Plagiarism
noun. The action or practice of taking someone else's work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one's own; literary theft. Oxford English Dictionary, 2007.
La Trobe University defines plagiarism as 'the reproducing of someone else's intellectual work and representing it as one's own without proper acknowledgment'. This includes using work derived directly from an author / designer / inventor without acknowledging the source, and includes their:
- discoveries
- facts
- works of art
- analyses
- conclusions
- images
- ideas theories
- computer programs
- designs
- interpretations
- music
For more detailed information please see the La Trobe University policy on academic misconduct (PDF file 33KB). There is also a dedicated LMS site that is available for all students that deals with ways in which to avoid plagiarism.
As a current student you should be aware that La Trobe University uses many techniques for detecting plagiarism, including software detection systems.
Third Party Services
Students should be aware of dubious websites and emails offering writing services for student assignments. This is plagiarism.
An example of the type of email is:
“If you have undergraduates who has trouble writing a decent term paper, or postgraduates who are having problems with their thesis or publications, we may be able to help you. We offer a personalised, online, tuition service designed to help students and academics produce solid, well argued texts that are fit for their intended purpose and appropriate for their intellectual discourse community, whether it be mechanical engineering or medieval Danish”.
If you are thinking of using a service to assist you in your writing skills, please speak with your Unit or Course Coordinator before using the service. The University offers several support services that are designed to help students with their academic writing skills. Your Unit or Course coordinator will be able to help you.