Academic integrity is one of the most important issues for any UK university student. Plagiarism can result in penalties ranging from a mark of zero to permanent expulsion from your institution. Yet many students commit plagiarism unintentionally, simply because they do not fully understand the rules. This guide explains what plagiarism is, how UK universities detect it, and how to ensure your work is fully original.
What Is Plagiarism at a UK University?
Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work or ideas as your own without proper attribution. Most UK universities define plagiarism broadly to include:
How Does Turnitin Work?
Turnitin is the plagiarism detection software used by the vast majority of UK universities. It compares your submitted work against:
Turnitin generates a Similarity Score — a percentage indicating how much of your work matches other sources. Contrary to what many students believe, a high similarity score does not automatically mean you have plagiarised. Direct quotations that are properly cited will appear in the similarity report. A marker will review the report manually to determine whether matching text has been properly attributed.
A low similarity score does not guarantee your work is free of plagiarism. If you have paraphrased too closely — changing words but keeping the sentence structure — Turnitin may not flag it, but your marker might still identify it as plagiarism.
How to Paraphrase Correctly
Correct paraphrasing is one of the most important academic skills at UK universities.
The Wrong Way to Paraphrase
Original source (Jones, 2020, p. 45): "Social media use among teenagers has been linked to increased rates of anxiety and depression in numerous longitudinal studies."
Poor paraphrase: "The use of social media by teenagers has been connected to higher rates of anxiety and depression in many longitudinal studies (Jones, 2020)."
This is too close to the original — only a few words have been changed. This counts as plagiarism even with a citation.
The Right Way to Paraphrase
Good paraphrase: "Longitudinal research has consistently identified a correlation between adolescent social media engagement and poorer mental health outcomes, including elevated anxiety and depression (Jones, 2020)."
This expresses the same idea in a substantially different way — different structure, different vocabulary — while citing the source.
The Process for Good Paraphrasing
How to Quote Directly
Sometimes a direct quotation is better than paraphrasing — for example, when the original wording is especially significant, or when you are writing about the language itself. When quoting directly:
For quotations over 40 words (APA) or over 3 lines (Harvard), use block quotation formatting: indented, no quotation marks.
Referencing Systems Used at UK Universities
Harvard (Author-Date)
The most widely used system across UK social sciences, business, and many other disciplines. In-text: (Jones, 2020, p. 45). Reference list entry: Jones, A. (2020) *Title of Book*. City: Publisher.
APA 7th Edition
Standard in psychology and related disciplines. Very similar to Harvard but with specific formatting rules. In-text: (Jones, 2020, p. 45). Reference list entry: Jones, A. (2020). *Title of book*. Publisher.
OSCOLA
Used exclusively in UK law schools. Footnote-based. First reference: full citation; subsequent references: short form. No separate reference list — bibliography at the end.
Chicago
Used in history and some humanities disciplines. Can be either footnote-based (notes and bibliography) or author-date.
IEEE
Standard in engineering and computer science. Numbered citations in square brackets [1], reference list numbered accordingly.
Always use your university's specified referencing style. Check your module handbook or ask your supervisor if in doubt.
Common Scenarios That Constitute Plagiarism
How to Check Your Own Work Before Submission
A Note on Academic Help Services
Using legitimate academic help — tutoring, guidance on structure, help understanding a topic, feedback on your own writing — is not plagiarism. What is prohibited is submitting work written entirely by someone else as your own. At IQ Academic, we support students in developing their own skills and understanding so they can produce their own high-quality work with confidence.
If you need help understanding how to structure an argument, how to reference correctly, or how to approach a specific topic, contact us on WhatsApp for guidance.