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Faculty of Human Sciences: Referencing Guidelines and Plagiarism

This guide is for the Faculty of Human Sciences staff and students.

Referencing Guidelines

It is important to properly acknowledge all sources con­sulted for dissertation. When using viewpoints of authors to support your own arguments you must acknowledge such sources in your text

You should be honest and not pass off another person’s work as your own. If you do this, you are committing plagiarism, a serious academic offence that can lead to the rejection of your dissertation/thesis.

For more info:  “VUT Postgraduate Referencing Guidelines: bibliographical  referencing for theses, dissertations, and projects reports.

Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism?

The word “plagiarise” comes from the Latin word plagium which means “the act of kidnapping”. Kidnapping is “snatching” or “taking furtively and illicitly that which is not your own”. Applied to intellectual property, it is the appropriation of another’s work without proper acknowledgement.

Plagiarism Definition:  is the act of taking words, ideas and thoughts of others and passing them off as your own. It is dishonest and punishable to represent as your own ideas, words and academic work that belong to another person, whether unintentionally or deliberately.

Consequences: serious academic offence that can lead to the rejection of your dissertation or research project.

VUT PLAGIARISM POLICY

Students are reminded that they must give credit to the sources they use.  The following are regarded as plagiarism:

  • Copying words or ideas without giving credit.
  • Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks.
  • Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation.
  • Turning in someone else’s work as your own.
  • It involves stealing someone else’s work and lying about it afterwards.

For more information consult VUT Higher Degrees Guide