Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism

At Abertay, plagiarism includes:

• copying text or code without properly acknowledging the source
• closely paraphrasing someone else’s work without acknowledgement
• presenting ideas or arguments from a source as if they were your own
• using published or unpublished work, including digital or recorded material, without proper acknowledgement
• assembling parts of other people’s work into a new piece of work without properly acknowledging them

Self-plagiarism means submitting work that you have already submitted for assessment, or submitting work that substantially overlaps with work you have submitted elsewhere.

Not every problem with citing, referencing or paraphrasing is automatically academic misconduct. Abertay distinguishes between poor academic practice and academic misconduct, and this is an academic judgement based on the circumstances.

Plagiarism is one type of academic misconduct. The University’s Code of Student Discipline: Academic Misconduct also covers other forms, including false citation, falsification, collusion, contract cheating and unacceptable use of AI.

Good working habits make plagiarism much easier to avoid.

• Keep track of your sources as you work. Record enough information to find each source again and create an accurate citation and reference.
• Make it clear in your notes when you have copied exact words. Record the page number or other location at the same time.
• Cite sources as you write. Do not leave all your citations and references until the end.
• Paraphrase properly. Understand the source, express the information in your own way without changing its meaning, and acknowledge where the information came from.
• Use quotations clearly. If you use someone else’s exact words, make it clear that they are a quotation and provide the citation required by your referencing style.
• Check your referencing before submission. Make sure your citations, footnotes, reference list or bibliography follow the requirements of the referencing style you have been asked to use.
• Check your assessment brief. Requirements about collaboration, source use and AI can vary between assessments.
• Use your Turnitin draft report. Review text matches and give yourself enough time to correct any problems with citing, referencing or paraphrasing before final submission.

When you use information, ideas or other material from a source, you usually need to acknowledge where it came from. The way you do this depends on the referencing style you are using.

See Citing for guidance on when and how to acknowledge sources within your work.

If you need to know how to cite and reference a particular type of source, use Cite Them Right Online for detailed examples in your required referencing style.

For an introduction to the overall process, including the referencing styles used at Abertay, see Referencing.

Citing a source is only part of using it effectively. You also need to decide how the source contributes to your own writing and whether to paraphrase, summarise or quote it.

See:

• Paraphrasing for guidance and examples on expressing source material in your own words
• Integrating information from sources for guidance on using evidence effectively within your writing and argument
• Quoting information from sources for guidance on deciding when and how to use quotations
• Reporting verbs for guidance on introducing and discussing the work of other authors

Whichever approach you use, remember that putting information into your own words does not remove the need to acknowledge the source.

Unacceptable use of AI is identified separately from plagiarism in Abertay’s Academic Misconduct Code.

Always follow your assessment brief. It tells you whether AI can be used for that assessment and whether any permitted use needs to be acknowledged.

Using AI in ways that are not permitted by your assessment brief may be treated as academic misconduct. Acknowledging AI use does not make a use permissible if the assessment instructions prohibit it.

See AI Rules and Responsibilities for Abertay’s current requirements. If AI use is permitted, see Acknowledging AI use for guidance on when and how to describe its contribution to your work.

Turnitin identifies text in your work that matches material in its databases. A text match does not automatically mean that you have plagiarised, and Turnitin does not decide whether material has been cited or referenced correctly.

For text-based assessments, use your draft report to review the matches Turnitin identifies. Check whether quotations are clearly marked, sources have been acknowledged where needed, and paraphrased material has been expressed appropriately in your own words.

There is no ideal Similarity Index score or pass mark. You need to look at the individual matches and interpret them in context.

See Turnitin: How to Use It and Interpret Your Report for detailed guidance.