Law Coursework 1: Individual Writing Tasks, Law, and OSCOLA Citation

This assignment addresses key aspects of academic writing within a law course. Part 1 explains the necessity of footnotes and reference lists/bibliographies in academic work, emphasizing their role in acknowledging sources and differentiating between original thought and borrowed ideas. Part 2 defines plagiarism as the act of copying others' work and details various forms of plagiarism, along with strategies to avoid it. Part 3 paraphrases and references an extract about criminal law using the OSCOLA citation style, demonstrating proper citation techniques. The assignment highlights the importance of ethical academic practices and proper referencing to avoid plagiarism and maintain academic integrity. The student demonstrates an understanding of the principles of academic writing, the importance of avoiding plagiarism, and the correct use of OSCOLA citation. The assignment is a response to a law coursework 1: portfolio of individual writing tasks.

Running head: ACADEMIC PRACTICE
Academic Practice
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

1ACADEMIC PRACTICE
Part- 1
Every person in their student lives writes essay, assignments, reports, dissertation and
different form of academic writing for their schools and colleges. To write these assignments,
everyone takes the help of different writers, authors, researchers and professors to get some idea
about the topic of the task. Therefore, it is essential for the students to acknowledge the credits of
those sources from where they have taken the ideas to write. By referencing, a reader:
 Differentiate between the own thoughts of a student and the concepts taken from the
work of others;
 To follow up the facts referred by the student.
The sources must be acknowledged by the student at every point of time whenever they make it
or use the information to inform the reader that the idea has taken from another writer and not the
own idea of a student. It has been observed that the introduction and conclusion part of the
academic writing considered being the exclusive idea of the student. The main body consists of
various ideas of several writers. The student can acknowledge his/her debt to the other writers at
any time by making in texting in each paragraph and a detailed bibliography at the end of the
writing.
Part- 2
In simple words, the meaning of plagiarism is to copy the words and thoughts of other
writers, authors, professors and researchers. It is cheating and punishable as an offence of theft.
Sometimes it has been observed that plagiarism happens without the ill intention. For identifying
plagiarism, it is crucial to know how the plagiarism occurs while writing academic papers. The
below-mentioned list provides the examples which frequently observed in academic writings,
such as:

2ACADEMIC PRACTICE
 Presenting ideas, facts or calculations of others without proper citation;
 Applying direct quotations of others without using in texting, reference and quotation
marks;
 Paraphrasing a part without in texting and referencing;
 Writing a paper on behalf of a student;
 Copying the essays and assignments from other students.
To avoid plagiarism, the student must keep some essential things in mind while researching and
writing the assignments, such as:
 Carefully research before writing and a research journal is more helpful in this regard;
 Check twice after writing whether all sources are cited correctly and paraphrase the
sources precisely.
Part- 3
Criminal activity is considered to be an offence against society. The result of a criminal
conviction is not restricted to the punishment exposed by the court. For instance, if a person is
condemned of theft, there is a probability that the local newspaper published his name, which
causes humiliation and embarrassment. As a result, he may lose the job. This type of sanctions is
very harsh. Therefore, the criminal law requires the criminal to have the factor of moral fault.
Thus, two crucial obligations must be established by the prosecution, namely: 1) actus reus,
means prohibited act and 2) mens rea, means guilty mind1.
1 Keenan D, Riches S, Allen V, Business Law (11th edn, Pearson Press 2013)

3ACADEMIC PRACTICE
Reference
Keenan D, Riches S, Allen V, Business Law (11th edn, Pearson Press 2013)