What is Plagiarism?
You commit plagiarism – intentionally or not - in written work when you use another person’s sentences, ideas or opinions without acknowledging them as being from that other person.
In academic work, researchers build on the ideas of others. This is a legitimate and accepted way of doing research. Plagiarism is using someone else’s ideas or words and presenting them as if they are your own. It is therefore a form of academic cheating, stealing or deception. Because plagiarism is an offence, all universities take a very serious view of anyone who is found cheating. Those who are suspected of having plagiarised, will be referred to the Vice-Chancellor or nominee for possible disciplinary action in terms of the rules on disciplinary jurisdiction and procedures (DJP1.1). Not all plagiarism is deliberate, but even inadvertent plagiarism will be severely penalized. It is therefore your responsibility to know what will be regarded as plagiarism and to know how to avoid it. What makes plagiarism tricky to avoid and dangerous is that it can take many forms.
UCT's Plagiarism Policy with Declaration form is available at:
Avoiding plagiarism: A guide for students
The University's plagiarism declaration must be included with any work students submit for assessment. Download and attach the Plagiarism Declaration to your work.
The acknowledgement of other writers’ words or creations through citing and referencing is an important characteristic of academic writing.
Citing is the practice of quoting from, or referring to, other writers’ works and ideas in the text of your work.
Referencing is the listing of the full details of the publications that you have cited so that the reader can find the original sources.
Referencing Style Guides
"All academic writing requires you to cite all the sources that you have read and consulted in the preparation of your work. Citation, also known as referencing, consists of quoting from or referring to other writers' words and thoughts and the listing of their names, together with the titles and other details of their publications so that these can be tracked down independently. Citation has long been regarded as a hallmark of academic writing of all kinds" de Jager, K. & Steele, D. 2011
Helpful tips on referencing and writing can be found at these sites:
The University of Cape Town subscribes to both EndNote and RefWorks, reference management tools used to store and organise references. UCT staff and students can access EndNote and RefWorks on campus and off-campus. UCT Libraries provides support to EndNote and RefWorks only. These reference management tools allow you to save citations to your own web-based database whilst reading articles for your research project.
EndNote 21 is your one-stop solution for managing references and streamlining the research process.
Centralized, searchable library
Keep all your references and related materials organized in a searchable personal library. This centralized location makes information retrieval easy, helping you stay organized throughout your research process.
Synchronization between devices
With the EndNote Sync feature, synchronize your references across multiple platforms. Whether you use three personal computers, an EndNote web library, or your iPad or iPhone, your references are always at your fingertips. Please note: to use this feature, you must be the owner and user of all three computers.
Collaborate with ease
Set up a library sharing team and grant access to your designated synchronized library. With the ability to collaborate with up to 1,000 co-authors and colleagues, EndNote 21 makes teamwork simple and efficient.
Seamless citation
Integrate EndNote 21 with your word processing documents to cite your references. Create formatted citations, bibliographies or stand-alone reference lists with ease, ensuring your references are formatted correctly every time.
EndNote 21 is more than just reference management software. It is a powerful tool to facilitate collaboration and streamline research.
The following libguide offers great tips on how to use ENDNOTE:
http://clarivate.libguides.com/endnote_training/home
EndNote is available for download from the ICTS Downloads page.
RefWorks is a premier reference management service that supports the needs of students, faculty and librarians. With a refined user experience, full-text management, collaboration and other features you’d expect from a reference management service, RefWorks enables students and faculty to have a more efficient and reliable process for producing the best research papers.
Collect and import
Find, access, and capture research materials from virtually any source and in any format. Auto-completion of reference data and retrieval of full text saves time and ensures accurate citations.
Manage research
Unify materials in one central workspace to facilitate storage and reuse, and take advantage of powerful tools such as tags, folders, full-text searching, and deduplication, to access and organize references with ease.
Share and collaborate
Organize, read, annotate and highlight full-text documents individually or share privately with members of your institution or with any RefWorks user in a collaborative environment.
Extend library impact
Enhance library’s contribution to research and student success with a fully supported reference management service, enabling library admins to set and disseminate institutional styles, analyze usage, and manage copyright compliance.
Help
The following libguide offers great tips on how to use REFWORKS:
http://proquest.libguides.com/newrefworks
New to RefWorks?
Access RefWorks with UCT email address. Register for an account on or off-campus. This includes all UCT staff, students and alumni.