What is plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined 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” (dictionary.com). Plagiarism means taking someone elses’s thoughts, words, or full written works and using them in a manner that makes it appear as if they are someone else’s. Plagiarism is often unintentional. This can happen if a writer includes a quote and forgets to cite the source of that quote. Plagiarism can also happen if a writer paraphrases the thoughts or works of another person and does not give that person adequate credit for the original thought. Often times, this type of plagiarism is unintentional as well. A writer will sometimes read a source and then write down information that is stated very closely to the way the source had presented it. Although usually unintentional and seemingly harmless, this too is considered a form of plagiarism. However, sometimes plagiarism is blatant and intentional. This is the worst kind of plagiarism and often the only plagiarism that instructors or institutions take action against. Intentional plagiarism or blatant plagiarism happens when a person knowingly omits the original source of information and presents that material as his or her own original thoughts. When someone turns in someone else’s work and claims it to be his or her own, that person is guilty of plagiarism. When someone copies someone else’s original work and does not give them credit, that person is guilty of plagiarism.

The Internet, while providing faster and easier access to research materials, has also provided a much easier, less detectable way for people to plagiarize. The Internet not only offers professionally written and or published materials; it also offers access to many amateur sites and thoughts. While these sites are not very credible, they do allow researchers to easily borrow ideas pretty much without detection. Writers can find styles that fit their own type of writing without having to dredge through textbooks or study materials to write reports. Hard work and research seem to be a thing of the past, and lazy students can now type in any subject into a search and receive numerous sites, sometimes hundreds or thousands, that they can peruse for answers or even complete works to borrow or purchase and submit as their own work.

However, the Internet also offers instructors ways to find plagiarizers. Some sites such as www.Turnitin.com and www.iThenticate.com will allow an instructor to enter a sequence of words or a whole document to see if that document has been duplicated. This is a valuable time saving tool that helps instructors in finding plagiarized papers; however, it is not foolproof. If a student uses a less popular site, it could take much longer to find the copied material. There are thousands of sites on some subjects, and not all are detectable through www.Turnitin.com and www.iThenticate.com.

Honest hard work and education can avoid plagiarism. When students are given a research assignment, they need to research on their own using multiple types of sources. When they are going to use someone else’s exact words or thoughts, they need to make sure to record the author and source as well as the publisher, place of publication, year of publication, and page numbers so that the source can be easily found and checked for accuracy. When in doubt, students should always credit the original source, either in the text or in a parenthetical citation after the information is presented. Offering credit for ideas, even if not done technically correctly, will help a student to avoid plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the theft of intellectual property. Anything that has been written and published belongs to the author and his or her publishing company. Monies must be paid to use these ideas or reproduce the works. There are copyright laws in order to protect intellectual property.

To eliminate both inadvertent and deliberate plagiarism, students need guidance and education. Instructors should start very early on in a class stressing the importance of academic honesty and consequences for those found cheating or plagiarizing. Students should be shown examples of plagiarism and even tested over what it is. They should be taught how to research correctly, effectively, and efficiently in the library by a research specialist.