Plagiarism and Computers

Plagiarism and Computers

missing works cited

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is defined in the dictionary as "appropriating as one’s own the writing, ideas, etc. of another". Plagiarism.org goes into more detail when it defines plagiarism as "the improper use, or failure to attribute, another person's writing or ideas (intellectual property). It can be as subtle as the inadvertent neglect to include quotes or references when citing another source or as blatantly unethical as knowingly copying an entire paper verbatim and claiming it as your own work." I believe they make this longer definition on a web page because plagiarism has become a bigger problem since the creation of the Internet. The Internet is a fast easy way to cheat on papers and ideas. It is incredibly simple to download entire term papers for free or for a small fee. Sometimes you don’t have to pay for a complete essay. Sometimes submitting your own essay is all you need to do to gain someone else’s work. Term paper mills have become a popular activity among high school and college students. If you look up forgery-encouraging web pages, it is easy to see that there are many options for getting effortless information and material off of the Internet.

What are the Consequences?

The consequences of appropriation can be severe. Even on this paper’s guidelines, the punishment for plagiarism is either failing the class or dismissal from the university, depending on the severity of the piracy. In several of my classes, forgery results in failing the work that you plagiarized for. Many teachers do not appropriately check for fraudulence in work. They don’t feel that they have the time for checking each paper individually for copied information. I can understand how this would seem more work than it is worth in most instances, but catching a few plagiarists per class and publicly punishing them would help maintain class integrity. The rest of the class would be forewarned against further cheating.

Boston University has filed a lawsuit against a few of the Internet term paper companies. There is no guarantee that the university will win the lawsuit. It is quite a bit like the lawsuit Metallica filed against the piracy of the web program Napster. There was a lot of publicity about Napster because it was a file-sharing program that some artists claimed hurt their album sales. The sharing of music on the Internet paired with the new technology of CD burners can have an impact on the music market because people will burn their own CDs rather than paying the ridiculously high prices for them.