Academic integrity · 14 pages
Academic integrity, plagiarism & paraphrasing
Clear, standards-grounded explainers on academic integrity for students and researchers — the core values, the types of plagiarism and how to avoid them, how to paraphrase and quote properly, and how honest citation upholds trust. Each page leads with a concise answer and links across to CASRAI’s citation, writing and standards resources, grounded in COPE and ICAI principles.
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All 14 academic integrity, plagiarism & paraphrasing pages
Academic integrity
Academic integrity is the commitment to acting honestly, fairly and responsibly in all scholarly work. The International Center for Academic Integrity defines it through six fundamental values — honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage. Upholding it means giving credit, citing sources and doing one’s own work, so that qualifications and research genuinely reflect the effort behind them.
GuideTypes of plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s words, ideas or work as your own without proper acknowledgement. It takes several forms: verbatim (direct) copying, mosaic or patchwork plagiarism, paraphrasing without attribution, self-plagiarism, accidental plagiarism, source-based plagiarism, and contract cheating. They differ in method and intent, but each fails to give credit and so breaches academic integrity.
How-toHow to avoid plagiarism
To avoid plagiarism, credit every source you use: cite ideas and findings that are not your own, put copied wording in quotation marks, and paraphrase in genuinely fresh words while still citing the source. Keep careful notes that separate your words from others’, use citation tools to format references, and check your work before submitting.
How-toHow to paraphrase
To paraphrase, read the passage until you fully understand it, set the source aside, and rewrite the idea in your own words and sentence structure from memory. Then compare your version with the original to check the meaning is intact but the wording is genuinely yours, and add a citation. Changing only a few words is not paraphrasing — it is still plagiarism.
GuideParaphrasing examples
A good paraphrase restates a source’s idea in genuinely new words and sentence structure, preserves the original meaning, and includes a citation. A poor paraphrase merely swaps a few synonyms while keeping the original structure — this is "patchwriting" and still counts as plagiarism, even with a citation. Comparing examples side by side makes the distinction clear.
ComparisonQuoting vs paraphrasing
The difference is how closely you follow the source. Quoting reproduces the author’s exact words inside quotation marks, while paraphrasing restates a specific passage in your own words and structure. Summarising condenses a longer source to its main points, also in your own words. All three borrow from a source, so all three require a citation. Paraphrasing is the best default for most academic writing.
GuideConsequences of plagiarism
The consequences of plagiarism range from academic penalties — a failed assignment, a capped or failed module, or expulsion — to professional and reputational harm, such as retracted papers, lost trust and damaged careers. Most cases are handled through an institution’s academic-integrity process, which weighs seriousness and intent. This overview describes how integrity is upheld; it is not legal advice.
DefinitionAcademic dishonesty
Academic dishonesty is any act of deception or unfair advantage in academic work. Its main forms are cheating (using unauthorised help or materials), fabrication (inventing data or sources), plagiarism (using others’ work as your own), and facilitation (helping someone else act dishonestly). It is the practical opposite of academic integrity, and many institutions counter it with honour codes.
DefinitionContract cheating
Contract cheating is outsourcing assessed academic work to a third party — such as an essay mill, another student, or an automated tool — and submitting it as your own. Because the entire piece is not the student’s work, it strikes at the core of what a qualification certifies. It is hard to detect with text-matching software, which is why many institutions treat it as especially serious.
GuideCitation and integrity
Citing sources is the main way writers uphold academic integrity and avoid plagiarism. By acknowledging the words, ideas and data of others through in-text citations and a reference list, you give due credit, let readers trace and verify your claims, and keep your own contribution clear. Accurate, honest referencing is integrity made practical — not a formatting chore.
DefinitionParaphrasing
Paraphrasing is the act of restating someone else’s ideas, findings or argument in your own words and your own sentence structure while keeping the original meaning intact, and then citing the source. It differs from quoting, which reproduces exact words inside quotation marks, and from summarising, which condenses a longer passage to its main points. Paraphrasing without a citation is still plagiarism.
DefinitionPlagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of presenting someone else’s work, ideas, words or data as your own without adequate acknowledgement of the source. It ranges from copying text verbatim to paraphrasing without citation, reusing your own prior work, or reproducing data. It is an academic-integrity breach rather than a crime in itself, although it can also involve copyright infringement when protected material is copied.
DefinitionSelf-plagiarism
Self-plagiarism is the reuse of one’s own previously published or submitted work — whether text, data or a complete paper — without disclosure or citation. Common forms include duplicate publication, text recycling, dual submission and "salami slicing" results across several papers. Even though the work is your own, COPE and journal editors treat undisclosed reuse as a publication-ethics breach because it misleads readers and inflates the apparent body of original research.
DefinitionResearch misconduct
Research misconduct is fabrication, falsification or plagiarism (FFP) in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in reporting research results. Fabrication invents data; falsification distorts data, materials or results; plagiarism appropriates another’s work without credit. Under the widely used US Office of Research Integrity definition, it explicitly does not include honest error or differences of opinion. Substantiated cases can lead to investigation, correction, retraction and funding sanctions.
