Information guides - Academic Integrity

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What is Academic Integrity?

FAQs

How to use the CiteAce software

How to write a bibliography or reference list

Plagiarism Prevention and Detection Toolkit

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism 

Introduction
All students are expected to observe the highest standards of honesty and integrity in the work they submit.  Students' work must be original.  It must respect and acknowledge the intellectual contributions of others through referencing (also known as citation).

               
Definitions

 Academic integrity:  Honesty and respect for knowledge and truth mean taking responsibility and giving credit or acknowledgement to the work or scholarship of others.

 Academic dishonesty:  Dishonesty in the presentation of work to be assessed, usually in the form of plagiarism.

 Plagiarism:  Using another person’s ideas, designs, words or works without appropriate acknowledgement. Plagiarism is not just the direct copying of someone’s work.  It includes summarising and paraphrasing information, or someone else’s ideas, without citation.

Examples of plagiarism     
Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional.  

TQA Declaration Form
Students are required to sign a declaration form when submitting work to the Tasmanian Qualification Authority (TQA) stating that the work submitted contains no unacknowledged material and that it is their own work.

Teachers might require students to sign this form as an assignment cover sheet for school or college assignments and essays, declaring that all work is the student’s own.

Teacher librarians’ roles and responsibilities   
Teacher-librarians will support students and teachers in developing their understanding of academic integrity, providing guides to referencing and advising on the tools available for detecting plagiarism.  In addition, teacher-librarians will take responsibility for the professional learning and training of teachers in the use of these tools.  The most common referencing system used in schools and colleges is the Harvard author/date referencing system.  This system requires in-text references for citations and quotations plus a full list of references, arranged by author, for all sources referred to in a piece of work.  We recommend following the University of Tasmania Library’s referencing guide to Harvard: www.utas.edu.au/library/assist/gpoa/gpoa2.html

These guidelines are based on the Style Manual for Authors Editors and Printers. Alternatively you can use the APA style which also uses the Harvard referencing system <http://www.utas.edu.au/library/assist/apps/apa.pdf>.

Students’ responsibilities   
Students will act honestly and openly in their research and creation of work for submission.  Students will follow the guidelines provided for preparing reference lists that will acknowledge the sources of ideas in their work.  Students will seek help from teachers or library staff if they require advice on meeting the standards of academic integrity.  To avoid academic dishonesty, students must cite all their sources using an approved referencing system. 

Teachers’ responsibilities    
It is the responsibility of teachers to provide clear, unambiguous and educationally appropriate information about preferred citation methods to students.  Teachers will develop students’ understanding of plagiarism as an ethical and moral issue as well as a legal issue for the ‘fair use’ of others’ intellectual property.    Teachers will model best practice in academic integrity with their own citation of sources and acknowledgement of the work of others in their lesson materials.  Teachers will adopt specific teaching and learning strategies that minimize the chance of plagiarism.  Teachers will spend appropriate time discussing referencing and the issue of plagiarism with their students.    

Consequences of academic dishonesty
The school or college will treat incidents of dishonesty seriously.   Penalties (such as loss of marks) will depend on the seriousness of the offence and the circumstances under which it was committed. 

For work assessed through the TQA, penalties may range from a reprimand to cancellation of all results for the year or disqualification from receiving a TCE.  

List of references
Abell, J & Wilson, F 2007, Hutchins School Academic Integrity Guidelines
NSW Board of Studies 2006, HSC: All my own work, viewed 16^th July 2007, <http://amow.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/>.
Snooks & Co. 2002, Style manual for authors, editors and printers, 6th edn. John Wiley & Sons, Milton, Qld.
University of Adelaide2006, University Policies and Procedures: Plagiarism Policy, viewed 24^th June 2008, <http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/?230>.
University of Tasmania 2005, Academic Integrity: Student Information, viewed 16^th July 2007,             <http://www.utas.edu.au/tl/supporting/academicintegrity/>.

Academic Integrity   FAQs 

• What is plagiarism?
  Plagiarism is using another person’s ideas, designs, words or works without appropriate acknowledgement. Plagiarism is not just the direct copying of someone’s work.  It includes summarising and paraphrasing information, or someone else’s ideas, without citation.
• How can plagiarism be avoided?
  It’s easy to avoid plagiarism.  All you need to do is to include a list of the sources you have used in your assignment, ie in text citations and a reference list or bibliography.

