Be Aware!

Plagiarism? It's Your Call

As I have just discovered, you cannot cut and paste information for assignments or essays at university. Words and ideas, just like registered trademarks and company names, belong to someone and I can't just use them as my own. There are strict rules and regulations about the use of words and ideas. You need to acknowledge where they came from. Plagiarism is not tolerated at UNSW@ADFA, as it is considered a type of intellectual theft.

I asked PK about this. He said that while you need to read and refer to experts and authorities, you also have to select and interpret what these people have said. So, he said, you have to clearly specify and acknowledge their words, images or ideas. I told him I now knew a bit about referencing but I was still not sure about plagiarism. He said referencing and plagiarism are related - ideas, images and chunks of text are like logos or music; I can't just take them and use them as my own without acknowledging where they have come from. If I don't source information and just try and make out they are all my ideas and words, it is plagiarism.

Warning: Plagiarism is a serious breach of ethics at UNSW@ADFA and it's not taken lightly. I didn't realize there were such serious consequences for plagiarism. good thing I have found out now rather than later.

PK says that sometimes students plagiarise unintentionally because their note-taking, summarising and paraphrasing skills are not very good. If I want to improve these skills or want help in integrating sources into my academic writing, I can contact the Academic Language and Literature (ALL) Unit. They hold workshops, classes and individual consultation sessions for all students on campus.

So after talking to PK, I now know that if I quote anyone - or even summarise or paraphrase information found in books, articles or web pages - I must acknowledge the original author. Plagiarism ranges from copying word-for-word to paraphrasing a passage without giving due credit.

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