PLAGIARISM BY DEFINITION

What really is plagiarism?

It has been defined by many to be simply the art of stealing that which was not said or written by one. a broader definition states, An act or instance of using or closely imitating the language or thoughts of another person or author without authorization and the representation of that authors work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author. This therefore can be said to be the aspect of placing oneself in the shoes of another, and stating that which they said, but without giving credit to them. In other words, it can be equated to impersonation in relation to the field of academics. Even though plagiarism has just found ground vastly during the late centuries, it has been said to have emanated between the years of 1610 - 1625, the rest as i can say, its development.

Unlike other entities, the likes of copyright and cyber-crime, plagiarism is not enforceable by law neither does it have a legal standing in law, at least not yet since law is considered to be a progressive and ever changing field. this is so to say because there is yet to be established a legal statute or act that bases solely on plagiarism. We however can find rules on them for purposes of education and provision of guidance to academicians. A breach of this rules by those subject to them usually amounts to penalties and other punishments such as expulsion and suspension from the learning facility, having to re do or rewrite ones paper, dismissal from work(this is for those who work as writers) and many others. However, a closer look at the Constitution of Kenya, and this depends on how one interprets and understands it, shall show you that to some extend, the law provides for some idea that one can relate to while doing there writings and studies. Article 19 (2) which states; "the purpose of recognizing and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms is to preserve the dignity of individuals and communities and to promote social justice and the realization of the potential of all human beings". This article if read together with Article 32 (1) that provides for the freedom and right to conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion, and also Article 33(1) which provides for the expressive freedom, it can be surmised from a leymans understanding of the three articles that indeed plagiarism has a basis in law. Despite the fact that it has not been mentioned anywhere, it can be related to what has been adduced in the Constitution.

What characters can be drawn from a plagiarized context?

A plagiarized writing can exhibit traits such as; (i) Lacking in originality, this definitely arises as a result of one having not done there own research but depending on something that another had already conducted or carried out. (ii) Displaying a sense of copy-pasting, of course with the technological development where one does researches online and compile their work on a computer is the main reason why typing involves much of copy and paste techniques, with less editing of the work. (iii) Failure to appreciate and/or recognise the source and origin of a particular borrowed idea, in other terms known as citation techniques. (iv) Making poor citation of the sources used or depended on during your research and lastly, (v) Taking that which is not your own, which basically is the short definition of plagiarism. But it is important to remember a famous guideline that says, "If you did not write it yourself, you must give credit."

A summarily look at the importance and necessity of plagiarism, we can say that it is important in the sense that (i) It helps learners to be able to come up with there own new ideas, (ii) it allows recognition of the efforts and good work done by other professional writers, (iii) it helps academicians to be able to grow mentally by way of thinking and analyzing there content, (iv) it also does allow academicians to be able to carry out vast and in-depth researches on there work, and lastly (v) it provides a platform for one to give a new look at other already written works so as to come up with a different perspective view at something.

Plagiarism by definition is something to be feared, especially by those who find it hard to do there own research and make there own written work, but it is a necessary necessity in the filed of learning. The world needs to learn of new ideas, and this can only be achieved if and when we adhere to the rules of plagiarism.