Understanding plagiarism
Student responsibilities
CSU's Student Misconduct Rule acknowledges that plagiarism can be unintentional, e.g. where a genuine effort is made to acknowledge sources but referencing skills are poor. Nevertheless, ignorance is not a defence.
CSU's policy states that plagiarism includes:
- copying any material from books, journals, study notes or tapes, the web, the work of other students, or any other source without indicating this by quotation marks or by indentation, italics or spacing and without acknowledging that source by footnote or citations; or
- rephrasing ideas from books, journals, study notes or tapes, the web, the work of other students, or any other source without acknowledging the source of those ideas by footnotes or citations. This could include material copied from a source and acknowledged, but presented as the student's own paraphrasing.
Clearly, this rule requires that we recognise the difference between plagiarism and legitimate summarising with citations and know the rules for quoting and paraphrasing to avoid plagiarism.
Notice that sources include diagrams, television documentaries, radio programs and lectures as well as journal articles, books, other students' work and importantly, web sources.
To avoid plagiarism, it is essential that you develop ethical practices when recording others' ideas from any source and use effective referencing skills throughout your research and written work.
Remember to take due care when you summarise, quote and/or paraphrase. Honestly citing all your sources of information will:
- help you create a strong paper
- demonstrate respect for intellectual property
- provide a service to the reader