Understanding plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
A student plagiarises if he or she gives the impression that the ideas, words or work of another person are the ideas, words or work of the student.
Most students try to honestly acknowledge their sources and often plagiarism is a result of ignorance, honest misinterpretation, careless note-taking and/or poor time management and planning skills. Intentional plagiarism occurs when a student deliberately sets out to deceive others that the ideas and words they present in an assignment are their own. Whether inadvertent or deliberate, plagiarism can have a significant impact on grades, and in more serious cases, can result in failure from a subject or even exclusion from a course of study.
Remember, if you consistently and honestly use the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style, or another style acceptable to your Subject Coordinator, you will avoid plagiarism. The key to correctly acknowledging your sources is to follow the specific rules in a recognised referencing style.
Knowing what, how and when to acknowledge may be particularly challenging if, in your home culture, some ideas and knowledge are shared collectively and there is an expectation that acknowledgment is unnecessary. Similarly, during your previous education, you may not have learnt about intellectual property, citations and reference lists. So if your previous education was culturally different, or if you have returned to study after a significant break, it is important to remember that there is a scholarly expectation that you will consistently and honestly let your reader know where you obtained your material.
While most students want to learn and develop their expertise, and only a small proportion of students choose to deliberately plagiarise, you can benefit from more clearly understanding why plagiarism happens and how to correctly identify your intellectual debt to others in your written work.