What is it?
Plagiarism entails using content from others – thought, argument, theory, summary, evidence or words – without referencing it back to the original source, or taking sections from other people’s work and altering it to make it look like your own.
It can also be using your previous work or sections of it and submitting it again as a new piece of work. This is a type of plagiarism called self-plagiarism, and can seriously compromise the development and progression of your learning.
If you are struggling with referencing and worried about plagiarism you can contact your Academic Mentors for advice.
How to avoid it
The best way to avoid plagiarism is by writing your own new piece of work and paraphrasing and summarising (writing in your own words and interpretation) when referring to someone else’s work. This can also be by quoting directly (verbatim) using quotation marks, but paraphrasing and summarising are often preferred.
Referencing correctly is fundamental to avoid unintentional plagiarism.
If you are struggling with referencing and worried about plagiarism you can contact your Academic Mentors for advice.
Common Causes and Support
Common Causes
Few students set out to deliberately plagiarise. Aspects that can contribute to plagiarism unintentionally are:
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Misunderstandings over the nature of what constitutes plagiarism
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Lack of care and attention to detail
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Unrealistic sense of the time required to do justice to our assignments
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Poor consideration of the expectations of thinking academically when engaging with our studies.
External factors impact our studies more than we realise, so make sure to take them into account when you next sit down to do some coursework.
Support
Be aware that there are free and confidential support structures within the University that you can access to discuss the impact – or potential impact – of external pressures, and explore ways to minimise the threat(s) such as the Counselling Service.
You can also visit our External Support Services page for resources external to the University or the Students’ Union.
Your Academic Mentor can also offer advice and guidance on referencing if you have any concerns over plagiarism.