Plagiarism and academic writing

Plagiarism - this is a bad thing! It is copying other people's published or non-published work without acknowledging the source so that it looks like your own work. Bluntly it is cheating and students can be disciplined for doing it.

Referencing - this is a good thing! It is giving due credit to the authors and sources of data, information, ideas and quotations that you have used in you work. It is indication that you have read around your subject and have compared your data and ideas with other authors.

NOTE - at college and university you will often be asked to sign a statement to say that you have not knowingly omitted to acknowledge the sources you have used in your written work.

Research - this is a very good thing! It is the process of deciding what we need to know and studying it for ourselves. Buying books, printing out web-pages and photocopying our tutors' lecture notes is not the same as studying for ourselves!