What is Plagiarism?

"Having awareness and knowledge about what plagiarism is can keep your writing original and honest." (Dinethra Menon, 2015) During your time at university you want to keep your writing "original" and "honest" .

Plagiarism is defined as "deliberate or reckless representation of another's words, thoughts or ideas as one's own without attribution" (Allison , Vanest, 2015). Basically, this means using an idea that is not your own and not giving the creator of the idea the credit they deserve. You will notice on this site I have cited works and authors throughout to help give you a guide of where my information has come from. This is an easy way to avoid Plagiarism. See: How to: Reference.

There are a few types of Plagiarism:

Direct Plagiarism: Copy and Pasting from another's work and passing it off as your own.
Mosaic Plagiarism: Text and ideas of other people's mixed in with your own without citation or references.
Self Plagiarism: Using your own previous work and re-submitting it without acknowledging is a strange but still is a form of Plagiarism!

(Dinethra Menon,2015, Allison Vanest, 2015 )

Why should I avoid Plagiarism at University?

The conseqeuences for plagiarising information or ideas are actually very serious. At Swinburne University "Plagiarising is considered misconduct and a form of cheating. You will be subject to penalties if you plagiarise." (Swinburne University Website,2015).

These penalties could be : failing that unit or subject, temporary suspension or permanent expulsion from the university and it is never worth it! You can use other people's ideas as long as you refer to where you read or saw it , get good marks and avoid plagiarism and its consequences.