To plagiarize is to use texts and ideas produced by others without citing the source. If you don’t cite your sources you give the reader the impression that the thoughts you present are your own. Plagiarism is a serious offence in an academic context.

To plagiarize is e.g. to:

• copy text (phrases, sentences, paragraphs) without quotation marks and without citing the source
• copy text but change some words or change the word order
• paraphrase a text in a way that your wording has too much resemblance with the original text, even though the source is cited
• paraphrase the content of another source without citation
• to use ideas, theories, methods or data and pictures originating from another source without citing
• translate a text from another source to another language without noting that it’s your own translation and without citing the source.
• re-using your own texts without citation (self-plagiarism).

Many universities use tools for plagiarism detection. Read more about plagiarism detection at Hanken here