Why Plagiarism Is Wrong

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Plagiarism

Plagiarism, by definition, is “to present the ideas or words of another as one’s own” (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary 549) From an elementary student copying a homework assignment (most likely due to laziness), to a writer copying another writer's work (also most likely because of laziness, or a lack of creativity), plagiarism is something that can pose a threat all throughout a person’s professional life.
Plagiarism is not okay. It is compelling, but it has many setbacks.
People that see plagiarism as a ‘grey area’, might do so in thinking that it’ll save them time and effort. If they do not manage their time well, work from many sources may make them feel as though they are drowning in work. Obviously, plagiarizing can look …show more content…

In the previous paragraph I wrote about what can happen if you are caught, but people do not always get caught. On utdallas.edu it said, “In a survey of over 63,000 US undergraduates... -conducted by Donald McCabe, Rutgers University- revealed the following: 38% [of undergraduates] admit to “paraphrasing/copying few sentences from written source without footnoting it.”” (ACADEMIC INTEGRITY IN COLLEGE AND GRADUATE SCHOOL). So, while some people are struggling, losing sleep, and doing work the way they are meant to do it, others are taking a huge risk and doing the assignment the ‘easy’ way. Paraphrasing/ copying sentences without citing them are not the only way to plagiarize though. Sometimes people can buy essays or assignments. They could even pay people to do it for them. If they do not get caught,they will get credit for something they didn’t even work for. Plagiarism is completely …show more content…

Students are given assignments in order to learn something or to prove what they have learned. If they turn in something they did not do, they miss out on the opportunity to practice doing something or to learn something. While the other students have a better grasp on what they have the concept, the person who had plagiarized will not. Later in the student's professional life they may be confronted with something similar and will be unable to do it as well as they might have been able to if they did the assignment by themselves. Plagiarizing just hurts people in the long

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