Plagiarism

HOME = What is Plagiarism and how can I avoid it? =

Students can be concerned that the work they submit may be considered as having plagiarised. Universities take the issue of plagiarism seriously with those found to have plagiarised may be penalised to some degree.

Charles Sturt University has an entire site devoted to the issue of plagiarism. The site can be found at [] In short plagiarism can be defined as: In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward. ([])
 * to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
 * to use (another's production) without crediting the source
 * to commit literary theft
 * to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

Information and links are also included in the INF100 subject outline (and is repeated in all subject outlines at CSU). See page 7 of the INF100 outline.

In order to check if an assignment has plagiarised elements, CSU has purchased the rights to **Turnitin** software. As explained in the subject outline, it has two purposes. The first is to allow students to check their assignment to detect if the ideas and answers presented have not been presented elsewhere. It can be the case that someone reads or hears a great idea and then, quite accidentally, applies that idea or answer in a submission. Using Turnitin by students may help to detect these inadvertent lapses. The software will return a result as a percentage indicating how much non-original material has been detected.

If students use the proper referencing techniques when writing and assignment there should not be any problems. Turnitin may detect a high percentage of non-original material but if properly referenced there is no problem.

The second purpose is for academics who may feel that an assignment contains plagiarised sections or, worse still, has been copied in its entirety. If this is the case, Turnitin will be used for checking. If the results return an unacceptable percentage, the assignment may be referred to the Head of School for his consideration.

How can I reduce the risk of plagiarism?
The CSU site has an excellent coverage at []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">Try not to large tracts of other people’s work i.e. only use quotes to add emphasis a point rather being the point themselves. Lecturers want to hear ‘your voice’, supported by the ideas and thoughts of others, not just having long quotes being repeated to them. Google uses the following catchphrase: “Build on the shoulders of giants”. In other words, use and acknowledge the ideas of others to create your own knowledge and understanding of the topic. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">If you have any concerns contact, in the first instance, the Learning Skills Advisors at [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">who can assist you.