Plagiarism and copyright

As a research degree student producing original work, you should be aware of what constitutes academic misconduct and how to avoid it.

For a detailed definition of plagiarism visit this link


Not all acts of plagiarism are infringements of copyright.

Copyright is the law. In Australia, the rights of creators and users of copyright material are enshrined in the Copyright Act 1968 and apply to any work made or created in Australia. It is important that you understand how copyright works as you will be relying on copyright law to protect any work you create and to reproduce other people's work in your research.

As a student of the University, you are responsible for ensuring that you comply with copyright. For more information, please refer to the Australian Copyright Council's resources for researchers (PDF).

How to avoid plagiarism

To write your thesis you will use many sources of information. To avoid plagiarism, ensure that you acknowledge all work and ideas of other people appropriately.

Refer to the AB-58 Research Degrees Policy- plagiarism comes under 'Research misconduct' (see AB-58 P6 Research Degrees Student Research Misconduct Procedure and AB-58 AD3 Research Misconduct Appendix.

Find out more

  • Referencing - guide for students that includes information on academic integrity and plagiarism 

     (you must be logged into LearnOnline to access this resource)

  • Managing references (Library) - includes EndNote guides
  • Copyright (Staff and Students)