Plagiarism

What is plagiarism?

The university defines plagiarism as: "the unacknowledged use of another person's ideas, words or work either verbatim or in substance without specific acknowledgement.";
Plagiarism is where you pass off the work of another person (and this includes pictures, figures, data, text, and ideas) as your own. Typically this is done to gain some advantage, e.g. a higher mark!

Plagiarism is wrong and any student caught plagiarising will be face disciplinary action
Penalties include expulsion from the University

How does the school detect plagiarism?

The School of Biomedical Sciences uses two main methods to detect plagiarism:

1. The staff - The staff are experts in their fields of study and know the key papers and text books, therefore, if something sounds familiar they know where to look! In addition, the staff know what "signs" indicate that a piece of work may be plagiarised.
2. Computerised detection - The school uses a computerised system to detect plagiarism (this is why you are also asked to submit work in an electronic format). The software is capable of comparing your work against sources on the web (including scientific papers and reviews), within the class and against material submitted by other universities.

How can I avoid plagiarising?

Avoiding plagiarism is easy and here are a few simple suggestions that may help: