Study skills
Study support
Plagiarism is the use of other people’s words, ideas, research findings or information without acknowledgement, that is, without indicating the source. In the Western academic tradition, using the work of others without acknowledgement is seen as a form of theft of their intellectual property.
In order not to plagiarise, writers must correctly reference their work. They are required to acknowledge the source of direct quotes, paraphrases, summaries, statistics, diagrams, images, experiment results, laboratory data and the like—just about everything that is taken from sources. All material from the Internet must be acknowledged. Information from Deakin study guides and readers must also be referenced.
Some plagiarism is intentional; this is flagrant cheating. Unintentional plagiarism can arise from an incomplete understanding by student writers of the nature of citation and referencing in the Western academic context. Poor note-taking skills and carelessness can also contribute to unintentional plagiarism.
Referencing can be difficult. For a start, students have to deal with different referencing systems and sub-systems. Many students also have problems integrating their reading and research into their work.
This resource offers strategies to improve understanding and skills in this area and avoid plagiarism.
There are philosophical and ethical issues related to why plagiarism is unacceptable.
The development of academic knowledge relies on building on the work of others and acknowledging sources. Through referencing, you as a student writer are able to demonstrate the depth of research you have undertaken and the extent to which you have engaged with your subject. Your work is strengthened when you can demonstrate that you have drawn on and acknowledged the work of experts in your discipline.
Ethically it is necessary to recognise that, when writing in the Western academic tradition, using material without acknowledgement is considered intellectual theft.
The ease with which material can be accessed electronically and the increased marketing of assignment materials to students is resulting in increased concern about students plagiarising the work of others for their assignments. However, plagiarism is becoming easier to detect and software programs are available that can effectively identify plagiarised material. Deakin University is in the process of using Turnitin, a software program that detects similarities in wording between assignments submitted and the program’s database of published material.
You need to be aware of Deakin University’s policy on plagiarism as well as the disciplinary consequences. The Guide defines plagiarism as occurring when a student ‘passes off as the student’s own work, or copies without acknowledgement of its authorship, the work of any other person’. This definition appears in the Undergraduate studies handbook, the Postgraduate studies handbook and other faculty and school publications. Plagiarism is regarded as a serious academic offence that carries a range of penalties at Deakin, ranging from a reprimand to exclusion of the student for a minimum of one year.
Another academic offence outlined in The Guide is collusion, which also carries heavy penalties. Collusion is defined as occurring when ‘a student obtains the agreement of another person for a fraudulent purpose with the intent of obtaining an advantage in submitting an assignment or other work’. It is unacceptable to submit the work, or part of the work, of someone who studied the subject previously, even with their permission. It is also unacceptable to have someone else write any part of an assignment for you.
Assignments for each faculty must be submitted with the Deakin University assignment attachment cover sheet, which students must sign and date, certifying that they have not plagiarised or colluded. It is important to be aware of the serious nature of this form and the declaration you make when you sign it.
In order to avoid plagiarism, you need to acknowledge the source of every idea, opinion, finding, quotation and piece of information in your assignments. You do this through referencing.
Students can be confused by the different systems of referencing and their purpose. Remember that the different referencing systems are not totally arbitrary. Have a look at our resources on referencing styles used at Deakin:
Remember that you should always check your unit guide for specific referencing requirements for each assignment.
You need to reference direct quotes (the words from a source reproduced exactly) as well as summaries and paraphrases, where the words are yours but the ideas/findings are from a source. In a summary you identify the main points and record this in your own words. A paraphrase is the rephrasing of a short passage from a source in your own words, changing the sentence structure and the vocabulary. Summarising and paraphrasing are also very useful skills for note making because they help you to better understand what you are reading.
Integrating the ideas and findings of others into academic writing can seem a complex and subtle task. Refer to our resource Using the ideas and words of others in your writing for explanations and examples of how to summarise, paraphrase and quote.
It is important to develop the skills detailed below, which will help you to avoid plagiarism in the papers you submit for assessment:
