Plagiarism can be defined as the misappropriation of other people works, words or ideas and presenting them as your original work (http://plagiarism.org).Plagiarism has been on the rise in recent times especially in institutions of learning. As a result of this, plagiarism is now considered an immoral act as it is an academic dishonesty and as result stern action are taken on students who engage in plagiarism. The reason why it is regarded as an academic dishonesty is because many students acquire college degrees and the recognition of their work which in the real sense is not even their original works.
Plagiarism discourages innovations, and inventions in the field of research and other study areas and therefore this practice should be discouraged at all cost when one is doing the research on a given field of study. A study by center for academic integrity found that almost 80 percent of college students admit of cheating at least once. Examples of instances where plagiarism arises are: using other’s work as your original; using other people works without proper citation; incorrect citation of sources and imitating other person ideas plagiarism can either intentional or unintentional (Cornell University Library).
This paper tries to define what plagiarism is, how to avoid and the various implications it has on students.
How to avoid plagiarism
Students can avoid plagiarism by use of any of the following ways: using writing assignment designs to mitigate plagiarism. This is because these designs require proper citation of sources (Heckler et al 96)
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... academic practice and avoid committing plagiarism and related academic offences. Whether intentional or accidental, plagiarism is your responsibility as a student. ... to the reader exactly what the citation refers to. How to avoid plagiarism Summarising, paraphrasing and quoting 11 Both ... It enables staff to conduct electronic comparisons of students’ work against a range of electronic sources. These ...
Detecting tools
The other way of avoiding plagiarism is by use of plagiarism detecting tools. These are programs that have been built with the main objective being to detect plagiarized work. These programs can be easily accessed online such as; Gramarly, Turnitin which is produced by iParadigms and also Essay Verification Engine. (Gilmore 53)
Paraphrasing and use of quotations
Plagiarism can also be avoided by proper paraphrasing. Paraphrasing refers to use of your own words while at the same time retaining the intended meaning of words and ideas as the original work, and at the same time maintain the same form of citation. The use of quotation also helps in avoiding plagiarism as this gives recognition to the original work one is relying upon since quotation requires the use of exact words as the original work. (Olsher) Implications of plagiarism on students
Academic implications
Students who engage in plagiarism carry certain risks such as: expulsion from learning institutions, this usually happens where a student is fond of submitting work as his original piece while in the real sense it is not his. Certain countries have devised tariffs with an aim of countering plagiarism. Students who are found to have plagiarized their work risk their degree being revoked which would mean that their time in college was all for nothing. Revocation of degrees would lead to loss of reputation of the students making it difficult for them to be trusted with other people’s work. Plagiarism also hinders academic progression as it impairs creativity and innovation among the students therefore leading to loss of value of education (Olsher)
Legal aspect
Since plagiarism entails the use of other persons work without proper authority it amounts intellectual property theft, which in almost every country is a criminal offense punishable by law. Therefore students engaging in plagiarism risk being imprisoned as a result of their actions.
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Conclusion
In conclusion therefore plagiarism carries negative impact both on the students as it hinders creation of new ideas and also on education, this is due to the fact that certain academic achievements have been attained through plagiarism. For these reasons plagiarism should be eradicated at all means and by all means possible. This paper has examined how to avoid plagiarism and its negative effects on students.
Work cited Cornell
University Library. “What constitutes plagiarism?” Cornell University Library, n.d. Web15 January 2013 <http://guides.library.cornell.edu/content.php?pid=343769&sid=2811430> Gilmore, Barry Plagiarism: why it happens, how to prevent it. 2 Tennessee: Heinemann 2008. Print Nina, Heckler. David, Forde, and Hobson, Bryan: “Using writing assignment designs to mitigate plagiarism.” Teaching sociology vol. 41, 1 (2013); 94-105 .print Olsher, Dean. “Year in Review: Beyond Plagiarism” Chicago Tribune, 16 Dec 2012. Web. 15 January 2013 “What is plagiarism” n.p, n.d. Web. 15 January 2013<http://plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism>
