Academic integrity is a foundational principle of research. Plagiarism — presenting another person’s work, ideas or words as your own — is one of the most serious breaches of academic ethics. Understanding what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it protects your intellectual honesty and your marks.
Plagiarism is the use of another person’s work, ideas, or expression without appropriate acknowledgement, creating the false impression that it is your own original work.
Plagiarism can be:
- Intentional: Deliberately copying and submitting someone else’s work
- Unintentional: Poor note-taking leads to forgotten attribution; misunderstanding of citation requirements
Both are taken seriously in academic settings.
KEY TAKEAWAY: Intention does not determine whether plagiarism has occurred. If you use someone else’s work without attribution, it is plagiarism regardless of whether you meant to. The solution is not good intentions — it is good practice.
| Form | Description |
|---|---|
| Direct copying | Reproducing text word-for-word without quotation marks or citation |
| Mosaic plagiarism | Replacing some words in a copied passage with synonyms while keeping the structure |
| Paraphrase plagiarism | Restating someone’s idea in your own words without citation |
| Self-plagiarism | Submitting the same work (or parts of it) for multiple assessment tasks |
| Ghost-writing | Having someone else write your assignment and submitting it as your own |
| Idea theft | Using someone’s concept or framework without acknowledging them, even if expressed differently |
| AI-generated content | Submitting AI-written text as your own work (increasingly a formal academic integrity issue) |
Even when you don’t copy text, misattribution is an ethical problem:
- Misrepresenting the source: Saying Smith (2020) found X when Smith actually found something different
- Secondary source error: Citing a primary study you haven’t read, accessed through a summary — the original may say something different
- Selective quotation: Quoting only part of a passage in a way that distorts the author’s meaning
EXAM TIP: Extended Investigation assessors are trained to identify inconsistent voice (sudden shifts to a more sophisticated register), unusual phrasing, or claims unsupported by the cited source. Plagiarism is detectable — and academically catastrophic.
APPLICATION: Develop a note-taking system that prevents accidental plagiarism. One approach: use three distinct zones in your notebook — (1) exact quotes with full citation, (2) your own paraphrase + citation, (3) your own original ideas. Never mix them.
Original text (Smith, 2020, p. 34):
“Regular physical exercise has been consistently shown to reduce symptoms of depression in adolescents, with the greatest effects observed in aerobic activities lasting 30 minutes or more.”
Plagiarism (mosaic):
Consistent evidence shows that regular exercise reduces depression in adolescents, with the biggest effects found in aerobic activities of 30 minutes or longer (Smith, 2020). (Too close to original structure and phrasing)
Acceptable paraphrase:
Smith (2020) found that adolescents who engaged in physical activity — particularly aerobic exercise of at least half an hour — showed meaningful reductions in depressive symptoms.
COMMON MISTAKE: Thinking that changing a few words while keeping the sentence structure is sufficient. A true paraphrase must restructure the idea entirely in your own expression — not just swap synonyms.
REMEMBER: Your Extended Investigation report is a document of your intellectual work. Every idea that is yours should read as yours. Every idea that is someone else’s should be attributed.
