Activity
Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism
Exercise 1: Is a reference needed?
When is a reference necessary in an assignment? Tick whether a reference is needed
or not in the following situations.
Situation
Yes
No
1. When quoting someone directly from a website.
2. When using statistics or other data that is freely available
from an encyclopedia or reference book.
3. When summarising the cause of past events, where there is
agreement by most commentators on cause and effect.
4. When paraphrasing a definition found on a website, where no
writer, editor or author’s name is shown.
5. When summarising the ideas of a particular author, which
have been paraphrased by another person. E.g., when author
A paraphrases what author B has said.
6. When summarising in your concluding paragraph what you
discussed and referenced earlier in your text.
7. When including photographs or graphics that are freely
available on the Internet, where no named photographer or
originator is shown.
8. When paraphrasing an idea you have read that you feel
makes an important contribution to the points made in your
assignment.
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Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Exercise 2: where should the citations go?
A citation is the author(s) last name and year of publication, (or reference number if
using Vancouver referencing) that you place in the text of your assignment to
identify the source used. E.g. (Handy 2014). These citations should connect with the
full detail of the source contained in the alphabetical list of references at the end of
the assignment.
E.g., the following essay paragraph contains two citations that help the reader to
identify the source of the definition used (i.e. Coleman and Chiva 2011) and the ideas
presented (i.e. Hopson and Scaly 2009).
Life planning is a process to encourage people to review their lives, identify life
priorities, consider options and make plans to implement choices (Coleman and
Chiva 2011). It is an idea that started in the USA, but has found its way to
Britain and the rest of Europe in recent years. Hopson and Scally (2009)
suggest the process is built on seven life management skills: knowing yourself;
learning from experience; research and information retrieval skills; setting
objectives and making action plans; making decisions; looking after yourself;
and communicating with others. They argue that these skills are necessary to
avoid ‘pinball living’: where individuals are bounced from one situation to
another without any clear direction.
Now look at the following assignment extracts and decide if a citation is necessary,
and, if so, where it should go. Mark the relevant point in the text with a X.
1. Commentators have linked Communication Apprehension (CA) to feelings of
loneliness, isolation, low self-esteem and the inability to discuss personal
problems with others. The reason for this is obvious, in that the behavioural
response of people with CA is to avoid or discourage interaction with others.
2. Climatologists generally agree that the five warmest years since the late
nineteenth century have been within the decade 1995-2005, with the National
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Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) ranking 2005 as the second warmest
year behind 1998.
3. It has been argued that federalism is a way of making sense of large
organisations and that the power and responsibility that drives federalism is a
feature of developed societies and can be extended into a way forward for
managing modern business because “…it has been designed to create a
balance of power within an institution. It matches paradox with paradox”.
Exercise 3: “I didn’t cite the source because…”
Below are six statements that might be made by students for not citing and
referencing a particular source in an assignment.
Imagine you are a tutor and match the likely response to the statement (see page 4).
Statements
Response
“I didn’t cite the source because…”
Number:
a. … I listed all the sources in the reference list instead.
b. … I found this theory on a Wiki Internet site; anyone can
contribute to these and no author is named.
c. … the statistics were taken from a government website - there
for the whole world to see and use.
d. … it just gave me ideas to use in my assignment; I changed most
of words in the article to my own.
e. …it was from a tutor handout; everyone in class was given a
copy.
f. … no author or writer’s name was shown on the website.
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Tutor Responses
Match each of the previous statements with the appropriate tutor response, from the
list below.
1. If no named author or writer is shown, you should cite and reference the
name of the originator of the source. This can be the name of an
organisation.
2. Readers need to match in-text citations with the full details of sources in a list
of references. This enables readers to find and use the sources for
themselves, if required.
3. The source of all data like this must be fully cited and referenced, even if they
are openly accessible.
4. It is advisable to use academic sources (e.g. text books and journal
articles)wherever possible. Primary sources, in this example the original
theory, should be used as secondary sources may not be reliable. However, if
you do use a secondary source, it needs to be properly cited in the body of
your work and referenced.
5. Any source that has made a significant contribution to your assignment
must be fully cited and referenced. By doing this you acknowledge the part
another person has played in the development of your own ideas (rather
than claiming the ideas are all original and your own).
6. This came from work produced by someone else, not by you, and so must be
acknowledged. It also contributes to the reader’s understanding of terms
you have used in your assignment and so needs to be properly referenced.
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Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the practice of knowingly using another person’s work and claiming it,
directly or indirectly, as your own.
This is work that is accessible to others in a tangible way, e.g. written in printed or
electronic forms, or presented to others in some public way, including audio/visual
or graphic formats, or in dramatic/music/dance performances.
Exercise 1: Is it Plagiarism?
Which of these scenarios do you think would be regarded as plagiarism by most
universities in Britain? Tick either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
1. You see a useful article in a newspaper that will be helpful in your
assignment. You copy 40 per cent of the words from this source, and
