By Dru Macasieb
Academic referencing is giving attribution (credit) to the sources of information one has used in written work, typically in an academic environment such as a college or university (“Referencing Styles & Academic Writing,” 2018). When someone does not adequately reference ideas that are from outside sources, this is called plagiarism, a form of cheating, which is usually in reference to academic works such as papers, essays, or reports.
When a student plagiarizes, he or she is cheating. Plagiarism can be confusing as this term can be applied to anyone that not only does it on purpose, but also to anyone who does it accidentally (Francis, 2015). Students who plagiarize accidentally do so because they either do not know much about plagiarism or they just have sloppy work habits. For example, if you forget to put quotation marks around a sentence you pulled directly, word-for-word from a source, you are accidentally plagiarizing, but plagiarizing nonetheless.
References:
Francis, B. (2015). Are you misusing other people’s words? What plagiarism is and how to avoid it. Berkeley Heights, NJ. Enslow Publishers.
Referencing styles & academic writing: referencing. (2018, September 21). In The University of Adelaide. Retrieved from https://libguides.adelaide.edu.au/referencing
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