Plagiarism

Today, education is big business. With the explosion of the Internet, more and more people are pursuing advanced education. It has never been easier to get your Bachelors or Masters degree. The business of plagiarism has become big business also.

Plagiarism comes from the Latin "plagiarus" which means kidnapper (Waltman 1980). It was not until the 18the century, however, that the word began to designate an intellectual theft. Plagiarism is one of many classifications that constitute academic dishonesty. In the educational atmosphere plagiarism is most common among students. 

I know plagiarism is something that isn't respected, condoned, or excepted in any part of the education process. Either is it tolerated in any type of assignment. Not only does it steal someone elses work, it robes yourself of the learning experience you can gain on the assignment. Plagiarism by definition is immoral and unethical. Plagiarism is: The submission of material authored by another person but represented as the students own work, whether that material is paraphrased or copied in verbatim or near-verbatim form. The submission of material subjected to editorial revision by another person that results in substantive changes in content or major alteration of writing style and improper acknowledgment of sources in essays, papers, or presentations. 

Basically passing someone elses work as your own, and trying to get away with it. I understand first hand how easy it is to plagiarize someone elses work. If something is said or written in a way that would put your work to shame your instincts tell you must make that work your own somehow. I assume plagiarism has been around since first words were written, so I would imagine students who have writing assignments, and find good information would plagiarize to get the best possible. grade. Students must understand you must quote the writer and embellish on the subject. 

Plagiarism is the lazy students dream, and the hard workers nightmare. I am confident that plagiarism occurs more often than it should because we do not feel confident in our own work, we are constantly being reminded in our society that we must do our best and receive the highest achievements. Plagiarism also occurs because of poor teaching and learning skills, if you do not have complete confidence and knowledge on a particular topic than your only other option is to find the work elsewhere. 

There is a big difference in liking someone’s ideas or being inspired someone’s ideas to spur their intellectual fire, than to copy what someone has wrote or developed as your own. Plagiarism along with piracy, is a stealing and can not be tolerated in our society. In my opinion, the only way to stop these crimes is education. Legislation will work to a certain degree but to truly stop plagiarism is to educate students and back up the education with stiff penalties.

References:

Walter, J. L. (1980) “Plagiarism: Preventing it in Formal Research Reports.” ABCA Bulletin 43: 2: 37-38