Plagiarism - An Ever-increasing Problem
Plagiarism has been a problem to academic institutions for centuries. Plagiarism basically means taking credit for somebody else’s work. The technical definition of plagiarism, as used by State University, is presenting work done (in whole or in part) by someone else as if it were one's own. Dishonest practices that go hand in hand with plagiarism include faking or falsification of data, cheating, or the uttering of false statements by a student in order to obtain unjustified concessions. In the past, plagiarism had been limited by the availability of information that is worth plagiarizing, either in area libraries, in newspapers and magazines, or even in academic files maintained by
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But, along with these pro-plagiarists, there are also the anti-plagiarists. On the Internet, there are more web sites telling how to prevent plagiarism as there are promoting it. Sites include how to detect plagiarism, how to prevent plagiarism and what to do about plagiarism.
There are numerous ways to plagiarize. These include copying somebody’s work and saying it is yours, faking an area where information was obtained, falsifying data, as well as cheating. These are only a few of the many ways that information can be plagiarized. There are many statistics that can show that there is an increase in the number and severity of plagiarism cases. Shockingly, almost 80% of college students admit to cheating at least once, 36% of undergraduates have admitted to plagiarizing written material, and, to emphasize the effect of the internet, 30% of a large sampling of Berkley students were caught plagiarizing directly from the Internet. This is surprising considering the consequences of plagiarism. Along with these college statistics, another interesting statistic from “Plagiarism.Org” is that 58.3% of high school students let someone else copy their work in 1969, and 97.5% did so in 1989. This is a huge increase. It is up to personal opinions to determine whether the Internet has caused this increase, and if it has, what is the percentage at today? College students should know better than to use somebody else’s work, and in
Plagiarism is an increasing large issue on college campuses, a habit to most of the student. According to the article ‘’The Plagiarism Plague’’, the findings on the survey made to 50,000 students on more than 60 campuses was that 70 percent of the students admitted that they cheated. Half of the students surveyed admitted that one or more times made serious cheating on writing assignments, with 77 percent of the students surveyed said that cheating was not a serious issue.
Almost every student has been there: staring at his/her computer trying to get an assignment done when they have twenty other obligations swinging over his/her head. Students are trying to find the fastest and easiest way to get the assignment completed. Many students will plagiarize intentionally or unintentionally at some point of their educational career. Plagiarism is the act of taking someone else’s work or ideas then calling that work their own. There is no acknowledgement being given to the original author. In Trip Gabriel’s “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age,” the internet has created new challenges for students being able to give credit to ideas and information. Often, Students do not understand that information on
Plagiarism is defined as “the presentation of work for credit that is not [a writer’s] own” (Johanson, 2010, p. 267). The information obtained by a writer from another source should be cited in the text and referenced when paraphrasing or quoting another author’s material (APA, 2010). Student plagiarism can be avoided by using electronic resources or software to prevent unintentional plagiarism, educating students on how to properly cite and reference material in an academic writing, and providing information to students about the consequences of plagiarizing.
As one begins to grasp the concept of Schroth’s (2012) article The Plagiarism Plague, it is easy to identify the author’s dissatisfaction for plagiarism and the negative connotations he has for someone who is involved in this heinous offense. He initiates and summarizes his commentary with personal stories of how plagiarism has affected him. Schroth offers several solutions for the copyright issue that is upon us; he states, “the sanction for plagiarism must be at least an F on the paper, accompanied by a letter in the student's file to be consulted if it happens again, with the understanding that a second offense would mean expulsion.” Schroth was also sure to mention the collective approach necessary from all educators for his solution to be implemented. He believes the “policy will be effective only with leadership from the president and full cooperation from the faculty.” The writer goes on to explain how plagiarism has become an epidemic in this society and the effects of its prevalence thereof. Although plagiarism has become rampant in this society, it is still immoral and unethical. College students continue to plagiarize however, because they refuse to regard their education as a top priority and it has become culturally acceptable for people to falsify information without any serious penalties for their dishonesty.
