Citing and Referencing: Plagiarism

Plagiarism is :
‣ the presentation of an idea, or work, of another person as your own.
‣ the inclusion of another person’s work without correct acknowledgement.
‣ the failure to identify the origin of a used source.
‣ the distortion or manipulation of a source.
‣ the inclusion of created source material.
‣ intentional and unintentional.
‣ a form of cheating.
‣ theft.

Material that can be plagiarised includes :
‣ data, reports, and statistics.
‣ assignments, dissertations, and thesis.
‣ images, photographs, pictures, and illustrations.
‣ books, journals, magazines, and newspapers.
‣ songs, sounds, lyrics, and music.
‣ television, radio and films.
‣ computer games and programs.
‣ maps, plans and blueprints.

Types of Plagiarism
The following are examples of how plagiarism can occur.

• Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation.
• Quoting phrases, sentences or complete paragraphs without using quotation marks and referencing the source.
• Rewriting another person’s work and failing to credit the original source.
• Using text, images, ideas or theories without acknowledging whose ideas they are or stating where the information has come from.
• Working with others, without official approval, resulting in near identical work (known as collusion).
• Submitting the same, or similar, work on more than one occasion (known as replication).
• Purchasing an assignment or dissertation from an Internet service and submitting it as your own work (known as fraud).
• Inventing the contents of an assignment and falsely presenting it as your own work. (known as falsification).