How to avoid plagiarism: Avoiding plagiarism

The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite and reference within your assignment. The Credit Where Credit Is Due guide to referencing shows you how to do this. It can be viewed online, borrowed from the Library, or purchased in the College Shop.

We also recommend that you:

• give yourself plenty of time to research and write your assignment.
• make a note of the sources you use as you are researching and mark work that is not your own as you are writing. It's more difficult to do this when you have finished your assignment.
• avoid working in a group if you have been asked to submit an inidividual assignment.

You don't need to acknowledge a source for information which is common knowledge.

Common knowledge, in general, is information that either the general public or the 'regular person' in your subject area would know. For example:

• it's common knowledge that the boiling point of water is 100°C
• it's common knowledge amongst goldsmiths that the melting point of gold is 1,014°C, but this may not be commonly known by others

If you're unsure if something is common knowledge or not it's best to indicate where the information came from.

Your lecturers do not expect everything you submit to be original. It's natural that you will need to refer to other people's work in your assignment. In fact your lecturers will expect it, as it shows that you can research a topic and compile information. You may also need to refer to another source to back up a point you are making or to provide background information.

This is fine as long as you:

1. indicate clearly when you are using someone else's work (citing)
2. acknowledge your sources (referencing)

Our referencing guide explains this in detail.