Academic misconduct - plagiarism

In regards to plagiarism, what does QUT consider to be dishonest behaviour or academic misconduct?

Plagiarism

This involves representing another person's ideas or work as your own. It may also include resubmitting your own work for another assessment item. Common forms of plagiarism include:

• direct copying, summarising, or paraphrasing another person's work without appropriate acknowledgement of the sources
• using or developing an idea or hypothesis from another person's work without appropriate acknowledgement
• representing the work of another person as your own work
• copying non-word based material (such as diagrams, plans or audio-visual materials) and presenting them as your own work
• using another person's experimental results as your own or without appropriate acknowledgement.

Other forms

Other forms of failing to undertake your studies with academic integrity, including:

• giving or providing your work for sale to someone else
• misrepresenting, falsifying or fabricating data for an assessment
• using assessment materials from someone else (whether purchased or taken)
• colluding (working very closely) with other people to produce an assignment and then submitting it as your own individual work
• collaborating (working on an assignment) with others where it is not authorised in the assessment requirements.

Information in the above section adapted with permission from University of Leeds (UK).

See QUT cite|write: How can I avoid plagiarism? for more information.

The QUT resource on the HiQ page for Avoiding plagiarism also provides critical information about plagiarism for QUT researchers.

QUT's plagiarism detection software for higher degree research (HDR) candidates is iThenticate.

All higher degree research candidates will be confirmed as having access to iThenticate within one month of commencing their course at QUT. You will be sent a welcome email to your QUT student email address (from iThenticate) with details of your username and temporary password.

All HDR candidates are required to submit their thesis through QUT's plagiarism detection software prior to lodgement for examination. The resultant report must be provided to the Principal Supervisor for review. Candidates are encouraged to take this opportunity to discuss the findings in the report with their supervisory team. On the Lodgement of Thesis for Examination form, the Principal Supervisor will be asked to certify that they have received and reviewed a copy of the report and that the thesis is now ready for examination.

Referencing

The two components to academic referencing are in-text citations and the reference list.

QUT cite|write is an introductory guide to citing and referencing. The booklet contains general information and tips about referencing and citing information regarding QUT Harvard and APA styles. However, at a postgraduate or research level you need to conform to discipline or faculty-specific referencing conventions. Check with your supervisor about which referencing style you are expected to use.

In-text citations

In-text citations offer the reader a link to the original author's work within the paragraph you are writing:

In-text numbered style: 'Nutrition during childhood and adolescence is essential for growth and development, health and well-being. [1,2] Further, eating behaviours established during childhood track into adulthood and contribute to long-term health and chronic disease risk. [3,4]' (from this article).

In-text APA style: 'These young people arrive with identifiable forms of cultural capital which have not been recognised in previous educational settings. Some have musical abilities, some are involved with Hip-hop culture (Morrell & Duncan-Andrade, 2002), or Goth culture (Hodkinson, 2002), some have computer gaming abilities; some are members of sub-cultural groups such as BMX, Skate and Surf cultures' (from this article).

References

The Reference List (or List of References) at the end of a written work should list every source cited in that work. Only references cited within the body of the text should appear in the reference list. Omit from the final thesis any reference material that you read but did not cite. Your bibliographic management software will ensure that only in-text citations appear in your reference list.

A bibliography includes both cited works, and works read but not cited.