With other people’s work becoming easier to access and the ability of copy and paste there is an increase of plagiarism but with this ability comes with many consequences of plagiarizing. Kimberly Embleton and Doris Small Helfer state that “the Internet and the World Wide Web have made academic dishonesty considerably easier and faster.” (Embleton & Helfer, 23) According to Authors Embleton and Helfer there are numerous web sites where papers can be bought or found for free but committing plagiarism in this way does not pay. (Embleton & Helfer, 26) So what are some impacts of plagiarism? First, let’s discuss what constitutes plagiarism and the controversy that surrounds plagiarizing. This controversy includes intentional vs. unintentional plagiarism and the idea of what is considered common knowledge. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary plagiarize is defined as: to steal and pass off as one’s own (the ideas or work of another): commit literary theft. (Merriam-Webster, 1980) According to the web site Plagiarism.org the following are considered as plagiarism:” turning in someone else 's work as your own, copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit, failing to put a quotation in quotation marks. giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation, changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit, copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not.” (Plagiarism 2014) There are also serious impacts that plagiarism has on people, both for the plagiarizer and the person being plagiarized. It affects a person’s learning, affects colleges and universities, it can damage relationships and reputatio... ... middle of paper ... ...rism can result in loss of employment, lawsuits against the plagiarist, and loss of the faculty member’s credibility and their professional standing. Students, whether high school or college age; are also expected to know the do’s and don’ts of writing. If students are not careful to distinguish their own ideas from information that came from other people’s work they could be subject to disciplinary action, forced to withdraw from college. Students also may find that many of the sites where they can buy papers give the students that are buying them poorly written papers that end up getting a bad grade. Another effect of student increase of plagiarizing are that teachers are so busy checking student work they may have less time to teach them about the writing process. Teachers are finding out that they need to take time to teach about the concepts on plagiarizing.
If anything is held to the highest value in any array of schools, it is a policy against plagiarism. Academics understand the severity that plagiarism can hold, especially since many of them tend to do it to each other. In 2005, Melissa Elias, who was at the time the President of the Madison School Board, gave a commencement speech that had several sections that were plagiarized from a speech Anna Quindlen, a Pulitzer Prize winner author, had given to Mount Holyoke in 1999. Kaavya Viswanathan, a Harvard University Sophomore, had published a book with several portions of copied from works of four different authors. Individuals held at high academic expectations committed both of these incidents, one being the president of a school and the other being a student of an Ivy League University. However, despite their valor in academia they both plagiarized, the only difference being that Viswanathan was getting royalties for her act of plagiarism. One has to question whether there really is a difference between these two cases, because both individuals clearly intentionally plagiarized. When handling cases of plagiarism one has to be extremely cautious due to the various degrees of plagiarism that depend on the individual’s intentionality and regards to profit.
It is a random Thursday night on the first floor of Brewster Hall and the Campus of State University when a frazzled young girl wanders into the room of a fellow student inquiring about The Stranger by Albert Camus. She needs to have a three page paper completed by tomorrow and cannot find a kick start on the essay writing process. Since her peers are on the level of the common doormat concerning Camus, she was left without any further help. However, had she just typed “the stranger, camus” into Google, three of the first ten sites listed would have directed her to either free or paid essay sites.
Etymologically, the word plagiarism comes from Latin “plagiare” meaning to “kidnap” (Das, and Panjabi, 2011). The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines plagiarize as: “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own: use (another's production) without crediting the source” (“Plagiarize,” n.d.). Essentially it is a dishonest act consisting in wrongly appropriate what is not yours (“What Is Plagiarism?,” n.d.). Those nuances in its definition may explain the different types of plagiarism. The number of kinds of plagiarism varies from textbook or site. For this paper, we will be limited to the study of four common types of plagiarism as suggested by Bowdoin College. We will start with direct
Plagiarism is the copying of another individual’s writings and ideas. Plagiarism is an idea that has been constructed by society. It revolves around society’s ideas of intellectual and private property. It is considered to be a form of cheating. Often times in elementary schools and high schools, plagiarism is discussed as bad but is not actually prevented. Teachers often do not detect plagiarism and even when they do, sometimes it is ignored. The student is then rewarded with a good grade, ingraining within the student that it is acceptable to plagiarize. Plagiarism affects the ways an individual develops as a person and as a writer.
When times get rough and tough it seems like most students do turn to the internet for a little extra "help". In Cybercheats it clearly shows how students use certain websites to get free or even pay for important papers and essays. As technology gets more advanced it appears that some people actually get lazier. Plagiarism plays a very important and major part in this article. It is clear that if caught plagiarizing you can be suspended, expelled, and/or receive an F on your assignment. For most students though it is worth the risk. Plagiarism is an act of cheating. Plagiarism is cheating.
The impact of plagiarism can be a self-destructive for a student. On the other hand, plagiarism may cause an instructor to feel betrayed and disrespected by a student.
Black Law Dictionary say, “The dictionary defines plagiarism as “The act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind”. (Black). Several things are wrong with plagiarism. We have learned that you have to take ownership of your mistake after committing plagiarism. We learn the procedures and what the consequences are for plagiarism. People can get into serious trouble for plagiarizing someone else’s work.