substitute 60 per cent of your own words. You don’t include a
citation or reference, as the journalist or writer’s name is not shown.
2. You summarise a point taken from a course handout that presents
an overview of the work of others. You do not reference the handout,
as it is just for the limited use of the students on the course.
3. You are part of a study group of six students. An individual essay
assignment has been set by a tutor. Each member of the group
researches and writes a section of the essay. The work is collated and
written by one student and all the group members individually
submit this collective and collated work.
4. You include the expression ‘Children should be seen and not heard’
in your essay without a reference to a source.
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
5. You overhear a conversation between two students, both known to
you, discussing a subject of interest to you for an assignment you
have to write. One student makes some interesting points which
you make a note of and later use the unreferenced ideas in your
assignment.
6. Your command of written English is not as good as you would like it
to be. So you explain to another student what you want to say in an
essay – all your own ideas - and that student writes it for you, and
you then submit it.
Yes
No
Yes
No
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Exercise 2: More Plagiarism?
Read the following extract from a journal article. Then look at the four examples
which attempt to paraphrase the information from the extract for an assignments.
Decide which, if any of these, would amount to plagiarism.
The extract
For thousands of years, outsiders have regarded China as a xenophobic country.
However, the stereotypes have been changing since China opened up its economy in
1979. Now, the encouragement of foreign direct investment (FDI) and international
technology transfer (ITT) lies at the heart of economic relations between foreign
countries and China. The international flows of capital, information and technology
facilitate the economic growth of China and the influence of multinational enterprises
(MNEs). The boom in FDI and ITT has brought to the fore the issue of intellectual
property rights (IPRs) as a major topic in the economic development of China.
Although a historical review shows that the germination of the concept of IPRs in China
goes back more than 100 years, in reality no effective system of intellectual property
protection (IPP) existed until very recent times.
Source:
Yang, D. and Clarke, P. (2004) Review of the current intellectual property system in
China. International Journal Technology Transfer and Commercialisation 3 (1),
12-37.
Example 1
This essay is about intellectual property (IP) in general and about the situation in
China today, and about China’s relationship with the West in relation to this issue.
For thousands of years, outsiders have regarded China as xenophobic. However, the
stereotypes have been changing since China opened up its economy in 1979. Now,
the encouragement of foreign direct investment (FDI) and international technology
transfer (ITT) is at the centre of economic relations between foreign countries and
China. The global flows of capital, information and technology have helped the
economic growth of China and the influence of multinational enterprises (MNEs).
The boom in FDI and ITT has brought to the forefront the issue of intellectual
property rights (IPRs) as a major topic in the economic development of China.
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Although history shows that the germination of the concept of IPRs in China goes
back more than 100 years, in reality no effective system of intellectual property
protection (IPP) existed until very recent times.
Is this plagiarism? Yes 
No 
Example 2
Outsiders have long regarded China as a xenophobic country. However, the
stereotypes have been changing since China opened up its economy in 1979. Yang
and Clarke (2004) argue that now the encouragement of foreign direct investment
(FDI) and international technology transfer (ITT) lies at the heart of economic
relations between foreign countries and China. They state
“The international flows of capital, information and technology facilitate the
economic growth of China and the influence of multinational enterprises
(MNEs). The boom in FDI and ITT has brought to the fore the issue of
intellectual property rights (IPRs) as a major topic in the economic development
of China” (p.12).
Although a historical review shows that the germination of the concept of IPRs in
China goes back more than 100 years, in reality no effective system of intellectual
property protection (IPP) existed until very recent times.
Is this plagiarism? Yes 
No 
Example 3
This essay is about intellectual property (IP) in general and about the situation in
China today, and about China’s relationship with the West in relation to this issue.
For centuries China has been regarded by the outside world as a rather closed and
insular country. However, Yang and Clarke (2004) argue that now things are
changing, and particularly so since 1979, when China decided to open up its
economy. Since then, foreign direct investment (FDI) and international technology
transfer (ITT) are important connecting links between China and the rest of the
world. Now the flows of capital, information, technology and the influence of
multinational enterprises MNEs have stimulated the Chinese economy. But these
developments have also caused attention to focus on the issue of intellectual property
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rights (IPR). Although the concept of IPR goes back more than a hundred years,
there has been no effective system of intellectual property protection (IPP) until
recently.
Is this plagiarism? Yes 
No 
Example 4
This essay is about intellectual property (IP) in general and about the situation in
China today, and about China’s relationship with the West in relation to this issue.
For centuries China has been regarded by the outside world as a rather closed and
xenophobic country. However things are changing. Since 1979, China has loosened
opened and stimulated its economy by foreign direct investment (FDI), international
technology transfer (ITT) - and from the influence of multinational enterprises
(MNEs). However, these developments have also focused attention on the issue of
intellectual property rights (IPR) and until recently in China there has been no
effective system of intellectual property protection (IPP).
Is this plagiarism? Yes 
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Answers and comments
Referencing
Exercise 1: Is a Reference Needed?
Situation
Yes
1. When quoting someone directly from a website.
No

