Plagiarism

Plagiarism means representing someone else’s ideas, writing, creative works, code, or other intellectual property as your own whether done intentionally or unintentionally. Any use of the work of others, whether published, unpublished or posted electronically (e.g., on web sites), attributed or anonymous, must include proper acknowledgement (see section 5.2 of York University’s Academic Conduct Policy and Procedures). 

Plagiarising includes: 

• cutting or copying and pasting from another author or work, including from the web, without attribution 

• rewording or paraphrasing another writer’s ideas or work, without acknowledgement 

• representing the work of others as your own 

If you are aware of what constitutes plagiarism and employ strategies to avoid it, you are much less likely to run into problems. A few strategies to help ensure that you will be able to properly acknowledge other authors include: 

• keeping careful track of the sources you read 

• when taking notes while reading, identifying clearly the sources of ideas you want to use in your writing 

• being sure to appropriately cite sources 

See the Gathering & Noting Ideas module for more information about useful note-taking strategies and the Academic Integrity module for more on plagiarism, as well as tips for tracking information, and sources of assistance with citation.