Proper use of source material

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Section 1
What is plagiarism

Section 2
Proper use of source material

Section 3
Citation styles

Section 4
Plagiarism and copyright violation

Section 5
CUHK regulations on honesty in academic work

Section 6
CUHK disciplinary guidelines and procedures

Section 7
Guide for teachers and departments

Section 8
Recommended material to be included in course outlines

Section 9
Electronic submission of assignments

Section 10
Declaration to be included in every assignment handed in

Appendix A
Detailed guidelines on proper use of source material

Appendix B
Proper use of online resources

Section 2
Proper use of source material

In academic writing, source material, including online resources, such as websites, electronic journals or articles in an online newspaper, must be properly acknowledged. Mild cases of failure to acknowledge would be regarded as poor academic writing. Serious cases of failure to acknowledge, especially where there appears to be the intention to mislead the reader about the originality, would constitute plagiarism.

This section illustrates and explains cases for which source material must be acknowledged. For the moment do not worry about the citation style. The examples in this section are drawn from different disciplines, and therefore adopt various styles.
The next section explains how the acknowledgement can be presented.

A simple account is given here, and more detailed guidelines and examples are given in Appendix A and Appendix B

For other reference styles see the next section.

Here we give examples of what must be acknowledged. For the moment, reference to the original source will be indicated by a numeral such as [1], which indicates that the source is to be given in the reference list. Other styles of citations are of course allowed. Please refer to Appendix B for citations from online resources.

A direct quote must be acknowledged.

Karl Marx said "Religion is the opiate of the masses." [1]

Even a paraphrase must be acknowledged.

Religion has been likened to opium [1].

A citation should be given for any information that is not obvious (i.e., that the author probably had to look up).

The population of Hong Kong in 2003 was 6.78 million [1] and the per capita GDP was US$25,432 [2].

But if the information is generic and can be expected to be known to the readers, then no citation is necessary.

The population of Hong Kong was nearly 7 million and the per capita GDP is one of the highest in Asia.

However, precision is generally recommended in academic writing.

In the same way, original work that is not universally known should be cited.

Semiconductor triodes were invented by Bardeen [1].

But if the fact is very well known, then there is no need to cite the source – nobody would imagine that you claim originality.

Nuclear energy is based on the formula E = mc².

Suppose an original source A is quoted in B, and you only read B. Then both the primary source A and the secondary source B should be cited, to indicate honestly that you have not actually read A. In so doing, you also absolve yourself of any responsibility for the accuracy of the quote by B.

The GDP of Guangdong increased at 10.2% per annum [1].

[1]	The Government of Guangdong, Guangdong Provincial Government Annual Report 2000 (Guangdong Government Press, Guangzhou, 2001), cited in A Chan, Economic Development in China (Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, 2003).

The same holds for sources for which you relied on a translation, or for which the reader might have to rely on a translation. In the following example, JETP (Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics) is the English translation of the Russian journal Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz.

The correction involves a regularized integral [1].

[1]	Ya B Zeldovich, Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 39, 776 (1960) [Sov. Phys. JETP 12, 542 (1961)].