What you need to know next is...

  • How many different conventions and styles do you need to use in your studies? What are they?
  • What do these citation styles look like?
  • Where can you find models of good academic practice in your course?
  • Does your course have a discipline-specific plagiarism policy? (If so, where is it and what are the details?) 
  • Are you required to reference lecture, tutorial or class handout materials?

What you need to do is...

  • Leave yourself enough time to process your assignments.
  • Make sure you understand what is asked of you in assignment tasks.
  • Continually write about your thinking.
  • Read widely to inform your thinking.
  • Accurately record your sources of information when you are making notes including page numbers.
  • Make a clear distinction between your ideas and the ideas of others. This should start from  initial note-making through to final edit.
  • Fully develop your paragraphs so that your response is clear and you are not just reporting what you have read.
  • Work on your summarising and paraphrasing skills.
  • Learn when and how to include direct quotes in your writing.
  • Learn how to reference different kinds of sources, such as diagrams, pictures, tables, etc.

Good academic practice takes time—working out a system that works for you is the trick.

See next: Other plagiarism resources

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