Quotations and Plagiarism
Quotations
When you write papers, you naturally quote books or other sources. You may quote shorter text excerpts from books etc. following §22 of the Danish law on copyright.
It is, however, difficult to say exactly how much you can quote before it constitutes plagiarism and you thereby violates someone else’s copyright.
Therefore, if you are in doubt, only quote very short excerpts from a material. Always remember to quote correctly; clearly marking that it is a quotation and reference the source you are quoting.
Video tutorial: Reading and managing references with a reference management tool
Guides for referencing management tools:
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is using someone else’s material (books, articles, films, websites, tables, figures etc.) as your own and/or without referencing precisely to the original source.
Plagiarism is when you cheat knowingly – e.g. borrow someone else’s paper and turn it in as your own. However, plagiarism is also when your references are imprecise or lacking.
Therefore, if you in a paper use text excerpts from books without referencing the sources, you are committing plagiarism. This is obviously not allowed.
Many universities, University of Copenhagen included, use control systems that check your papers for plagiarism.
In the worse cases, the consequence of plagiarism can be expulsion from your studies at the university.
Video tutorial: Stop plagiarism