Science - Plagiarism & Referencing: Plagiarism

• Cut/copy and paste material from the Web
• To download documents from the Internet and hand this material in as your own work
• Copying the work of another student (past or present), including essay material, laboratory data or computer source code;
• Copying course material or lecture notes without acknowledging
• Copying material out of a textbook or journal, without citing & referencing the source

• Copying another person's work, including the work of another student (with or without their consent) and claiming or pretending it is your own

• Presenting arguments that use a blend of your own and a significant percentage of copied words of the original author without acknowledging the source

• Paraphrasing another person's work, but not giving due acknowledgement to the original writer

• Plagiarism is illegal: It may be regarded as a criminal  offence
• If a student is found guilty of plagiarism: He/she may be expelled from the university
• By a court of law: a fine or imprisonment may be imposed
• Plagiarism is unethical because it is intellectual theft – the plagiariser stands to benefit or gain an unfair advantage from the theft.
• It is in conflict with  UJ values of trust and academic integrity.
• It is dishonest (a form of theft).
• It shows disrespect for the rights of the original author.
• It tarnishes the University reputation, and diminishes the value of your qualifications
• It casts suspicion on the honest work of other students

Intentional plagiarism is claiming sole authorship of a work that you know to have been largely written by someone else.

Examples of Intentional Plagiarism:

• Purchasing a pre-written paper (either by mail or electronically).
• Letting someone else write part or all of a paper for you.
• Paying someone else to write part or all of a paper for you.
• Submitting as your own someone else's unpublished work (including a computer program or algorithm), either with or without permission.
• Submitting as your own, work done jointly by a group in which you may have participated.
• Submitting work done by you, but for another class or another purpose without documenting that it was previously used.
• Creating phony citations.

Credit: Duke University

Unintentional plagiarism is plagiarism that results from the disregard for proper scholarly procedures.

Examples of Unintentional Plagiarism:

• Failure to cite a source that is not common knowledge.
• Failure to "quote" or block quote author's exact words, even if documented.
• Failure to put a paraphrase in your own words, even if documented.
• Failure to put a summary in your own words, even if documented.
• Failure to be loyal to a source.

Credit: Duke University

Click and Play our Plagiarism GAME and LEARN how to avoid PLAGIARISM