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More types of plagiarism

Misinterpreting common knowledge

Common knowledge is information which is:

  • well known to all in a particular field
  • easily verified by consulting standard textbooks or encyclopaedias
  • not disputed
  • undisputed historical facts
  • known formulas or equations
  • examples include: H2O is the chemical symbol for water; pi = 3.1416

Concealing sources

If a student cites from a piece of work in an assignment, this does not mean they do not have to cite that work again if they use it in the same assignment. No matter how many times they refer to the same piece of work, it must always be acknowledged (cited) even if in the very next paragraph.

Self plagiarism

The notion of 'self plagiarism' is difficult to grasp.

'Some people argue that self-plagiarism is impossible by definition because plagiarism is theft and people cannot steal from their own work. But, this is not correct in law. There are circumstances, such as insurance fraud, embezzlement, etc., when it is possible to steal from oneself'.

Hexham, I. The Plague of Plagiarism, [Online] Available from: http://c.faculty.umkc.edu/cowande/plague.htm#self [Accessed 30 April 2008].

Self plagiarism is when a student re-uses their own previously written work or data in a new assignment and does not reference it appropriately. This could be conceived as deceiving their lecturer.

Things to remember

  • if a student uses material from a previous assignment they must reference it appropriately
  • they should never use the same essay for different lecturers
  • if re-sitting a course they should not submit the same essay
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