King Alfred’s College

School of Social Sciences

Business Management Group

 

Plagiarism

'the act of presenting another's work or ideas as your own'

 

 

What is Plagiarism? [Extract from KAC Student handbooks]

Plagiarism is defined as ‘the verbatim or near-verbatim copying or paraphrasing, without acknowledgement, from published or unpublished material attributable to or which is the intellectual property of another, including the work of other students.’

 

Plagiarism is a very serious matter within academia. It is, basically, cheating – using someone else’s ideas and passing them off as your own. These ideas may be from published sources, obtained through the Internet or from fellow students – in all cases use of such material is termed plagiarism, and will, at the very least, lead to failure of the assignment of which it forms a part. Serious breaches may lead to failure of an entire module – something which might affect your ability to graduate.

 

The above applies to intentional plagiarism – the fraudulent use of someone else’s argument in the hope of self-advancement. If you are influenced by something you have read then that is perfectly acceptable – provided you make it clear. The safest bet is to acknowledge everything.

 

Your tutors are all researchers in the areas in which they teach. It is therefore likely that they have read the same texts as you. They are also easily able to spot when a piece of writing adopts a different tone to that which it had previously exhibited – such changes of tone etc can arouse suspicion.

 

How do I avoid it ?

§           Reference correctly using the following two sources in conjunction with each other:
Harvard system (Bournemouth University)
Referencing using the Harvard system: frequently asked questions (South Bank University)

       Read and follow the advice in the following sources:

§           Avoiding Plagiarism, Advice for Students (Dr. Hugh S. Piper, University of Leeds)

§           Download of ‘Avoiding Plagiarism’ (.doc file)

§           Using English for Academic Purposes (Andy Gillett, University of Hertfordshire)

 

King Alfred’s Regulations upon Plagiarism

Suspected Cases of Cheating or Plagiarism by Students

Declaration of Academic Integrity

Form for the Declaration of Academic Integrity to be attached to each assignment.