5. Plagiarism and Referencing (Who, Where, Why , What, When, How) - How I would enlighten a new student

Walking through the doors on your first day of college is scary, just as you're getting your bearings two horrifying words are thrown at you, plagiarism and referencing.  Have no fear, I will help you understand them!

Plagiarism 

Plagiarism to me, is taking somebody's work and claiming it's your own without giving them credit for it. Forms of plagiarism include someone else doing work for you, rephrasing author's words and not giving them credit. Copying and pasting information from websites or buying an assignment on-line.

Scared? Don't be! There are 3 steps to remember to avoid plagiarism according to the University of Leeds (2012) 

Quoting: The quote is backing up what you are saying, not replacing it. Make sure to use quotation marks 

Paraphrase: Rewrite the author’s words but still keep the main idea

Summary: Rewrite the author's words, in shorter form including the main points

(Austin Community College: 2010)

Referencing:

To me referencing is giving someone credit for their work that you are using. There are many styles of referencing; the method used here at I.T.B is Harvard Referencing.  Harvard Referencing is a two-step system involving citation and a reference list. The reason why we reference is to avoid plagiarism and acknowledge others work (Reading University 2012).  There are many sources to reference from such as text books, newspapers, the internet, journals and pictures.  

You’re probably asking yourself how it's all done? Referencing in your essay is known as citation, you must include 

(Author’s surname + year + comma + page number). 

In the above layout, this goes before/after the quote which will be in single quotation marks.  

A reference list must be included at the end of your work. Containing the information from the sources that you cited in your essay, in alphabetical order.  Below is the layout

Author's surname, author's initial. (Year) title of the book always in italics, place of publication: publisher. 

*Click here* to learn how to reference other sources in your reference list

(Stock Photo:2010)

Reference List:

Austin Community College. (2010) 'faulty guide to plagiarism' [image online] Available at:http://library.austincc.edu/gen-info/facplagiarism.htm [accessed 24 November 2012]

IT Blanchardstown. (nd) Referencing Guide' [online] Available at:https://workspaces.acrobat.com/app.html#d=PpMhyfexTm1dnzCg7Ug3Og [accessed 24 November]

University of Leeds. (2012) 'Plagiarism' [online] Available at: http://www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/plagiarism/ [accessed 22 November 2012]

University of Reading. (2012) 'why is referencing so important' [online] Available at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/library/finding-info/guides/lib-citing-why.aspx [accessed 23 November 2012]

Stock Photo. (2010) ‘brainstorming questions’ [image online] Available at: http://www.123rf.com/photo_11577584_brainstorming-questions--what-when-where-why-how-who--white-chalk-handwriting-on-vintage-slate-black.html [accessed 23 November 2012)