Plagiarism

Plagiarism (copying or paraphrasing other people’s work or ideas into your own work without full acknowledgement) is regarded by the University as a very serious offence. Punishments for not referencing work correctly can be severe, and it is vital that you know exactly what is meant by plagiarism and what you should and should not be doing in your work and in examinations. People have in the past been expelled from the university for plagiarism - while penalties for inadvertant plagiarism are not this steep, it's nevertheless worth reading up on plagiarism in advance so that you can have an idea of how best to avoid it.

The University's website on plagiarism has incredibly full information and examples of what is and is not allowed. It also contains informal tests and lots of links to helpful websites which deal with study skills - do have a look at it. The examples which are provided will give you an idea of what is and what isn't permitted in a way that merely explaining plagiarism might not be able to.

In particular, international graduate students can be affected by plagiarism. It is even more important if you have come from another academic background that you quickly make yourself aware of what precisely is accepted at Oxford, so that you don't get yourself into difficulties later. No matter how good the universities which you've been at prior to Oxford, it's worth remembering that citation practices can vary between institutions so you'll need to familiarise yourself with the Oxford-specific regulations.

The Careers Service provides access to a website which help with study skills and research skills, developing good academic practice: SkillsPortal.