The MBC information booklet - RMIT University

14.41 Photocopiers
14.41.1 I need to use a
photocopier.
Can I get
access to
one?
14.42 Plagiarism
14.42.1 Academic
Integrity
Workshop
available
14.42.2 What is
Plagiarism?
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
You can find photocopiers in the Swanston library (Building 8, Level 5) and in Building 10,
Level 4. Note, though, that photocopying is not free.
At the start of each semester you can attend a workshop on academic integrity. To register
to attend one of these sessions click the ‘Week 1 Activities’ link at
www.rmit.edu.au/csit.
Plagiarism is cheating. Specifically, it is wrong to submit an assignment that contains
other people's work without acknowledgement, or to help someone else to plagiarise.
Students are encouraged to discuss their work and seek advice when they are struggling
with problems or assignments. However, students need to be aware that:
• They must not submit material that is not their own work.
• They must not submit work they don't fully understand.
• They must not submit work that has been copied from elsewhere, unless they have
permission from the lecturer to include copied material and there is full
acknowledgement of which material is copied.
• They must not enable other students to plagiarise their work.
While it is fair practice for a student to seek advice while developing a solution to an
assignment, the solution must primarily be the student's alone.
As a rule of thumb, an assignment is plagiarised if writing it (or writing any non-trivial part
of it) involved having another solution to work from; or having a sketch of a solution written
by someone else; or even having a sketch of a solution developed together with a friend.
If the outline of a solution or part of a solution is from a textbook, or was provided by the
lecturer, this material can only be used with the permission of the lecturer, and must be
acknowledged in the assignment's documentation.
In group assignment work, there is a shared responsibility by all group members to ensure
that the work has been completed within the group. It is essential to contribute honest work
to the joint submission and to clearly indicate who is responsible for each individual
section.
Other situations are also treated as plagiarism. In particular, giving a solution to another
student is plagiarism; if a student gives their work to a friend or friends, all are cheating
and are equally disciplined.
The only case in which it is acceptable for a student to include other people's work in an
assignment is when there is explicit permission from the lecturer. In this case, the part of
the assignment that is copied must be clearly acknowledged. For example, if the copied
work is included in a program, the program should include all of the following forms of
acknowledgement:
• A detailed comment at the start of the program stating that part of it is copied, and
stating who wrote the copied part.
• Clear comments in the body of the program marking the start and end of the copied
material. These comments must also give the name of the author.
• If code has been obtained from elsewhere, then modified by the student, the
modifications need to be explained. For example, a comment might have the wording
"The original code obtained from Jos Leubnitz was modified to print more detailed
error messages". Each adaptation of the original code should be documented.
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