Plagiarism

1. Plagiarism The students’ guide to avoiding it!

2. Which of the following examples is plagiarism? Matthew doesn’t complete his Maths homework so he copies Luke’s work and hands it in to his teacher as his own. • b. Laura includes some of the ideas she reads about in a Wikipedia article in her assignment but doesn’t say where the ideas came from. • c. Maddy works with a friend on a task that the teacher told them to complete individually. • d. Alex forgets to put quotation marks (“ ”) around the quotes he includes in his assignment.

3. Which of the following examples is plagiarism? The answer.... e. All of the above.

4. “Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s thoughts, ideas or other work as your own” (CBELK, 2006) Submitting work completed with another person when that work should be independent – regardless of whether the other person agrees to this. (Swinburne, 2011) Using quotes, ideas, information in your work without crediting the source of the ideas Turning in someone’s work as your own (Plagiarism.org, n.d Accessed 19 July 2011) Using the exact words, phrases, or sentences from a published source without putting these in quotation marks Copying so many ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work – whether you give credit or not. Putting inaccurate references in your bibliography

5. So is this plagiarism? The website says... The minds of children are "wired" to acquire language automatically (undergoing exactly the same stages, no matter what the language is). From ages 1-5, kids can acquire any possible language (from English to Chinese to Hawaiian), and acquiring multiple languages is no problem, provided children have enough exposure. From 5-10, kids still have an easy time, but once adolescence hits, most people lose the ability to pick up languages easily. Student writes is their assignment... The minds of infants are “programmed" to acquire language automatically (undergoing exactly the same processes, regardlessofwhich language). From ages 1-5, kids can acquire any possible language (from English to Tibetanto French), and acquiring multiple l languages is not difficult provided childrenare exposed to them enough. From 5-10, kids still can learn languages easily, but once adolescence begins, most people lose the ability to acquire languages easily. (Pennsylvania State University, 2011)

6. Yes, it is! This is still a form or plagiarism because the re-edited paragraph uses exactly the same ideas in exactly the same sequence and merely inserts some synonyms without expressing a new idea. Student writes is their assignment... The minds of infants are “programmed" to acquire language automatically (undergoing exactly the same processes, regardlessofwhich language). From ages 1-5, kids can acquire any possible language (from English to Tibetanto French), and acquiring multiple l languages is not difficult provided childrenare exposed to them enough. From 5-10, kids still can learn languages easily, but once adolescence begins, most people lose the ability to acquire languages easily. (Pennsylvania State University, 2011)

7. But what’s wrong with plagiarism? 1. Lost opportunity for developing your skills and learning 2. Masks your level of understanding/ability and limits your teachers ability to evaluate where you need assistance or support 3. Jeopardises your integrity – plagiarism is essentially both theft (of another person’s ideas and/or work) and fraud.

8. So how do I avoid plagiarising? Passages copied from the original are put in quotation marks The student’s assignment could say... The minds of infants are "wired to acquire language automatically," undergoing the same processes in the same order, regardless of language. Children ages 1-5 can acquire any possible language, and acquiring multiple languages is not difficult, “provided children have enough exposure". Children ages 5-10 can still learn languages easily, but once adolescence begins, "most people lose the ability to pick up languages.“ (Pyatt, 2000) The website says... The minds of children are "wired" to acquire language automatically (undergoing exactly the same stages, no matter what the language is). From ages 1-5, kids can acquire any possible language (from English to Chinese to Hawaiian), and acquiring multiple languages is no problem, provided children have enough exposure. From 5-10, kids still have an easy time, but once adolescence hits, most people lose the ability to pick up languages easily. (Pennsylvania State University, 2011) Source of the ideas is identified

9. Rules for avoiding plagiarism RULE ONE: Give credit where it is due. When you get ideas, information, statistics etc from a book, website or other source you must credit this information in two ways: 1. Include the source in your list of references in your bibliography * 2. In the body of your assignment, beneath quotes or specific ideas you have gained from a specific source, identify this source (Author, Publication Date, Page)

10. For example: IN THE BODY OF THE ASSIGNMENT: It is estimated that two million people live along the Murray River (CSIRO, 2010). These people are spread across the four states of Queensland, New South Wales,Victoria and South Australia. However, many more of us are affected by the health of this region. “Every day without realising it, many Australians consume products from the Murray-Darling Basin.” (Kriewaldt ed. 2001, p.124) IN THE BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES: 1. Kriewaldt, J ed. (2001) Geography in SOSE 2 Issues in Managing the Environment.Macmillan: South Yarra 2. CSIRO (2010) ‘Water for a healthy country flagship’ [Online] CSIRO.Available: http://www.csiro.au/science/MDBscience.html [19 July 2011]

11. Rules for avoiding plagiarism RULE TWO: Always declare any assistance you have Received to your teacher. Make sure you let your teacher know if you receive assistance from a parent, friend, tutor or someone else. Keep in mind, if the teacher has said you are to complete the work independently, you should check with him/her first before getting someone to help you. RULE THREE: Never copy someone else’s work The penalties for plagiarising are far more serious than for handing work in a little late. Ideally, if you are struggling to get tasks done, get some assistance to organise yourself to ensure you can complete all work.

12. Rules for avoiding plagiarism RULE FOUR: Avoid copying and pasting slabs from the internet Copying and pasting from the internet is one of the most likely ways for you to end up plagiarising. Keep in mind that your teachers can tell when something you have written doesn’t sound like you. And they all know how to Google. Instead, research from a variety of sources and take notes (in your own words) about useful ideas, information etc. DON”T FORGET TO ALSO RECORD EXACTLY WHERE THE IDEAS HAVE COME FROM TO ENSURE YOU CAN REFERENCE THEM CORRECTLY LATER. Try to make it your rule that you only copy (in writing or using Copy and Paste) exact quotes you plan to use and these should be no more than a phrase to a couple of sentences.

13. The final word Learning to reference your sources can take time and can be confusing at first. The key is to remember two things: Avoiding plagiarism is quite simple: If you are including something in an assignment that is not your original idea or creation – or clearly common knowledge – you need to identify where you got the idea or information from. If in doubt, ask: Your subject teachers are your best resource!

14. References: 1. iParadigms, LLC, (2011), ‘What is Plagiarism’ [Online] PlagiarismdotOrg. Available: http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_what_is_plagiarism.html [19July 2011] 2. Pennsylvania State University, (2010), ‘Plagiarism Tutorials for Students’ [Online] Penn State Teaching & Learning with Technology Available: http://tlt.its.psu.edu/plagiarism/tutorial [19July 2011] 3. Curtin University Library (n.d), ‘Referencing’ [Online] Curtin University Library Available: http://libguides.library.curtin.edu.au/referencing [19July 2011] 4. CBELK (2006), ‘The Department of Biology Statement on Plagiarism’ [Online] Paper Pub Available: http://www.paperpub.com.cn/admin/upload/file/20089394725250.pdf [19July 2011] 5. Monash University (2006), ‘Harvard (author-date) style examples’ [Online] Monash University Library Available: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/harvard.html [19July 2011] 6. ‘A guide to writing a bibliography using the Harvard system’ (n.d) [Online] CCB LibrariesAvailable: http://www.ccb.vic.edu.au/resources/library/Bibliography.html [19July 2011]