Academic Integrity at VU: Plagiarism and how to avoid it

What is plagiarism

Copying or paraphrasing someone else's work and presenting it as your own. This includes using your own work without authorisation in a different context. (from Academic Integrity Module 1)

Types of plagiarism: 

  • Presenting another person's work or research data as your own work
  • Copying out parts of any work without acknowledging the source(s). This may be written text (verbatim copying or paraphrasing), structures within texts, diagrams, formulae, audio-visual material (sound and image files), software and code, and mathematical proofs.
  • The use of someone else's concepts, experimental results, experimental conclusions or conclusions drawn from analysing evidence or arguments without acknowledging the originator of the idea(s) or conclusion(s).
  • A modern form of plagiarism is known as "washing". This occurs when Google Translate or similar services are used to translate a plagiarised assessment into another language and then back again into English. 
  • Use of one's own previous work in satisfaction of a new assessment requirement may also be impermissible.

(Quoted from from VU Academic Integrity Policy. Refer to policy for detailed information.)

Step through the scenario below to confirm when references are required in your work.

If there were any unfamiliar concepts in the scenario (above), refer to the Glossary to learn more.

Academic Integrity Modules

Study with Academic Integrity. As you start or continue your studies at Victoria University, complete the academic integrity modules. Understand what academic integrity means and why it is important to present authentic work and acknowledge the work of others.

To access these interactive modules you must be enrolled as a VU student.

Link through to Academic Integrity HQ for VU students on VU Collaborate - you need to self-enrol, Navigate to the Academic Integrity Modules and work through the contents and quizzes for each module. Refer Academic Integrity HQ for VU students for further information.

After successfully completing all four modules and quizzes you will receive a Certificate of Achievement. This is a downloadable PDF file which includes the your student name and date of completion. See Academic Integrity Student Guide for instructions on how to download your Certificate.

Referencing Guides

Refer to your relevant Referencing Guide for exact details on how to reference your sources:

A note about Secondary Sources

Sometimes you want to quote information or an idea from an author that is quoted in the book or journal article you are reading, but you have not read the original source. Each style has particular rules regarding how to express this information n your work, and whether or not this is recommended. Consider locating the original document to use as a reference.

Link through to the style guides: