Referencing and avoiding plagiarism

Contents

1. Referencing and avoiding plagiarism
2. What is plagiarism?
   1. How to avoid plagiarism
   2. Examples of good and bad academic practice
   3. Activity 1
   4. Plagiarism of expression
3. Why you need to reference
4. What is referencing?
5. How to provide references 1
6. In-text citations (Author/date style)
7. How to provide references 2
   1. Footnotes, reference lists and bibliographies
   2. Activity 2
8. To reference or not to reference that is the question
9. Referencing: Think - Who? When? What? and Where?
10. Referencing books
    1. Referencing book chapters
    2. Activity 3
    3. Referencing eBooks
    4. eBooks: Finding the URL
    5. Activity 4
11. Referencing journal articles (print)
    1. Activity 5
12. Referencing electronic journal articles
    1. Electronic journals and Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)
    2. Activity 6
    3. Referencing online reports (Government department)
    4. Referencing the Internet (webpages)
    5. Activity 7
13. Managing your referencing: EndNote
14. Summary

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is defined as using someone else's ideas as if they were your own. It is important to remember that it is the ideas that are important, not just the words. The Northumbria University assessment regulations (ARNA, 2005) define plagiarism as:

'The unacknowledged incorporation in a student's work of material derived from the work (published or unpublished) of another.'

Plagiarism is treated very seriously in academic institutions as it threatens the basis of academic integrity, which is the principle that you should always acknowledge other researchers' original ideas. Plagiarism is also viewed as cheating and can undermine the value of the academic qualification you receive.

Plagiarism can be deliberate, but often is inadvertent and is the result of not knowing or understanding the conventions of academic writing. Therefore, plagiarism can be the result of poor academic practice. However, the penalties for plagiarism are serious and it is important that you understand the principles of good academic practice.

What is considered as plagiarism?

• Copying text directly from a source (book, journal article, website) into your own work without including a reference or quotation marks. It is so easy to use the copy and paste function so be careful.
• Writing about ideas you have taken from a source in your own words, but not referencing the original author of the ideas.
• Copying text directly from a source without putting quotation marks, even if you include a reference.
• Paraphrasing work from another author, but only changing a few words, so that the work appears 'too close' to the original.
• Submitting work written by someone else as if it were your own, for example, another student's essay (with or without their knowledge) or an essay taken from the web.

For details about the Northumbria University regulations on plagiarism, please read the relevant section of the Assessment Regulations for Northumbria Awards (ARNA) Appendix 1: Regulations and procedures applying to cheating, plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct.