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A Brief Note On Plagiarism And Academic Theft

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Citing is mainly used to avoid plagiarism, but a writer should always cite sources in an essay and in presentations because they need to ‘acknowledge the use of other people’s work’. (McMillan, 2010: 192) Citing a source is important as it helps a reader to ‘understand how [an] argument was assembled and what influenced [the writers] thinking’ (McMillan, 2010: 192) which helps a reader to form an opinion on the work. (McMillan, 2010: 192) Citing demonstrates the writer’s knowledge of relevant sources and their capability to be selective in the materials chosen; then incorporate this with the knowledge and information already obtained from lectures and seminars, expanding on ideas and improving the argument. (Barrass, 2005: 132) Plus it helps the reader to assess the extent of the writer’s wider reading, which can also help when giving feedback and advice. (McMillan, 2010: 192)
Plagiarism is academic theft, it is extremely important to avoid plagiarism not only for academic purposes but also for legal reasons. It is when someone uses someone else’s ideas and written work within their own written work and without citing them, therefore claiming them as their own ideas. Kirton (2007) states that ‘providing evidence is an important dimension of academic writing’, so when quotations and citations are not used a writer is ‘plagiarizing someone else’s intellectual property’. (Kirton, 2007: 155)
Plagiarism does not necessarily mean stealing word for word what someone else has said,

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