Plagiarism means the imitation or copying of another person’s work and presenting it as if it were one’s own. Plagiarism is considered cheating and a violation of academic honesty, which is an important element in all academic activities.

Plagiarism refers to a text, image or diagram being used without a reference to its source. Plagiarism can manifest itself in different ways; it can be intentional or unintentional. Intentional plagiarism is where a work is copied and the sources left out deliberately, and unintentional plagiarism can occur when the rules of writing are not adhered to correctly, due to a lack of knowledge or attentiveness. To avoid plagiarism, it is important that you clearly acknowledge the sources you are using by referring to them correctly.

About referencing

Self-plagiarism

Submitting a whole text or parts of a text you have written yourself, for more than one assignment, is considered self-plagiarism if you are not marking it as a citation. If you want to use something from a text that you have previously submitted, you must refer to it in the same way that you refer to other people's works. Plagiarism is not accepted within the scholarly community and can be reported to the Disciplinary Board, who will decide whether any disciplinary measures, such as a warning or suspension, are to be taken.

Urkund

To prevent and discover cases of plagiarism, Lund University is using a tool called Urkund, a system which automatically checks students' works against existing texts.

Lund University’s guidelines and regulations on plagiarism (PDF)