Academic dishonesty such as plagiarism has been a major factor in education that has affected students’ success and academic achievements in recent years. Plagiarism according to Park (2003) is the act of appropriating or copying another person’s work and passing them on as one’s idea without acknowledging the original source. Park (2003) noted that plagiarism is a growing problem and has been a misuse of the writings of another author, their ideas, hypothesis, theories, research findings and interpretations. Furthermore studies by Chao, Wilhelm and Neureuther (2009) emphasised that
Not making a good use of the internet and deciding to plagiarize can result in a failing grade. Students have been cheating all the way from High School without getting caught, and consequently they haven’t been lectured on plagiarism. Usually, teachers do not take the time to talk to their students about plagiarism. “many students claim not to have been confronted with the issue by parents or previous teachers except when personally caught plagiarizing” ( Petress). This lack of knowledge about plagiarism incites students to keep cheating. The only difference is that in college teachers have more advanced ways to grade papers. Technology has advanced. “...the same technology that makes it so easy for students to cheat is now aiding teachers in catching them” ( Hastings). College teachers are more strict regarding plagiarism than high school teachers; they can turn a plagiarized work into a zero. Students need to understand how useless it is to cheat. Everything is better than a zero, so students will get more benefit if they turn in a paper that
Plagiarism is a concern for academic honesty and personal integrity. When I was an undergrad in the late 1980’s, repositories of papers were kept in an academic department to aid in plagiarism detection. Plagiarism was evaluated by a Professor recognizing particular work and being forced to ask a student for validity of original thought. Today there are tools students can use to avoid plagiarism (Turn It In, 2014). For this course we will submit our writings to an internet site called Turn It In to avoid plagiarism.
Many do not realize that plagiarism is wrong, copying someone else’s work and making it yours is a fraud. Plagiarism is most commonly found in schools, copying words and phrases without giving credit to the authors or writers through the Internet. Many do not realize they are plagiarizing by taking ideas from other writers, because people find it easier to cheat their way through something instead of putting in the effort themselves. David Callahan the author of “A Better Way To Prevent Cheating: Appeal to Fairness” believes that universities do not educate their student about plagiarism. Where as Tim Gabriel the author of “Plagiarism Lines
The concept of plagiarism is remarkably personal and this has been a subject of debate. Most critics argue that not only does technologies like the internet and smart phones distract students but it makes students perform poorly in school, but they also argue that it increases their chances to plagiarized. For example, in a research conducted in a university about the assessment and evaluation in Higher Education, 75% of students strongly agreed that using someone’s work without citing their work is wrong. If many of students believe this, why do somer student plagiarized. As a student myself, I knew students that plagiarized. Though they knew their actions were bad, they wanted to get a good grade.Most believed that it was not a big deal
Plagiarism is using someone else’s work, words, production, researches and ideas without the approval or the acknowledgment of the writer or producer, and claiming the credit for himself. Many reasons and factors are attributed for the use of plagiarism and could be cultural, historical, linguistic, environmental and educational background. Plagiarism is a form of an academic dishonesty, academic misconduct, and a digital cheating. It is declared to be an unacceptable legal act and institutional regulations. And universities, schools, and instructors do not only need to decrease plagiarism, but they must also affect positively on students writings, increase the understanding of how to use digital technology to facilitate their academic writing.
Plagiarism, what is it and how to avoid it has been a major question on every students’ mind. Sure it is easy just to copy and paste and take all the credit for the work that another individual put in, but is it worth it? According to WPA, Writing Program Administrators, the definition of plagiarism as states, “plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.” Plagiarism has always concerned teachers and administrators, who want students’ work to repre¬sent their own efforts and to reflect the outcomes of their learning. However, with the advent of the Internet and easy access to almost limitless written material on
Plagiarism is a act of imprinting another person's writing, conversation, or even ideas. This even includes the information one gets from WebPages, the published papers online and even articles
Unfortunately, plagiarism is something that is very common for students. A study by the Joseph Institute Center for Youth Ethics did a survey using forty-three thousand high school students. The result of said survey showed that 59% of students admitted to cheating on a test and 34% said that cheated more than two times; one out of three students admitted to using internet plagiarism on an assignment (“Plagiarism”). In the year 2012 Harvard revealed that around 125 students may have cheated on their final exams by working on a take home final exam, despite being required to work alone on the exam (“Harvard”). People all over the world, from common high schools to one of the most well known colleges in the world, are affected by or partake in plagiarism.
In colloquial language plagiarism is the concept of stealing someone’s piece of work or someone’s idea. It is clear that plagiarising is unjust and immoral, however now a days it is becoming more difficult to come up with original ideas as the media allows students to have open access to all information and the producer or author must be very careful to not use somebody else’s work unintentionally and claim it as theirs. It is important to educate students about plagiarism as it can carry major consequences. The concept of plagiarism with reference to policy will be outlined and also the steps helping students and authors to avoid plagiarism in this assignment.
Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and using them as one’s own. It seems simple and not hard to comprehend, but some students do not realize when they plagiarize. Students do not know that copying from Wikipedia, which may contain no author, is plagiarizing if the work is not cited. With the use of technology and easy access to answers or completed essays, original work sounds too complicated for students who would rather spend their time doing more enjoyable things such as going to basketball or football games and parties. However, this behavior must stop and more needs to be done to educate students about copying. Solutions to stop plagiarism include educating students at a young age, learning and understanding the consequences, and focus on originality rather than plagiarism and the negativity.