• Which referencing system should I use?
  We recommend the UTAS Library guide to the Harvard System.  Here is a link to their guide.
• I’ve referred to someone’s work in my own words.  Do I still have to reference this?
  Yes.  You need to reference the source of your ideas.
• Do I have to continually repeat a reference if I discuss the same piece of work for a long time?
  It must be clear to the reader which parts of your discussion refer to another person’s work.  If you are discussing one source repeatedly, make sure it is obvious which ideas are not yours originally.  If you need to, repeat the reference.
• How do I reference a book or article which I have seen referred to by someone else in another book or article?
  Here’s how you can refer to a study by Jones which was mentioned in a book written by Smith:

Jones (Smith 2006, p. 4) proved that …   or

When talking about Jones’s study, Smith (2006, p. 4) said …
The information you have used comes from Smith’s book and therefore you must include Smith in your reference list or bibliography.

• What is the difference between a ‘reference list’ and a ‘bibliography’?
  A reference list is a list of the references you have referred to in an assignment.  A bibliography is a list of all the sources you used when preparing for the assignment, some of which you may not have referred to in your work.
• Can I be penalised if I plagiarise unintentionally?
  Yes. Your school or college will treat incidents of dishonesty seriously.   Penalties (such as loss of marks) will depend on the seriousness of the offence and the circumstances under which it was committed.
  For work assessed through the TQA, penalties may range from a reprimand to cancellation of all results for the year or disqualification from receiving a TCE.
• Where can I find guides to writing reference lists or bibliographies?
  We recommend the UTAS Library guide to the Harvard System.  Here is a link to their guide.  Check your school’s library webpage.  You may have access to software that will help you compile your references.  There is also a website which you might find helpful:  bibme.org
• Are there different rules regarding plagiarism when information is accessed from the internet?
  No. If you use information you have found on the internet, you will need to reference it.

• What if I write a summary that has been synthesised from a number of different sources?
  You must cite all of the sources that have been used to create the summary.
• Where do I put the in-text references?  At the beginning or at the end of the sentence?
  The reference should be placed at the end of a sentence, before the punctuation, whenever possible. If the author's/s' name/s appear in the narrative, cite the year of publication in parentheses.
• How do I cite a work that has many authors as an in-text reference? 
  If the work has three or more authors, cite all authors the first time, but cite the first author and the word et al and the year in subsequent citations.

• How often must I reference?
  You must acknowledge the source of all of the information (including other people’s ideas) you have used in your work.
• Do I need to reference common knowledge or information that I could get from many sources?
  No. ‘Common knowledge’ refers to facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be known by a lot of people.  For example, you do not need to reference the fact that Gough Whitlam was the Prime Minister of Australia from 1972 to 1975.  However, if you refer to any of Whitlam’s ideas or actions, you must cite your source.
• If I’ve written something in my own words, do I need to reference it?
  Yes.  For example, if you are referring to other people’s ideas, you must reference your sources, even if you are writing their ideas in your own words.
• How do I cite personal communications such as emails or phone conversations?
  If those references are not providing recoverable date, they are not necessarily included in the reference list, and merely cited as such in-text.  For example, Smith (personal communication, July 10^th 2000).

• If I use my notes I’ve taken in class, do they have to be referenced?
  If your teacher has spoken about ideas which are common knowledge, you don’t have to cite them.  However, if your teacher has spoken about his/her own ideas, you must provide a reference.
• What if my teacher says not to use Harvard referencing?
  Some subject areas use different referencing systems.  If your teacher requires you to use a different system, you must use that system.  Your teacher should provide a clear guide to the system he/she would like you to use.
• I’m about to finish my assignment but I can’t find the information I need on some of the sources I’ve used.  What should I do?
  If you’ve lost information on a book, search the library catalogue for the information.  If you’ve used information from the internet or a database, repeat your search and see if you can find the source again.  If you still need help, your teacher librarian will be able to assist.

 This page was last updated by Christopher Riley, Elizabeth College Library, on 08 October 2008