Plagiarism
Have you ever used information from a book, website or other source in an assignment or report? If yes, did you acknowledge the original author? Or did you simply pretend that you came up with the information on your own?
If you did not acknowledge the original author correctly, you may have committed a serious academic offence, known as plagiarism.
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What is Plagiarism?
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Taking someone's ideas or work and submitting it as your own, even if you have their permission, is called plagiarism. It is dishonest and a serious academic offence. You can also self-plagiarise if you reuse ideas or work that you have previously published or submitted for a class. If you would like to use work that you have already submitted, remember to acknowledge this in a citation.
Thankfully, plagiarism can easily be avoided by acknowledging the original author and source. This is done by using references and in-text citations.
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How Does Plagiarism OCCUR?
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Using work that was written by someone else and pretending that it is yours.
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By directly copy and pasting information from a book, the internet or another source without including quotation marks, citations or references.
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Using information and rewriting it in your own words (paraphrasing), but not including quotations or a citation and reference for the original author.
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Using the same work that you have already submitted for another assignment or report, without referencing yourself. This is called self-plagiarism.
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Not planning properly and not allowing for enough time to add proper citations and references.
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Download the plagiarism guide to help you to avoid plagiarism. To earn a certificate from Indiana University, complete the 'How to Recognize Plagiarism' tutorial.
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How Can You Avoid Plagiarism?
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Paraphrase: This is when you rewrite the information using your own words, but keep the same meaning as the original text. You must include a citation and reference.
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Quote: Quote the exact words of the original author, using quotation marks. You must include a citation and reference.
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Citations and references: Proper citations and references should always be included when using someone else's work or ideas. This should be done according to a known referencing style, such as APA. Visit the Referencing LRC Guide for help.
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Check for Plagiarism
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Use the plagiarism checkers below to check your work.
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Test Yourself!
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Play the plagiarism game to test yourself.
