1999 Arts Handbook - Plagiarism

Plagiarism

The submission of essays, assignments and homework is an essential part of the learning process and a vital way of assessing students' understanding of a subject. The submitted work must therefore be students' own work. This does not mean that students may not make use of the work of others. However, in quoting or paraphrasing material from other sources, those sources must be acknowledged in full. It may be useful to seek the help of a tutor in preparing the piece of work and to enlist the help of fellow students in sorting out ideas, but the final product must be written by the student in his or her own words.
Plagiarism occurs when students fail to acknowledge that ideas have been borrowed. Specifically, it occurs when:
(a) passages, phrases and sometimes even individual words are used verbatim without quotation marks and/or without a reference to the author or any source, such as the internet;
(b) work is paraphrased in your own words from one of several sources, but presented without reference to the source(s);
(c) other students' work is copied;
(d) you allow another student to copy your work;
(e) items of assessment are written in conjunction with other students (without prior permission of the relevant member of staff);
(f) the same piece of work - or a substantial part of it- has already been submitted for assessment in another subject or course without prior arrangement with the appropriate members of staff.
Plagiarism is an attempt to obtain undeserved academic advantage. Students suspected of intentional plagiarism will be given the opportunity to explain their plagiarism in the company of their tutor and the subject/course coordinator. If the subject/course coordinator believes that intentional plagiarism has occurred, students will normally receive no marks at all for the piece of work concerned. Cases of intentional plagiarism will be reported to the relevant associate dean in accordance with faculty policy. Serious or repeated cases may be reported to the Faculty's Discipline Committee.
Plagiarism is a form of cheating, and as such, an offence for which a student can be charged under Monash Statute 4.1 'Discipline' (see Statutes of the University, Monash University Calendar).
The following hints will help students avoid plagiarism:

when taking notes distinguish as clearly as possible between the ideas you find in the sources and your own ideas;
in notes, as well as the essays you write from, place quotation marks around all material that is copied out directly and note the source;
give a reference-according to the preferred system of the department to whom you are submitting the work - for any idea that is not your own, even if it is paraphrased or summarised in your own words and does not appear in quotation marks;
never download material from the internet or other electronic source directly into your essay-treat it the same way as you would any other printed source.