4. Academic Integrity

Avoiding Plagiarism

Showcase your research and avoid plagiarism by being thorough in acknowledging the information sources you have used and by mastering in-text referencing.

Activity

Watch the movie by first year UOW students: ‘Food for thought’ (winner of the 4APCEI student competition on academic integrity) for a light hearted look at academic integrity.

Plagiarism includes but is not limited to:
  • intentionally or inadvertently copying information without acknowledgement
  • intentionally or inadvertently repeating the words or ideas of others without referencing them
  • handing in someone else's work as your own, including:
    • borrowing
    • buying
    • downloading
    • sharing
  • handing in a group assignment after not doing your share of the work, and accepting the same mark as others in your group
  • not using in-text referencing immediately after using somebody else's ideas in your writing, but waiting until the end of a paragraph or page
  • re-using your own work without appropriate acknowledgement
  • compiling false or misleading references

Activity

Complete the quiz to test your understanding of plagiarism

Answers
1. You want to include some information from a past seminar in your paper. You need to reference this. True False
2. You are building on someone else's ideas but not quoting them directly. You do not need to reference this. True False
3. You have included in your reference list an author whose ideas were important to the writing of your paper. You do not need to cite the author in the body of your writing. True False
4. You ended up only using two words from a lengthy quote, and anybody could have said these. You do not need to cite the author. True False
5. You are quoting a comment but are unsure of the context of this comment. You should go back to the original source to verify the accuracy of the comment. True False
6. You are repeating information that you believe is commonly known. eg Sydney is in NSW. You do not need cite this if you believe your readers already know the information and could easily find it themselves. True False
7. You have worked hard to summarise the argument of another writer, and changed the words significantly. You do not need to cite. True False
8. You have cut and pasted a paragraph from an original piece of work but left out a couple or words and changed the order of the sentences. This is a form of plagiarism. True False

Your responsibilities

The use of another person’s ideas, designs, words or works without appropriate acknowledgement is plagiarism and will breach the UOW Academic Integrity & Plagiarism Policy. The University of Wollongong, or your lecturer, may impose severe penalties on students caught plagiarising or other forms of academic misconduct.

Activity

Explore the UOW Academic Integrity & Plagiarism Policy. Take particular note of the role of students and their responsibilities in avoiding plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct.

Activity

Listen to UOW academic staff talk about plagiarism.

Steven Roodenrys Rebecca Albury
Steven Roodenrys
Transcript (pdf)
 Rebecca Albury
Transcript (pdf)

It is your responsibility to practice referencing and be honest in your use of research. You can get help with your academic writing from Learning Development.

Summary

Now you have completed this guide you can:

  • use resources you find for your assessment tasks in an ethical manner
  • locate the Referencing and citing guide for assistance when preparing a Reference List
  • reference resources using strategies such as quoting, paraphrasing and summarising
  • write in a way that meets UOW expectations for academic integrity
  • access UOW guides and policies to help you minimise the risk of plagiarism


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Last reviewed: 1 March, 2011

 

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"Plagiarism is taken very seriously by the University."
Assoc Professor Steven Roodenrys, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Science.

"Learn how to identify your sources correctly so that your academic honesty is never in question."
Assoc Professor Pauline Lysaght. Faculty of Education.