Plagiarism In The United States

Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not steal because stealing isn't right. You shouldn't steal

In an honest self-assessment, I recognize that I have has some degree of difficulty truly understanding the many different rules of plagiarism. The scores yielded by both of my tests and the answers provided throughout each of these tests suggests that I still have a great deal to learn about properly attributing citations, about how to identify my sources and how to avoid the pitfalls of accidental plagiarism.

In the article, “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age” written by author Trip Gabriel, there are multiple views on the aspects of plagiarism. Some people refuse to take plagiarism seriously, having a strong educational background as foundation as well as respect for other individuals work. Plagiarism is a serious offense and often considered a form of theft. Consequences for plagiarism can vary depending upon the campus, but can lead up to expulsion. Plagiarism commonly known as taking pieces of ideas or words and phrases from someone without giving credit.

Plagiarism in today's “copy and paste generation” is an unremitting, complex issue that is not yet fully understood.

As a student, the aftereffects of plagiarism usually occur in a common sequence. The first consequence begins with a verbal warning (“Honor Code”, 2012) and the next offense can come in the form of a written warning. After written warnings are given the guilty party can be suspended. However, consequences of plagiarism can be even further reaching. Suspension or expulsion from the university, or academic institution where research was taken place, can occur. Beyond these outcomes, recommendations for punishment can include counseling and community service (“Recognizing and Avoiding Plagiarism”).

Plagiarism is a serious issue that may diminish the value of a scholarly work and interferes with the professional growth of an individual. For example, in 2003, Jayson Blair resigned from his position as a reporter for the New York Time because of “alleged plagiarism” (Dolak, 2003). Another case of plagiarism would be Matthew C. Whitaker, an associate professor at Arizona State University who in 2011 and 2015 was accused of plagiarism (Ryman, 2017). In both scenarios, Jayson Blair and Matthew C. Whitaker failed to properly paraphrase and cite sources (Dolak, 2003; Ryman 2017).

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.

Malcolm Gladwell stated “plagiarism has gone from being bad literary manners to something much closer to a crime” (Gladwell, 2004). This quote explained how plagiarism was before just a simple act and now people are getting punished for plagiarism. Nobody is exempted from plagiarism. Plagiarism is an act most people do without even noticing it.

The students at Lakewood Ranch High School also insinuated that plagiarism was not discussed in class, suggesting that they were insufficiently informed about plagiarism and what it represented. Say this is true the corrective measure would be to discuss plagiarism at the beginning of the school year as well as providing a review during the middle of the academic year. Regardless, these adolescents are capable of understanding concepts, standard principles of morality (Feldman, 2014). Therefore, in my opinion they were aware of their actions of intentional copying and submitting another person’s work. Which ultimately resulted with a greater desire for rewards despite the possibility of

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

Plagiarism extends beyond just the academic realm. There have been many instances, in professional fields, of integrity violations in written works. One example of this is Jayson Blair, formerly of the New York Times. After his news agency found that he had plagiarized an article. The article, which was written about a Soldier who was killed in combat, and his family, was found to be plagiarized from the San Antonio Express. (Belt, 2004). This was not the only story that Blair copied, embellished, or synthesized. There were, in fact, dozens of questionable articles written by Blair during his tenure with the news agency. Because his supervisors were not communicating effectively, and no major complaints were registered, Blair was able

Evering and Moorman also noted that McCabe said, “Many high school students believe...that if information is on the Internet, it is public knowledge and does not need to be footnoted – even if it’s quoted verbatim”. Evering and Moorman say students who plagiarize are only representing someone else’s work instead of their own. Jobs as teachers are to help student create, develop and perfect a student’s own work and abilities however, they cannot do so with students plagiarizing. Regardless of the consequence, students still find the need to plagiarize. Evering and Moorman says it’s because student are too lazy and just don’t feel like doing the assignment but also the “underdeveloped sense of integrity...lack of

After watching CBS Morning News "Plagiarism" story, I was very shocked that it was that easy to plagiarize. I was shocked to see that people who chose to be authors have plagiarized. Why go into a profession and then steal someone else's work and use it as their own. Then to pass it off in a book or song. I think a person that does all of that loses all creditability. I think there is a big difference between making a few a simple mistakes, like not quoting or paraphrasing and giving credit where credit is due. Mistakes like that happen and can be fixed, but it one thing to pass something off as your own when clearly it is not. To me this means learning the proper way to avoid plagiarism by learning the how to correctly write your papers. Learning

Plagiarism is very dangerous and can happen anytime without the person knowing. There are people who plagiarize, but do they all do it purposely? No, they don’t. People tend to plagiarism unconsciously most of the time. Russ Juskalian argues how there should be no excuse to plagiarize in his article, “Is Unconscious Plagiarism a Real Phenomenon?” Juskalian’s arguments and evidence about how Cryptomnesia is still not an excuse to plagiarize in one’s subconscious, but can be avoided and he’s very convincing because he uses credibility by using expert psychologists, logical appeal of experiments and statistics and appeals emotionally by using how people can stay alert and not be lazy.

Although Plagiarism is inherently wrong and should be viewed by all as such, I do feel as though it has become the cultural norm. One of the most recent examples of this was the speech given my Melania Trump at the RNC national convention, in which Mrs. Trump's speech writer admitted to using parts of a speech previously given by First Lady Michelle Obama without giving her proper credit. After which, we witnessed on a national level an attempt to cover up a lie with another lie. I believe that in some ways it was because of the gray area around shared thoughts or ideas, as well as some initial embarrassment which caused her to claim that she wrote the speech. This example shows how easy and commonplace plagiarism has become, and the public