Comment: The sources of all quotations should be referenced.
2. When using statistics or other data that is freely available from an
encyclopedia or reference book.

Comment: The sources of statistics or other data that you use
in assignments should always be referenced.
3. When summarising the cause of past events, where there is
agreement by most commentators on cause and effect.
Comment: This can be regarded as common knowledge, which

does not need to be referenced. However, the sources for any
contested or contentious discussion of the same events would
need to referenced.
4. When paraphrasing a definition found on a website, where no
writer, editor or author’s name is shown.
Comment: If no named writer, author or editor is shown, you

should cite and reference the name of the website, e.g. Bized
2007.
5. When summarising the ideas of a particular author, but which
have been paraphrased by another person. E.g., when author A

paraphrases what author B has said.
Comment: You always need to acknowledge your sources, even
if they are secondary ones. However, it is advisable, whenever
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possible, to consult the main (primary) sources for yourself and
to reference these.
6. When summarising in your concluding paragraph what you
discussed and referenced earlier in your text.
Comment: Providing the sources were properly referenced

earlier in your assignment, there would be no need to rereference your concluding comments. However, any new
material introduced into your assignment at this point would
need to be referenced.
7. When including photographs or graphics that are freely available
on the Internet, where no named photographer or originator is
shown.

Comment: The photographs or graphics are the result of work
by another person. In this situation you should cite and
reference the name of the website that contains the illustrations.
8. When paraphrasing an idea you have read that you feel makes an
important contribution to the points made in your assignment
Comment: This is an important reason for referencing, as it

