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Plagiarism

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 resource