5.2 What is plagiarism and how can you prevent it?

According to Van Dale, plagiarism is “the copying of pieces, thoughts or arguments from others and passing them off as your own work".”

If you take something from someone else's work without citing the source, you give the impression that it is your own creation. To make it clear where your information comes from, which ideas are your own and which belong to someone else, you add a source reference. It does not matter whether you are copying a text, printed or digital, an image, software, sound clip or a video. If the creator has made creative choices and the work has its own original character, it is automatically protected by copyright.

When should you cite a source?

In most cases, plagiarism by students is unintentional, but it can have dire consequences. You can prevent plagiarism by citing the source when you:

• Quote someone else's words.
• Use someone else's ideas, opinions or theories.
• Use tables, statistics or graphs that contain data collected by someone else.
• Use images, videos or audio clips created by someone else.

When do you not need to cite a source?

• If something is a fact or common knowledge: "The Second World War lasted from 1940 to 1945 in the Netherlands".
• If something is an idea that only exists in someone's head. Something must be perceptible to the senses to be protected by copyright.
• You create something inspired by someone else's style. A style is not protected. You can paint in the style of Vincent van Gogh or make music inspired by Lady Gaga. However, it must be your own creation; copying or imitating something without permission is not allowed.