acknowledges the importance and relevance of the source
concerned to the development of your own work.
Exercise 2: Where should the citations go?
1. Commentators X have linked communication apprehension (CA) to feelings of
loneliness, isolation, low self-esteem and the inability to discuss personal problems
with others. The reason for this is obvious, in that the behavioural response of people
with CA is to avoid or discourage interaction with others.
Comment: The above extract refers to ‘commentators’, so you need to cite at
least two sources/commentators. E.g. ‘Commentators, for example, Daly and
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Stafford (2014), and McCroskey, Daly, Richmond and Falcione (2010), have
linked communication apprehension…’ etc. The citation could also have been
located at the end of the first sentence. The important point is that you need to
make the connection between statement and source citation as obvious and clear
as possible.
2. Climatologists generally agree that the five warmest years since the late nineteenth
century have been within the decade 1995-2005, with the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO) ranking 2005 as the second warmest year behind 1998 X.
Comment: The sources of all statistics and information originating from
named sources, such as the NOAA and WMO, should always be fully referenced.
3. It has been argued that federalism is a way of making sense of large organisations
and
that the power and responsibility that drives federalism is a feature of developed
societies and can be extended into a way forward for managing modern business
because “…it has been designed to create a balance of power within an institution. It
matches paradox with paradox” X.
Comment: If you use the term, “It has been argued…” you need to cite who has
presented the argument. As a quotation is included to emphasise the first half of
the sentence, there is an assumption here that the source of the argument and
quotation are the same. So you can show the source of the argument and
quotation – providing they are from the same source – immediately after the
quotation.
If the quotation is taken from a printed source, show the page number, as well
as the author’s name and year of publication, as this helps others to easily locate
the quotation in the source cited, e.g. (Handy 2014: 98).
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Exercise 3: “I didn’t cite the source because…”
Statements
Response number:
“I didn’t cite the source because…”
2
a. …I listed all the sources in the reference Readers need to match in-text
list instead.
citations with the full details of
sources in a list of references. This
enables readers to find and use the
sources for themselves, if required.
4
b. …I found this theory on a Wiki Internet
It is advisable to use academic
site; anyone can contribute to these and sources (e.g. text books and journal
no author is named.
articles) wherever possible. Primary
sources, in this example the original
theory, should be used as secondary
sources may not be reliable.
However, if you do use a secondary
source, it needs to be properly cited in
the body of your work and
referenced.
3
c. …the statistics were taken from a
The source of all data like this must be
government website - there for the
fully cited and referenced, even if they
whole world to see and use.
are openly accessible.
5
d. …it just gave me ideas to use in my
Any source that has made a
assignment; I changed most of words in significant contribution to your
the article to my own.
assignment must be fully cited and
referenced. By doing this you
acknowledge the part another person
has played in the development of your
own ideas (rather than claiming the
ideas are all original and your own).
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6
e. …it was from a tutor handout; everyone
in class was given a copy.
This came from work produced by
someone else, not by you, and so must
be acknowledged. It also contributes
to the reader’s understanding of
terms you have used in your
assignment and so needs to be
properly referenced.
1
f. …no author or writer’s name was
shown on the website.
If no named author or writer is
shown, you should cite and reference
the name of the originator of the
source. This can be the name of an
organisation.
Plagiarism
Exercise 1: Is it Plagiarism?
Yes
No
1. You see a useful article in a newspaper that will be helpful in your
assignment. You copy 40 per cent of the words from this source and
substitute 60 per cent of your own words. You don’t include a
citation or reference, as the journalist or writer’s name is not shown.
Comment: you should always acknowledge the sources of items

that have contributed to your own knowledge. If no author’s name
is shown, you should reference the name of the newspaper, e.g.
(Financial Times 2016). The point that you used 60 per cent of
your own words in the process is irrelevant; you still need to
acknowledge the source.
2. You summarise a point taken from a course handout that presents
an overview of the work of others. You do not reference the handout,
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as it is just for the limited use of the students on the course.
Comment: the handout is the result of work by your tutor and

circulated to others, albeit a specialist readership. You need to
acknowledge the source in your assignment.
3. You are part of a study group of six students. An individual essay
assignment has been set by a tutor. Each member of the group
researches and writes a section of the essay. The work is collated
and written by one student and all the group members individually
submit this collective and collated work.

Comment: study groups are an excellent way to share and
discuss ideas. But, if an individual assignment has been set, then
each member must write their own interpretation of the group
discussion and research.
4. You include the expression ‘Children should be seen and not heard’
in your essay without a reference to a source.
Comment: this is an example of a common expression, or
aphorism, which does not need to be referenced - if the originator
of the expression is unknown. The only exception to this might be
if you were researching the origins of such expressions and

needed to trace the development of them.
However, if you were able to identify the period of origin of an
expression, you could mention this, e.g., ‘Children should be seen
and not heard’ (15th Century British proverb).
5. You overhear a conversation between two students, both known to
you, discussing a subject of interest to you for an assignment you
have to write. One student makes some interesting points which you
make a note of and later use the unreferenced ideas in your
assignment.
Comment: only tangible ‘work’, and not ideas, can be

plagiarised. We are influenced by ideas all the time; this is how
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we learn. If, however, if the two students had made their ideas
public, e.g. in an article, handout to the class, or in a formal
lecture, then you would need reference this.
6. Your command of written English is not as good as you would like it
to be. You explain to another student what you want to say in an
essay – all your own ideas – and that student writes it for you, and
you then submit it.

