Plagiar-what? My tips on how to avoid plagiarism



For me when I was in high school and College all I need to do to avoid plagiarism was not to copy and paste, I was not prepared for how complex the task of writing a 1500 word assignment without plagiarising was. when I was given that don't plagiarise talk in my induction I didn't realise how hard it was when I got my assignment back. 

So what is plagiarism? Well according to my university Anglia Ruskin plagiarism is defined as "Plagiarism is when you present someone else’s work, words, images, ideas, opinions or discoveries, whether published or not, as your own. It is also when you take the artwork, images, creative practice or computer-generated work of others, without properly acknowledging where this is from or you do this without their permission". 

This definition simply means that any information that you find and repurpose for your assignments,that isn't common knowledge for the subject area, must be referenced correctly in your institution's style. The same goes for images their origin and authorship must be shown in a reference list.

This sounds easy enough however when you are faced with 20 to 30 references and 1000 to 3000-word assignment it can be near impossible to remember where you got each piece of information, and if you have to include a bibliography and all sources you;ve encountered while researching (not just the ones you have taken information from or directly refer to) there could be dozens more again so to avoid this I did the following.

  • When starting an assignment I created  two-word documents one for the assignment and one for references (and a 3rd for bibliography if required)
  • I created a Refme account and I downloaded the app. I Then created Refme folders for that assignment. (Refme can auto reference sources for you, but check the referencing guidelines of your university) 
  • I would reference as I research it there and then either in Refme or the word document.
  • when if a bibliography was required I would note all web links and titles in a word document  to allow me to compile a bibliography later.
  • I cite as I write so I don't have to try to member where I got each piece of information from.
  • for me, I research and reference a section and then I write and cite that section 
Remember: research and reference, write and cite.
this is just what worked for me and may not work for everyone I hope my solution helps those who read this, just remember that most if not all universities have advice on referencing and I am sure your lectures and faculty staff will help you  if you need it.

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