Plagiarism Guide - Swinburne University of Technology

Avoiding plagiarism and cheatingA guide for students at Swinburne University of TechnologyReference: This word has three meanings, all of which are important. The first is a verb:to reference is to provide an acknowledgement, within your assignment, that the wordsused, or the ideas written about, in your work are not your own and belong to someoneelse. (See section 2.4.3 for more detail about how to do this properly). The secondmeaning is also a verb: to reference is to provide an acknowledgement, at the end ofyour assignment, of the original sources from which your quotes and paraphrases weretaken. This second acknowledgement usually comes in the form of a list of all the originalsources used for your assignment. Ask your tutor, lecturer or Subject Convenor forguidelines or examples that show how to do this in each subject. The third meaning is anoun: each of the original sources you have used is called a ‘reference’.Citation: This word usually has the same meaning as ‘Reference’. You ‘cite’ a referencewhen you provide the details of it within, or at the end of, your assignment. Each of theoriginal sources you have used can be called a ‘citation’.Acknowledge: To acknowledge an original author, you provide a reference or citation.An acknowledgement is when you provide information that the words, ideas or conceptsrepresented in your writing have come from another person.Attribute: This word has the same meaning as ‘acknowledge’. You attribute the words,ideas or concepts to the original author, where appropriate, or give an attribution tothis author.6 ■ Avoiding Plagiarism and Cheating