Comment: you must write this essay yourself. It should be a
reflection of your own abilities and limits, therefore, the linguistic
components should be your own. If you feel you need help with
English, you should seek advice from The Language Centre at the
University.
Exercise 2: More Plagiarism?
The extract:
For thousands of years, outsiders have regarded China as a xenophobic country.
However, the stereotypes have been changing since China opened up its economy in
1979. Now, the encouragement of foreign direct investment (FDI) and international
technology transfer (ITT) lies at the heart of economic relations between foreign countries
and China. The international flows of capital, information and technology facilitate the
economic growth of China and the influence of multinational enterprises (MNEs). The
boom in FDI and ITT has brought to the fore the issue of intellectual property rights (IPRs)
as a major topic in the economic development of China. Although a historical review
shows that the germination of the concept of IPRs in China goes back more than 100
years, in reality no effective system of intellectual property protection (IPP) existed until
Example
very recent1 times.
This essay is about intellectual property (IP) in general and about the situation in
China today, and about China’s relationship with the West in relation to this issue.
For thousands of years, outsiders have regarded China as xenophobic. However, the
stereotypes have been changing since China opened up its economy in 1979. Now,
the encouragement of foreign direct investment (FDI) and international technology
transfer (ITT) is at the centre of economic relations between foreign countries and
China. The global flows of capital, information and technology have helped the
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economic growth of China and the influence of multinational enterprises (MNEs).
The boom in FDI and ITT has brought to the forefront the issue of intellectual
property rights (IPRs) as a major topic in the economic development of China.
Although history shows that the germination of the concept of IPRs in China goes
back more than 100 years, in reality no effective system of intellectual property
protection (IPP) existed until very recent times.
Is this plagiarism?
Yes. It is almost identical to the original and there is no attempt to identify the
source.
Example 2
Outsiders have long regarded China as a xenophobic country. However, the
stereotypes have been changing since China opened up its economy in 1979. Yang
and Clarke (2004) argue that now the encouragement of foreign direct investment
(FDI) and international technology transfer (ITT) lies at the heart of economic
relations between foreign countries and China. They state:
“The international flows of capital, information and technology facilitate the
economic growth of China and the influence of multinational enterprises
(MNEs). The boom in FDI and ITT has brought to the fore the issue of
intellectual property rights (IPRs) as a major topic in the economic development
of China” (p.12).
Although a historical review shows that the germination of the concept of IPRs in
China goes back more than 100 years, in reality no effective system of intellectual
property protection (IPP) existed until very recent times.
Is this plagiarism?
Yes. Although the authors have been cited, and some of their words directly quoted,
the student simply copies a large part of the original. The implication is that the
sections outside the quotations are predominantly the student’s own words – which
they are not.
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Example 3
This essay is about intellectual property (IP) in general and about the situation in
China today, and about China’s relationship with the West in relation to this issue.
For centuries China has been regarded by the outside world as a rather closed and
insular country. However, Yang and Clarke (2004) argue that now things are
changing, and particularly so since 1979, when China decided to open up its
economy. Since then, foreign direct investment (FDI) and international technology
transfer (ITT) are important connecting links between China and the rest of the
world. Now the flows of capital, information, technology and the influence of
multinational enterprises MNEs have stimulated the Chinese economy. But these
developments have also caused attention to focus on the issue of intellectual property
rights (IPR). Although the concept of IPR goes back more than a hundred years,
there has been no effective system of intellectual property protection (IPP) until
recently.
Is this plagiarism?
No. The original source is acknowledged and the student has made a good effort to
summarise the extract in their own words.
Example 4
This essay is about intellectual property (IP) in general and about the situation in
China today, and about China’s relationship with the West in relation to this issue.
For centuries China has been regarded by the outside world as a rather closed and
xenophobic country. However things are changing. Since 1979, China has loosened
opened and stimulated its economy by foreign direct investment (FDI), international
technology transfer (ITT) - and from the influence of multinational enterprises
(MNEs). However, these developments have also focused attention on the issue of
intellectual property rights (IPR) and until recently in China there has been no
effective system of intellectual property protection (IPP).
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Is this plagiarism?
Yes. Although this is a very good summary of the original extract, it is plagiarism as
the original authors are not cited. The original source must be acknowledged. It is
only if knowledge becomes so publicly well-known (or ‘common knowledge’) that
summaries of undisputed facts can be presented without referencing the sources. If
in doubt – cite your sources.
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