Introduction to plagiarism

1. Plagiarism
A brief
introduction to
plagiarism: what
it is, and how to
avoid it

2. Plagiarism is using other people’s work without telling us
that you are doing it, so that it looks as if you are the one
who created the work.
What is Plagiarism?
This is not limited to copying exact words.
You will also plagiarise if you copy:
 Ideas
 Images
 Designs
 Computer code
Anything you did not create yourself.

3. What is not Plagiarism?
You can use other people’s work for your course as long as
you make it clear that you did not create it.
As Isaac Newton wrote in a
letter to Robert Hooke (5 Feb
1657)
"If I have seen further it is
only by standing on the
shoulders of giants"

4. There are some vital steps to take to avoid plagiarism and
generally improve your academic work
Avoiding Plagiarism.
1. Take good notes, so you can trace the source of the
facts and ideas you wish to use in your work.
2. Acknowledge your sources by referencing
3.Manage your time: don't leave assessments until the
last minute.

5. • It is not fair to students who do their own work.
• It is not fair to the people who actually created the
source that a plagiariser uses- they deserve to get the
credit for their hard work.
• It is not fair to employers- they deserve to know that a
Bradford graduate has really learnt everything they need
to know, not just copied from other people.
Why is Plagiarism wrong?

6. • This set of Blackboard lessons covers the University of Bradford’s
position on plagiarism.
• In your previous work, you may have been held to very similar
standards to ours, or very different ones.
• It is vital that all your assignments submitted for University of
Bradford courses follow our rules, which are based on the standards
for academic writing in the UK Higher Education community.
• For more information on the University of Bradford policies on
plagiarism, see
http://www.bradford.ac.uk/library/help/plagiarism/what-is-plagiarism/
University of Bradford policies on plagiarism

7. Penalties for plagiarism depend on the amount which has
been plagiarised and whether there are previous offences,
but include:
• Repeating the piece of work with a maximum possible
mark of 40% for the piece of work
• Repeating the piece of work with a maximum possible
mark of 40% for the whole module
• Repeating the piece of work with a maximum possible
mark of 0% for the whole module
• Permanent exclusion from the University.
Penalties for Plagiarism.

8. The rest of this module will give you further details on
what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.
You can also get more help in the following ways:
• The Academic Skills website has many learning resources to help
with your study skills
• Student Support Workshops. These are run throughout the year
to help you with a huge range of study, library and careers skills
• The referencing guide for your course is on the library website
• You can ask for one-to-one help from the Academic Skills unit,
your subject librarian or, if you are based at the School of
Management, the Effective Learning Service
Help with avoiding Plagiarism

9. For more details of the help available, go to
http://www.bradford.ac.uk/library/help/plagiarism
And click on “Further help and resources”
Further help

10. Please go back to Blackboard and click "Mark Reviewed“
next to the link for this lesson.
The next lesson is on correctly attributing sources
End of lesson

11. For more information visit our website:
www.bradford.ac.uk/library
Plagiarism Awareness for New Students by University of Bradford Library is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International License
We welcome feedback on our documentation. Please email: library@bradford.ac.uk.
.
July 2014