Using Online Sources Responsibly

Anyone can publish on the web. Before you use a source in an assignment, check it:

• Who wrote it? An expert, an organisation, or someone anonymous?
• What is its purpose — to inform, to sell, or to persuade?
• When was it written or updated? Technology changes fast.
• Where else is the same fact found? Check at least one other reliable source.
• Why should you believe it — does it give evidence and references?

Official documentation (MDN, W3C, python.org, Microsoft Learn), university and museum sites are strong sources. Wikipedia is a good starting point — follow its references to the original sources.

Text, photos, music, video and code are protected by copyright from the moment they are created. You may only reuse them if the owner allows it. Many creators use Creative Commons licences:

ICBT and OTHM treat plagiarism as serious academic misconduct. Assignments are checked with similarity-detection software. To avoid it:

• Paraphrase — explain ideas in your own words, then add a citation.
• Put exact words in quotation marks with a citation — and keep quotes short.
• Keep a list of every source as you research, so you can reference them later.
• Never copy another student's work, or share yours for others to copy.
• Code, images and diagrams need references too.

ICBT uses the Harvard style. It has two parts:

• 1An in-text citation where you use the idea: (Author, Year) — for example (Cloudflare, no date). If there is no date, write (W3C, no date).
• 2A reference list at the end, in alphabetical order by author.

A web page reference usually follows this pattern:

Author or organisation (Year) Title of page. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).