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Plagiarism is a form of cheating.  It is the taking of someone else’s ideas and presenting them as if they are your own. A legal way of describing this is to say that it is the theft of the Intellectual Property of another person.

How to avoid plagiarism:

DO:

1. •Acknowledge correctly the source of any quotations, paraphrases, summaries, or other information that is not common knowledge.
   

2. •Place quotation marks around any information that is directly quoted from a source
   

3. •Ensure that paraphrased information is accurate.
   

4. •Remember to record the source of information when you are taking notes.
   

5. •Differentiate between direct quotes and paraphrases when taking notes.
   

6. •Develop your own writing style and voice.
   

7. •Indicate that the source was “quoted in....” if you do not have the original source that was referred to in another source.
   

8. •Learn how to detect and prevent plagiarism.
   

AVOID:

1. •Copying, buying, stealing or borrowing another person’s work, in part or in whole, and presenting it as your own – even your friend’s ideas.
   

2. •Using material directly from books, journals, CDs or the internet without reference to the source.
   

3. •Building on the ideas of another person without reference to the source.
   

4. •Submitting work to which another person (e.g. parent or teacher) has substantially contributed.
   

5. •Using words, ideas, designs or the workmanship of others in practical and performance tasks without appropriate acknowledgement.
   

6. •Paying someone to write or prepare material for you.
   

7. •Allowing other students to use or copy your assessment material and information to complete their assessment tasks. When it is suspected that students have shared information for assessment, students involved will be deemed to have plagiarised.