4.4 What are plagiarism and inadequate referencing?

4.4.1 Plagiarism

The Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary defines ‘plagiarism’ as ‘the act of using in one’s own work the written expression of another person’s ideas and knowledge without acknowledging the authorship and source of the material used.’^[1]

Clearly, there can be different degrees of seriousness when it comes to plagiarism. Directly copying one sentence without acknowledgment is at the lower end of the spectrum compared with downloading an entire article from the internet, removing the author’s name and presenting it as your own work. But be aware that all degrees of plagiarism are treated seriously. There can be various academic penalties (e.g. loss of marks, failing an assessment, failing a subject). For law students, a finding of plagiarism can have added negative consequences when you apply for admission to practice as a lawyer.^[2]

4.4.2 Unintentional inadequate referencing

Inadequate referencing can be problematic, even where a student has not engaged in plagiarism. While you are still studying, it is highly unlikely that you will be an authority on whatever you are being asked to write about, so you will rely heavily on other people’s ideas. When you do your research, take detailed notes – including the referencing data such as author, publication and specific page number – so that you can make sure that you correctly attribute your idea to the original source. Always ensure that you are aware of the requirements concerning referencing and check your work for any instances of inadequate referencing.