Library: Plagiarism: Introduction

Plagiarism is using work written by someone else in your assignment without acknowledging where it came from.

Correctly acknowledging all sources of information is the foundation of academic integrity and honesty. It is important at every level of academic study and research.

Plagiarism applies to any material:

Written (including books, articles, websites)
Visual (including images)
Spoken, performance or any other medium

Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional. It is a type of academic misconduct.

Plagiarism includes:

Quoting or direct copying of someone else’s work without acknowledgement
Paraphrasing (putting into your own words) someone else’s work without acknowledgement
Summarising someone elses work without acknowledgement
Re-using part of a previous marked assignment without approval from your lecturer
Letting another person help you by providing content for your assignment

Consequences for plagiarism at MIT, even if it is unintentional, can include:

Marks taken off
Mark of 0
Course failure

Refer to the MIT Student Regulations and your Course Outlines

It is your responsibility to avoid plagiarism.

You can find information more information on plagiarism and how to avoid it on the Academic Integrity page

Note that some MIT courses use Turnitin (via Canvas) to check assignments for plagiarism.

Always cite and reference your sources of information!
Citation - The note you make within your assignment about where you got your information
Reference - The full details of your source of information, put in a list at the end of your assignment
Make use of MIT’s referencing resources and recommended online information (see below)
Ask your lecturer or your Subject Librarian if you are unsure

Key research tips to help you avoid plagiarism:

Keep a record of your sources of information as you go. For example, create a reference for everything you read
Make a note of the page number of every quote, image, chart etc you may use in your assignment

Useful Plagiarism resources

Turnitin Draft Coach for MS Word (Online) Turnitin Draft Coach gives you access to Turnitin Similarity Reports , Citations Reports, and Grammar Guide right where you do your work directly in Microsoft Word on the web.

Useful Referencing resources:

Need help? You can make an appointment with an Academic Learning Advisors (for academeic writing) or Subject Librarian (referencing), chat with us online via https://library.manukau.ac.nz or email library@manukau.ac.nz

Is it ok to get help from Chat GPT with assignments?

The simple answer is no.

There may be some times where it is ok to use, but if you’re using it to help write your assignment, this comes under the realm of third party assistance and may be considered cheating.

Need assistance regarding your assignments? Get help from:

Do not try to get help from:

ChatGPT to answer your assessment questions
Students who already took the class
Family members or friends who offer to do your work
Companies promoting writing services

What could happen if you are caught cheating? Getting a lower mark, or a 0 on your assignment, failing your course or having to leave MIT.

Please don’t break the rules by cheating. Instead, ask for help from MIT staff. They are here to support you.