Plagiarism, or the unaccredited use of another's work or ideas, has become more and more of a problem in recent times than it was in the past. According to statistics found in a survey conducted by the Free Press, 58% of high school students let someone copy their work in 1969, but by 1989 this number had risen to 97%. The expansion of the World Wide Web and the number of people accessing the Web on a regular basis has caused an epidemic of plagiarism in this country, especially among students. This is a serious problem that must be addressed because many students feel that if they are not getting in trouble for cheating, than it is okay.
One aspect of the creative industry that has remained the same throughout generations is the difficulty for artists to inject their work into popular culture. Utopian Plagiarism, Hypertextuality, and Electronic Cultural Production by Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) written in 1991 argues that “The Video revolution failed for two reasons – a lack of access and an absence of desire” (99) while artists from the documentary Press. Pause. Play. point out how easy access is to creative technology. The artists from PPP point out that it is much more difficult for good work to breakthrough into popular culture because there is so much of it. Comparing the arguments by CAE with the ideas in PPP reveals that artists breaking through into popular culture has always been difficult, but it is difficult today for different reasons than it used to be. For this reason, quality plagiarism is essential in the creative industry.
Plagiarism is a very serious topic to be dealt with, due to the fact that it can damage one’s future very severely. It is done often by students in high school and other institutes such as universities and colleges. People plagiarize intentionally and sometimes even unintentionally. The people who plagiarize intentionally are people who don’t really care about their future and career. The people who plagiarize unintentionally are people who do not cite their work properly and completely. Most people that plagiarize do not get a good mark and most likely have to face consequences such as failure, suspension or the chance of being expelled. In conclusion it is believed that one should not put his/her future at risk and try to expand their mind through the process of critical thinking independently, so they do not have to make the mistake of plagiarizing.
Plagiarism is something that is not respected, condoned, or accepted in any part of the education process. Not only does it steal someone else’s work, but it robs students of the learning experience they can gain from assignments. Plagiarism is immoral and unethical. According to the dictionary, plagiarism is “The submission of material authored by another person being represented as a student’s own work,” whether that material is paraphrased, completely copied or fragmentally copied. Basically, plagiarism is “to take ideas or writings from another and pass them off as one’s own” (Webster’s New World Dictionary). Plagiarism has been around since humanities first words were written, making it is easy for students to turn to it. Students will
Students that copy other student's work are hurting themselves in the long run. Their creativity level drops every time they copy or have someone else do their work. After a while of copying and forging, the student's ability to think creatively and successfully becomes next to nothing. "Educators must continue to socialize students of all ages about the importance of maintaining high ethical standards," (Glazer 222). The educational system is where students learn these tricks and proceed to carry them on into there professional careers. Corners are too easy to cut these days, and in order for people to keep their minds as functional as possible, they need to do their own work. It is too easy for students to buy a students paper that had the same class the quarter before, reword it a little, and turn it in as their own. Students are no longer able to write a fictional story by themselves because the computer or someone else can do it for them.
...ith a failing grade, possible suspension or expulsion, and a damaged reputation. A journalist may lose their job if caught plagiarizing another journalist’s work. In this case, suspension or loss of job can be the consequences. Whether a journalist or student is caught plagiarizing, the stigma attached can follow that person for the rest of their careers. Each may face a damaged reputation, which will make it harder to either find another reporting job or in the student’s case being accepted to another university. Copyright infringement is tried in a court of law with monetary damages being the punishment and possibly jail time for more egregious acts of copyright infringement. The U.S. Constitution authorizes copyright law and the Copyright Act of 1976 spells out the definitions and ramifications of using someone’s copyrighted work without their permission.
Plagiarism is a very serious subject to talk about. It doesn’t sound like it is that big of a deal but very serious things can come out of it. Students could lose scholarships and get kicked out of school for something as simple as copying someone else’s work. Students should learn the rules and regulations of the school ,that they are attending, about plagiarism.[1] That’s basically what plagiarism is; copying someone else’s work.
Plagiarism is a serious offense and a growing trend in our society today. Some may associate plagiarism with the idea of taking someone else’s writing and making it their own. In fact plagiarism involves anything that is copied or taken and said to be of your own work. Dictionary.com defines plagiarism as “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author”. In fact this definition covers all types of cheating and misrepresentation of ones own work. There are many numbers and statistics that can be found on the amount of individuals that have admitted to cheating. Perhaps the most astounding number is one that was reported by Moeck in 2002 aloft of 40% of higher education students commit academic dishonesty. This number I’m sure has grown since this report and will continue to grow with the development of the Internet. There are a number of ideas and strategies that can be employed in order to stop this ever-growing phenomenon. As teachers and adults, we are responsible for stopping this trend and educating students about the consequences and dangers of plagiarism. I believe there are a variety of reasons individuals plagiarize. First, students are insecure with their own ability; they don’t believe they can do the work therefore they take others. Second, students believe they can get away with the act because they know others who have plagiarized, and there were not any consequences. Lastly, students are uneducated on what plagiarism is and do not know the consequences of their actions if they commit an act. These ideas will be the focus of the position taken on plagiarism in today’s academic society.