Previous | Next

You decide to download an essay from the internet which answers the same topic that you have been set as an assessment task.

You compile a research assignment by copying and pasting numerous sections of your assignment from different web sources. Because this is a 'new' piece of work, you don't see it as plagiarism as you have found the information and made informed selections from it.

You have been part of an online discussion board. Many of the contributors have posted some really useful information that you use for an assessment task. As it's an online group, you believe your teacher will never know it's not your own work.

• all of these examples show plagiarism
• some people believe that the internet is creating a new attitude to ownership of ideas and writing, but, the principles and practices of ethical scholarship still apply.

• Be honest.
• Use websites ethically.
• Reference websites in the same way as any other source.

• It is tempting to plagiarise internet material to deal quickly with information overload.
• The quantity of information available has led to new difficulties with summarising and synthesising such large quantities of information.

• The quality of information on the internet is hard to judge.
• Standards that have always been applied to information quality in books and encyclopedias (print and online) also apply to internet sources.
• We cannot assume the information on the internet has been checked for accuracy, reliability, lack of bias, currency and authoritativeness.

• Resist the temptation. The temptation to plagiarise from the web is much greater than laboriously taking notes and copying from a print source. However, the principles of good scholarship are the same, plagiarism is cheating.

Reload your browser page to reset the Flash Quiz if you wish to try again.

Previous | Next