Study skills:Plagiarism

Plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when a person uses another person's ideas, writing or work and does not acknowledge the original source.

To pretend that another person's work is your own is unethical and dishonest.

Students are expected to acknowledge the work of others, most often by using in-text citations and a list of sources used in all written assessment tasks.

Issues of plagiarism and copyright by both students and staff are specifically referred to in the departments Use of TAFE NSW Internet and intranet services policy.

Please contact your teacher for specific requirements in particular for which type of referencing they expect.

Find out more about plagiarism and how to avoid it:

Paraphrasing

  • does not match the source word for word
  • involves putting a passage from a source into your own words
  • changes the words or phrasing of passage, but retains and fully communicates the original meaning
  • must be attributed to the original source

Summarising

  • does not match the source word for word
  • involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, but including only the main point/s
  • presents a broad overview, so is usually much shorter than the original text
  • must be attributed to the original source

Quotations

  • match the source word for word
  • are usually a brief segment of the text
  • appear between quotation marks
  • must be attributed to the original source

Reference all your work

Click the title link below to check availability at your library. If you can't find it at your library, then why not request an interlibrary loan? You have access to all TAFE NSW libraries. Contact your library.

Start reading this eBook:

Understanding plagiarism and its consequences

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