Plagiarism is defined as copying material from the internet, reference books or materials, magazines, short stories and novels without acknowledgement or citation. It also includes copying another student’s assignment and presenting it as your own work.
• It is a form of cheating and makes it difficult for the teacher to assess the student’s true ability.
• At the commencement of an assignment/assessment task the teacher will help the student to avoid plagiarism by reviewing research and note making strategies.
• Students are expected to always acknowledge their information sources by using quotations and by providing a reference list.
• Students are encouraged to retain all notes and drafts and submit them with the final copy. If they draft on the computer they should establish backup procedures so that the assignment is not lost.
• Failure to acknowledge sources may result in the student’s work not being assessed and a parent/carer contacted
• Once the teacher has returned the work, where a student who has been found to have plagiarised, the student will be given an opportunity to re-submit the assessment task or be given a different assessment task to complete.
Further or repeated acts of plagiarism by a student are taken up with parents and carers by the respective Executive Teacher of the learning area in question.
Source: Adapted from Mount Stromlo High School (2017) Assessment and Reporting Policy