essay mill.’

Taught Masters, Thesis Module

A student was asked to prepare a presentation to summarise their thesis preparation. The work submitted contained no quotes, citations or references to academic works. In addition there were significant unacknowledged sections that were taken from another student's masters thesis which was found to be freely available online. 

The examples of plagiarism in this case include

• several instances where the student quoted verbatim from a text that was not cited
• multiple instances where the student quoted extensively (paragraphs at a time) from a masters’ thesis available online
• verbatim quotation from numerous websites without citation or attribution
• quotation from academic work without appropriate page number(s)

Taught Masters, Professional Learning Journal Module

A student was assigned a task to reflect on learning gained during four of the module’s classes. The student had to then produce a summary reflection essay exploring how this learning might be further applied to their own development and practice. The assignment required reflection on discussions that took place during classes, assigned readings and demonstration of connections made to other learning attained across the programme.  

In this case the student directly quoted from academic texts and used ideas without either quotation marks or citation. There were several examples where the student had quoted extensively from a journal article without appropriate acknowledgement.  In a number of instances, citations were used for ideas that did not correlate with the papers referenced in the assignment. 
 

The examples of plagiarism here were

• misrepresentation of the work of academics whose work was cited
• quotation from assigned readings without quotation marks or attribution (citation or references)
• quotation without clear attribution or page number
• quotation from other academic journals without attribution