The Short Guide
to Avoiding Plagiarism

by David & Derya Davenport

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What is plagiarism?

In university, if you make use of other people's ideas and/or words, you must explicitly say so. If it is unclear that you have copied part of someone else's work to further your argument,  then you are liable to be accused of plagiarism. Plagiarism is the intellectual equivalent of theft.

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What is the punishment for plagiarism?

Penalties for plagiarism vary, but you may expect at least one or two weeks suspension. This may not sound much, but it may prevent you from completing homeworks or taking exams, and so lead to you failing courses. Worse, it will appear on your academic record and may result in you being unable to take up scholarships, exchange opportunities, etc., later in your university career.

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As easy as copy, paste? Think again.

The vast majority of plagiarism seen nowadays seems to result from the ease with which text can be copied and pasted into word processors. To avoid any suggestion of plagiarism you must make it crystal clear what you have written, and what has been copied from someone else. Doing this involves (a) placing the text you have copied between quotation marks, and (b) adding information that would allow readers to locate the source of the quoted text.

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So, how do I do it properly?

There are various (standard & non-standard) ways to include source (reference) information. In CS101/2 use the form shown below.

In the article itself: Enclose the copied text between quotation marks and, immediately after it, insert a source reference number between square brackets. Sources should be numbered sequentially in the order they appear in your article. The following example includes two references:

Anonymity relates to the ability of an observer to identify a particular element (e.g. a particular person or computer) within a well-defined set. If an element "is not identifiable, then the element is said to be 'anonymous'." [1] Whether users on the Internet should be anonymous or not has been the subject of much debate. Some see anonymity as a means to ensure governments cannot restrict freedom of speech, while others believe that openness and accountability are more fundamental. What is often forgotten is that were anonymity a right, it would be available to governments too. "Distrusting a government accountable to the people is one thing, facilitating a government completely unaccountable is quite another." [2] Better then to ensure Internet users are not anonymous, but are identifiable and so accountable for their actions.

At the end of the article, add a "References" section: Collect details of sources and list them in numeric order, i.e. the order they appear in your article. Be sure to provide sufficient information to allow your source to be easily located. For example:

1. "Anonymity", Wikipedia entry. Last retrieved 25/12/2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymity
2. "Anonymity on the Internet: Why the Price may be too High", David Davenport, Communications of the ACM, Vol.45, Issue 4, pp33-35 (April 2002)

For Internet sources include the page title/description, the author (if available), the date published (if available), the date retrieved and the full url. For print sources include the article's title, its author(s), the name of the publication, any location details within the publication, and the publication date.

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A few more pointers.

• If the quoted text is long, place it in a separate indented paragraph.
• Include only a few literal quotations, instead support your article's argument by  summarising/abstracting the key ideas from related work. Include references to those sources in the same manner as above.
• Sometimes you may be asked to include a "bibliography" as well as, or instead of, a set of references. A bibliography lists articles you have read and been influenced by while researching, but have not explicitly cited (i.e. mentioned or quoted) in your text.
• Learn how your word processor and other technology can help you manage references/citations.