The pressures of study, diversity of source materials, past assumptions relating to good writing practice, ambiguous writing guidance on best practice and students’ insecurity about their reasoning ability, can lead to plagiarism. With the use of source checking software, there is an increased chance that plagiarised work will be identified and investigated, and penalties given. In extreme cases, plagiarised work may be reported to the Nursing and Midwifery Council and professional as well as academic penalties may apply. This article provides information on how students can avoid plagiarism when preparing their coursework for submission.