The work you submit for assessment must be your own. If you attempt to pass off the work of others as your own, whether deliberately or not, you are committing plagiarism. If you are found to have committed an assessment offence (such as plagiarism or exam misconduct) you could be expelled from the School.
Any quotation from the published or unpublished works of other persons, including other candidates, must be clearly identified as such. Quotes must be placed inside quotation marks and a full reference to sources must be provided in proper form. A series of short quotations for several different sources, if not clearly identified as such, constitutes plagiarism just as much as a single unacknowledged long quotation from a single source. All paraphrased material must also be clearly and properly acknowledged.
Any written work you produce (for classes, seminars, exams, dissertations, essays and computer progammes) must solely by your own. You must not employ a “ghost writer” to write parts or all of the work, whether in draft or as a final version, on your behalf. For further information and the School’s statement on Editorial Help visit lse.ac.uk/calendar. Any breach of the Statement will be treated in the same way as plagiarism.
You should also be aware that a piece of work may only be submitted for assessment once (either to LSE or elsewhere). Submitting the same piece of work twice (regardless of which institution you submit it to) will be regarded as the offence of “self-plagiarism” and will also be treated in the same way as plagiarism.
Examiners are vigilant for cases of plagiarism and the School uses plagiarism detection software to identify plagiarised text. Work contained plagiarism may be referred to the Regulations on Assessment Offences: Plagiarism which may result in the application of severe penalties.
If you are unsure about the academic referencing conventions used by the School you should seek guidance from your department, Academic Mentor, LSE LIFE or the Library as soon as possible.
The Regulations on Assessment Offences: Plagiarism can be found at lse.ac.uk/calendar.