Why Is Plagiarism Wrong

Christian Masih
Dale Ireland
English 3003
14th March 2015.

Plagiarism and Recycling Papers

It is without a doubt that plagiarism is not respected and condoned enough in today's education process. Plagiarism is defined as stealing someone else's work without giving him or her credit for it. In other words, Plagiarism is the submission of written material by a particular author but represented by a student, whether the material is paraphrased or copied. Plagiarism in my opinion is immoral and unethical because it takes away the learning experience that someone can gain through each assignment. Another form of plagiarism is "recycling", which is using previous assignments done in the past without the instructor's approval. Furthermore, plagiarism

and recycling papers at any level of education is unethical and immoral because it impairs students learning experiences and their ability to establish their opinions and ideas.
I have the greatest understanding of why it is important to not plagiarize and recycle papers in any class.

That is because it degrades you as a learner and harm's you in a way, in as far as your education and career are concerned. It is the dream of lazy students who want to plagiarize on every assignment, and it is terrifying to students who put their time and effort in their work. After previously attempting this error, I am confident that it will never happen again in any of my course work as it reflects unethical behavior and may constitute a ruthless career path. Furthermore, I am of the opinion that plagiarism occurs from poor teaching, which causes students to lack confidence and knowledge in their frame of work. But that is not an excuse to plagiarize since it is up to us, and our future depends on what we currently

do.
In previous classes, I have had trouble citing sources the right way and part of this may lead to plagiarism. Citing sources appropriately is crucial in any work assignment because it allows credibility to be given to the author. Failure to do that will certainly lead to plagiarism; that is why we as student must utilize all the available resources that we can get from our instructors and even ask questions if needed. Most students, including myself will do a research and most of the work but fail to leave footnotes and quotation marks. I have also learned from experience that procrastination is probably the leading factor for why students might plagiarize and recycle their papers. Although life is faced with many challenges and obstacles, it is our duty as students to seek full responsibilities for our actions. Additionally, we need to learn from the consequences so that we do not repeat the following actions in the future.
I only became aware of the citation process recently.

In the entire period that I was at the community college, I was bewildered by the fact that only direct quotations needed citation. I was not aware that paraphrasing text from an author also needed referencing. I think most students including myself face the same problems because certain types of sources are somewhat excused despite explicit instructions to the contrary. This particular notion is misleading and reflects on fundamental misunderstanding of the logic of proper citing. It is to my understanding that when sources are directly quoted word for word; there should be quotation marks of the passage quoted and referenced accordingly in parenthesis. In addition to that, when ideas or arguments are produced in a paraphrased manner, the passage must correctly cite to avoid

plagiarism.
English 3003, "Discursive writing" is probably one of the most challenging English courses I have ever encountered throughout my education. Not only because of its advanced level, but also the fact that every assignment and essay requires a lot of time and effort. Another significant element that I almost forgot to mention is the "syllabus", which requires attention nearly every time an assignment is being done. Failing to study the syllabus thoroughly may result in plagiarism, and I have to admit that it is one of the most repulsive and hideous mistakes I have done in college. For example in the syllabus, it clearly states that, when recycling papers the students need to confirm with the instructor before turning in submitted papers in the past. However, I failed to do so; hence, I am faced with consequences and a life learning experience.
I have learned that dedicating time and effort to learning and applying good academics at the beginning of your university career is the best way of avoiding plagiarism. Revising all necessary tools such as the syllabus and referencing system will prevent plagiarism and recycling of papers from happening. Plagiarism is not a matter of just correcting quotation marks or referencing appropriately, but it's also about deploying your academic skills so that you may have the confidence to be creative in your ideas and thoughts. I am happy because I had the chance of expanding my thoughts on this particular issue because it has taught me the lessons and consequences of plagiarizing and recycling papers.