The need to acknowledge the work of another arises out of a set of rights provided for in the Copyright Act  (PDF 119KB, 10 pages) known as ‘moral rights’. These include the right to attribution and the right to object to derogatory treatment of the work. The UTS: Library has more information on copyright and UTS.

Plagiarism is a type of student misconduct and a breach of academic integrity. It can take many forms these days, but the university has systems in place to actively check and act upon any instances of plagiarism in students’ work. UTS treats any form of plagiarism very seriously.

Penalties for plagiarism are harsh and can result in you:

• failing the assessment task;
• failing the subject; and/or
• being suspended or excluded from the university.

Forms of plagiarism

Some examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to:

• copying out part(s) of any document, audio-visual material, computer-based material, drawing,  or artistic design piece work without acknowledging the source. This includes copying directly or indirectly from the original, for example, photocopying, faxingtracing, emailing, or by any other means, including memorising.
• creating a collage or montage using the work of other designers without acknowledging the sources.
• using another person's concepts, results, images, sound, video, processes or conclusions, and passing them off as your own.
• paraphrasing and/or summarising another's work without acknowledging the source.
• buying or acquiring an assignment written by someone else on your behalf.

Other forms of behaviour that breach academic integrity and are regarded at UTS as student misconduct include, but are not limited to:

• submitting an assignment which is all or partly written or designed by someone else, including copying from someone you know, and downloading or buying from an Internet site.
• allowing another person to submit your work as his/her own.
• working together with another student on an assignment intended for individual submission, and then submitting work which is similar in content and language.
• placing a request and offering to pay someone to complete your assessment, and then submitting that assessment task as your own.
• submitting an assignment that was previously submitted for another subject, or created prior to the semester in which the student is enrolled.

Using what you read

Writing assignments involves bringing together two sources of ideas:

• the ideas of others (discovered in your reading); and
• your own ideas (formed through critical thinking).

There needs to be a balance between your own ideas and the ideas of the writers you have read.

When you use others’ ideas, you can:

• quote (use the writer’s actual words), which requires the least input from you;
• paraphrase (rewrite the writer’s ideas in your own words), which requires more thinking on your part; or
• summarise (rewrite the writer’s ideas in your own words in a shorter form), which achieves the best balance of your thinking and others’ ideas.

You should summarise much more often than you quote or paraphrase because when you summarise, you show that you:

• understand others’ ideas; and
• can synthesise and connect those ideas in order to support your argument.

Using images, sound and video

Whenever you use images, sounds or videos that are created by another person we need to acknowledge the source. Even when these sources are used in part or they have been significantly changed or altered the source needs to be acknowledged. Essentially we do this out of respect for other creatives but also so the source of our designs can be tracked by others.

All designers are influenced by what they see, hear and touch, and even what they taste and smell. Sometimes we are not even aware of these impressions. But wherever possible we must recognise our influences and be mindful of how they affect what we design. We must also acknowledge the sources of these influences.

If you are ever in doubt as to whether you need to reference images, sound or videos then it is best to always acknowledge these sources.

The best practice is to use your own images, sound and videos wherever possible.

Referencing

Correct referencing techniques require that you acknowledge the source of your information in two places:

• in the text of your assignment, at the point where you use someone else’s ideas; this is known as in-text referencing or citation
• in a list at the end of your assignment; this is known as a reference list.

The purpose of referencing is:

• to avoid being accused of plagiarism by acknowledging the works of others you have used
• to enable your reader to locate the ideas used and items referred to in your writing.

There are many different referencing styles; but Design, Architecture and Building at UTS uses

• Harvard UTS

In-text referencing

Example of author-prominent citation:

Rexer (2009) argues that light itself is a creative agent in making a photograph as much as the photographer.

Research by Jones and Xiao (2014) shows that significant analysis has been carried out relating to these specific human resource management initiatives.

Example of information-prominent citation:

Indeed, some writers assert that a photograph is performance art because light is the performer not the subject of the photograph or that which light falls on (Rexer 2009).

There has been a significant amount of data which has shown that these human resource management initiatives have been thoroughly analysed for effectiveness (Jones & Xiao 2014).

Example of in-text referencing where a direct quotation is cited:

It can be argued that the ‘photograph itself is a piece of performance art, and the performer is light’ (Rexer 2009, p.14) and therefore it could be contended …

Example of in-text referencing for an image:

Figure 1 – Buddhist monk (Sasint 2016)

When referencing an image put the author and year of publication in brackets beneath the image. If there is no date use n.d. instead

• This image was taken from a public domain image site, where the picture was not given a title. In this case you can provide a title for the work, which would then be used as the title in the reference list.
• Using ‘Figure’ when referencing an image lets you use the figure number to discuss it in the text, if that is easier than using the title. 

Referencing your own work
Generally you don’t need to reference work that is your own, unless it has been published elsewhere. If there is work you’ve created for an assignment, such as an image or a graph, you can indicate this in the text of your work by clearly stating that you took that image, or by placing text like (Author’s image) underneath the image.

(Full reference if needed): 

Sasint 2015, Buddhist monk, Pixabay, viewed 1 December 2016, <https://pixabay.com/en/%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0-ancient-meditation-architecture-1807518/>.

Common knowledge

You don't need to provide a reference for common knowledge – that is, information shared by many people. It is sometimes difficult to know what is and what is not common knowledge in your field of study. If you read or hear the same information many times from different sources, it is probably common knowledge. Common knowledge usually includes major historical events, famous people and geographic areas that are known by educated people throughout the world, not just in the country in which they occurred.

If the information is not common knowledge, you should provide a reference. This shows your reader that the idea is held by an expert in the field. It also demonstrates to your lecturer that you have been reading academic texts.

When in doubt, provide a reference.

Image referencing

Sasint 2015, Buddhist monk, Pixabay, viewed 1 December 2016, <https://pixabay.com/en/%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0-ancient-meditation-architecture-1807518/>.

Sound referencing

Smashing Pumpkins 1993, Siamese dream, albumn, Virgin Records, Hollywood.

More information can be found in  https://www.lib.uts.edu.au/help/referencing/harvard-uts-referencing-guide/sound-film-and-image#music

Video referencing

Muriel’s wedding 1994, motion picture, Roadshow Entertainment, Sydney.

For more information see here.

Still not sure if you are doing the right thing? Here are some scenarios that may help you decide.

Examples of unacceptable student conduct

Examples of acceptable student conduct