Self-plagiarism occurs when an author recycles their own work, in part or in full. This means using the same work for multiple submissions. 

Self-plagiarism is considered academic misconduct because it does not contribute anything new to academic knowledge, but replicates work already completed.

Repeatedly reusing material misleads readers and gives an author credit for more work than they have completed. This can lead to the appearance of a strong research base, which may in fact be weak. 

One of the key components of being part of the academic community is that published work must be an original contribution. This is of particular importance to the research community.

Self-plagiarism includes any of the following:

• Recycling your own work in part or in full without reference
• Submitting work you have previously submitted in any form, including:
  • Reusing work you have submitted for the same subject (as in the case of repeating a class)
  • Reusing work you have submitted for another subject
  • Reusing work you have submitted for another institution
• Publishing work you have previously published
• Publishing significant research as a number of smaller studies to increase publication count

The consequences of academic misconduct at JCU