Lifting large parts of the writing directly from other people’s writing. It is what is known as ‘Unfair Academic Practice’ to do this: Food Science Assignment, UCC, Ireland

Lifting large parts of the writing directly from other people’s writing. It is what is known as ‘Unfair Academic Practice’ to do this. It is not enough just to change the odd word here and there and hope you’ll get it through, you won’t. The system is very sophisticated and picks up everything.

Please don’t use a translator or synonym software as you may get an incorrect usage of the word in English. Sometimes it is very difficult to read this sort of work and you are unlikely to make your meaning clear. If it is not clear and simply put, you will not do well.

This is helpful for some; read a passage or a paper, then put it down so you can’t see it. Try to explain what it says to a friend or family member. You are paraphrasing in your own words and not reading it word for word to another person. That’s what you should do for your essays.

You must use citation throughout; in general, if you make a statement, you need to cite it. If you don’t know how to cite, there is further information on the library website of CMU, as with referencing.

You must answer the question set; it is not good enough just to write what you want to write about. People have failed in the past because they wrote about something that didn’t answer the assessment brief.