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Avoiding Plagiarism and Referencing skills
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Areas to be covered in this workshop:
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What is plagiarism?
How to avoid plagiarism using referencing
Referencing: voices in academic writing
Referencing conventions: Harvard on-line
Strategies to avoid plagiarism
◦ NB: workshop 3: “Summarising and Paraphrasing”
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Susan, why have you and your brother written
the same essay about ‘My dog’?
But Miss Jones; it’s the same dog!
Your lecturers want you to demonstrate that:
◦ You have understood your task
◦ You have read widely
◦ You have understood what you have read and how the
research/findings/ideas/opinions of scholars to give
authority to your work
Academic writing is about your understanding of and/or
position on a particular topic and requires support from
reliable sources
‘Plagiarism is passing off someone else’s
work, whether intentionally or
unintentionally, as your own for your own
benefit’ (Carroll, 2002, p.9)
‘someone else’s’…whatever the source
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Reduced grades
Failure of the assignment
Failure to complete the course
Expulsion
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University plagiarism policy
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www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/230
Activity: Where do you draw the line??
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To avoid plagiarism
To add strength and credibility as evidence to
support your position
To indicate the scope and depth of your research
To allow others to independently follow up the
presented content
The only unlabelled voice is YOURS! Your voice
introduces new points, presents arguments, refers
to other sources…”the same dog”
There are 3 ways to refer to the voices of others:
 A direct voice uses the exact words of the source
 An indirect voice paraphrases the source and
identifies the source as part of the sentence
 An external voice paraphrases the source and
identifies the source outside of the sentence
(Brick, 2006)
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Direct voice
Smith (2004, p45) states that critical thinking
is “the most important skill that students
develop in tertiary study.”
The exact words of the source
Should be used for emphasis – do not exceed 10%
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Indirect voice
Smith (2004) believes that the development
of critical thinking skills is of central
importance to all university students
Author prominence
Most common
Written in your style
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External voice
Many researchers have concluded that critical
thinking skills are extremely important for all
university students (Smith 2004; Jones 2005)
Information/research prominence
Written in your style
Activity: your turn to try!
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www.library.uow.edu.au/content/groups/pub
lic/.../uow025425.pdf
Google: Harvard Referencing System
◦ Harvard referencing guide - Library
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Time Management
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Read widely
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Note references as you research
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Reference and paraphrase
Academic writing requires you to use
authoritative sources. Your role is to use
sources to support your ideas - but you must
make clear what is your voice and what is the
voice of others
Doing this well enhances your writing and
helps you to avoid plagiarism
professions.learningcentre@adelaide.edu.au
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Analysing questions…Wed 27th March
*Paraphrasing…Wed 10th April*
Oral Presentations…Wed 1st May
Exam revision…Wed 8th May