Plagiarism seems to be an increasing problem in today's society, especially on college and university campuses, with the immense resources presently available to people. Previously, individuals were restricted to finding information in resources such as books, magazines, journals, encyclopedias and newspapers, but with the technology and the growth and popularity of the Internet, plagiarism has truly become an issue. There seems to be a direct correlation with the increasing use of the Internet and decreasing amount in student writing. Plagiarism.org defines plagiarism as "the improper use, or failure to attribute, another person's writings or ideas".
Plagiarism can actually include such things as copying, downloading or merely
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Professors and teachers are aware and worried of the increasing amount of plagiarism that is occurring in universities and schools worldwide.
With the tremendous, overwhelming amounts of information available to those who can access the Internet, many people often plagiarize from websites and online encyclopedias. By simply typing in key phrases or words into a search engine like Altavista© or Yahoo!©, you are usually bound to make several hits. However, probably one of the most frightening and popular plagiarism resources today include paper mills, which are groups or organizations, such as fraternities or sports teams, that sell or supply previously written essays or assignments to students who are seeking to avoid writing projects themselves. Currently, with the popularity of the Internet, there are "digital" term paper mills, that provide or sell these assignments online for the same purposes. "The Internet has mutated into the world's largest term paper mills". The World Wide Web now features many of these websites, including www.termpapers-on-file.com, www.al-termpaper.com and www.cheathouse.com, all enabling students to purchase ready-made term papers from an ample selection of topics that are usually delivered to a student's email account immediately. Additionally, if the right paper is not available, the website has a staff that will
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 a form of cheating, and a serious violation of the honor code and academic honesty in educational institutions. According to dictionary.com, plagiarism is: a piece of writing or other work reflecting such unauthorized use or imitation [1]. In simplified terms, plagiarism is taking and using some else’s work without giving credit to the righteous owner, for using their information. This work includes but is not limited to text, graphs, pictures, statistics, or other types of information that is not considered “common knowledge.” It is also considered as stealing, thus it is not tolerated anywhere in the world, and penalties are strictly
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.
In any educational or work setting integrity is paramount. Consequences of plagiarism can severely effect one’s academic or professional reputation. Proper citation of one’s sources can be easily detected with the evolution of plagiarism software. At the same time, this technology can also aid in creating an appropriately-cited document.
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.
Plagiarism is “the presentation of work for credit that is not [a writer’s] own” (Johanson, 2010, p. 267). Any information obtained by a writer from another source requires a citation in the text; therefore, a writer must provide a reference when paraphrasing or quoting another author’s material (APA, 2010). The use electronic resources or software to prevent unintentional plagiarism, educating students on how to cite and reference material in academic writing appropriately, and providing information to students about the consequences of plagiarizing.
Good scholarship practice can be referred to as a formal study which involves academic learning and achievement. It involves acknowledging where information used to support ideas in a particular context is gotten and citing the sources (Locke and Latham, 2009). Britag and Mahmud (2009) pointed out that different strategies which include the use of electronic software tools such as turnitin have been derived for detecting plagiarism with the intent of allowing students’ take responsibility of their learning and also work hand in hand with their tutors in the drafting stages of their assignments. According to Britag and Mahmud (2009) manual detection of plagiarism is difficult because it is time consuming and this is the reason why some tutors are reluctant in pursuing potential cases of plagiarism. However both the manual method of plagiarism detection and the electronic text matching method should be employed (Britag and Mahmud, 2009). Scaife (2007) argued that the electronic text matching software is not the solution to eliminating plagiarism because the software only focuses on text matching of paper under review with documents (journals, articles, e-books and conference papers) found on the internet or which has been previously submitted and this is a limitation because the only detection are focused on electronic materials without considering some non-electronic paper based documents which could still be plagiarised.
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
In the article, Rethinking Plagiarism in the Digital Age, written by Lea Calvert Evering and Gary Moorman they discuss the idea of plagiarism, why do students plagiarize and what is the best method besides punishment to teach students not to plagiarize. In the beginning of the article Lea Calvert Evering and Gary Moorman claims that the concept of plagiarism to be “based on a capitalist view of property and ownership” (Evering & Moorman 35). The authors believe that we should reconsider and modify what we consider plagiarism because this idea is being challenged by this generation involving technology. According to this article, plagiarism is practiced among students in American secondary school and higher education. It states, “In a survey of 2,294 high school juniors...McCabe...found that 34% submitted their own work that was copied word
Universities have measures to prevent and catch students who have plagiarised their essays, however on a rare occasions plagiarism is unfortunately undetected. In such a circumstances, the student receives a high mark and passes the subject without gaining the knowledge in that field. According to Jude Carroll there are no solutions to fully prevent plagiarism, however with the plagiarism on the rise the universities are implementing methods to minimise it. “We will never prevent students from colluding, plagiarising and breaking the rules but we can deter them by putting in place a range of activities and procedures, each on its own unable to make much difference, but in combination, able to change the way everyone deals with
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
Students now have the ability to cut and paste sections of an article, or they can purchase a term paper on-line. He also believes that they plagiarize because they “are faced with too many choices, so they put off low priorities.”[4] If a student has a lot of things to do, they will not spend much time on the things that have a low priority or things that are considered boring. He also points out that a big reason for plagiarism is that “many students have poor time management and planning skills.”[5] If the student waits until the last minute to write a paper, they may not have enough time to completely research topic. Other students plagiarize because they “fear that their writing ability is inadequate.”[6] If the student does not believe that they have the ability to do good work, they may think that the only chance to get a good grade is to cheat.
According to our readings, "the type of plagiarism deliberate or unintentional has an impact upon the perception of the offence for both faculty and students" (Academic Integrity 2011). This is an important distinction to some people, although the act of plagiarism remains unacceptable no matter why it is done.
Academic learning in today’s changing world brings demands to future professionals. Whether in a traditional classroom, or through distance learning, one thing is similar and which cannot bring forth a successful educational future. One thing that can damage anyone’s academic future is plagiarism. Whether being the future of a straight “A” student, or a student who is just getting by. The fact remains that anyone can fall victim to plagiarism. Plagiarism is the use of other writer’s words without acknowledging the source and taking those words and passing them off as one’s own ideas (Jones, 2001). Some people may think plagiarism is just copying someone else’s work but in reality plagiarism is much serious and hold very serious