Many people think that plagiarism is simply copying someone else’s work however in reality it is more serious than that. Plagiarism can be defined as literary theft – stealing someone’s work and claiming it as your own. This can happen on purpose or accidentally through not referencing a piece of work properly but there is nothing worse for a student than working hard and being accused of academic dishonesty.
Universities may use a piece of software called Turnltln to check a piece of work for plagiarism. This will scan the document and pick out any areas of the text that are very similar to pieces of internet text that aren’t referenced and also other assignments saved in their database.
Students who have been accused of plagiarism face serious consequences if they are found guilty. At most universities the penalty can be anything from a written warning to full exclusion from the course.