Plagiarism and Its Importance

What is Plagiarism and why is it important to cite sources properly?

Varying authors have defined plagiarism by the context in which they believe it has affected society, mostly in academics but the professional world is also not left out.?Hexham (1999) proposed a definition of plagiarism as a “deliberate attempt to deceive the reader through appropriation and representation as owns words and work of others.”?Does it then imply that all activities of plagiarism are deliberate or forethought? No, Cambridge Educational (Producer) gave a more concise definition and stated that “Plagiarism is the unauthorized copying of another person’s work or idea.” Does “unauthorized” equate to theft??Senders (2008) argued that claiming Plagiarism as an act of theft or stealing in academia (students) may not be true but may make more sense among professionals (p. 198). The reward for each entity (students and practitioners) enough differs but this is not to undermine the fact that Plagiarism is a Crime. Cambridge Educational (Producer) also states that “copying a person’s work verbatim either intentionally, unintentionally or accidentally and failing to give credit to the content creator is the clearest form of plagiarism.” With the availability of the internet as a vibrant source of enormous information, Evering & Moorman (2012) stated that “traditional definitions of Plagiarism are further challenged by the digital revolution” (p. 36). Therefore there is a need for a holistic definition of Plagiarism.

Hexham (1999) gave examples of identified types of Plagiarism also did Cambridge Educational (Producer).?In all of these types of Plagiarism, the misconduct is not giving credit to whom it is due, either with the intent to deceive the reader to believe the write-up is the writer’s original idea or to gain promotion or recognition professionally. Plagiarism can then be narrowed to an act of deceit.??Laden (2011) clearly states that “don’t do it,” and explained the implication as “ending a part of our civilization.” How? Meaning it will result in recycling ideas without creating discovery which will stall the advancement of civilization. All identified types of plagiarism almost have the same reason why perpetrated. Ma et al., (2007); McCabe, (2005b); McCabe et al., (2001); Strom & Strom,(2007),?identified, “Laziness, under-developed sense of integrity, lack of maturity, online ethical practices. ?Lack of experience with a particular genre of writing, lack of interest in the assignment, observations of peers’ behaviour and attitude towards Plagiarism and the pressure to maintain or earn a high grade” as cited by Evering & Moorman (2012, p. 38).?

Christensen (2011) states that “Plagiarism can be controlled, and not stopped” (p. 201). Cambridge Educational (Producer) avoiding and knowing what Plagiarism is the responsibility of both the teachers and students and paraphrasing should be, citing sources, quotations, and in-text citations are tools every student should use to avoid Plagiarism.?Senders (2008) arguably suggested this when stating that “Plagiarism is the product of poor teaching that it comes from lacklustre classroom theatre and vague assignments” (p. 203). Thereby assignments given to students should not be ambiguous, to control the possibility of a student plagiarizing and cheating. In other words, teachers should be more engaging with a student in breaking down limitations and challenges that can inhibit ethical writing during assignments and also explain the implications of Plagiarism. According to Evering & Moorman (2012) “The most efficient way of dealing with plagiarism is actively addressing issues through instruction,” they also highlighted “creating a culture of academic integrity and making instruction explicit” as proactive steps to prevent plagiarism (p. 39-40)

Plagiarism, a menace that has ravaged human civilization of intellectual rights, has become harder to police in the Millennium and urgent attention is clearly needed to control it. We need to do more than preach it as theft or just not give credit to the content creator, but to make known how it can be detrimental to human existence regarding just cycling the same knowledge around, not equipping the offender's ability to stand tall and defend their intellectual ability.

References

Cambridge Educational. (Producer). Plagiarism 2.0: Information Ethics in the Digital Age [Video file]. Retrieved from https://digital.films.com.libezproxy.nait.ca/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=6122&xtid=43790

Christensen, G. J. (2011). Plagiarism: Can it be stopped??Business Communication Quarterly, 74(2), 201-204. doi: 10.1177/1080569911404403.

Evering, L. C., & Moorman, G. (2012). Rethinking plagiarism in the digital age. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(1), 35-44. doi:10.1002/JAAL.00100

Hexham, I.?(1999).?The plague of plagiarism. Retrieved from https://c.web.umkc.edu/cowande/plague.htm

Laden, G. (2011).?How to not get caught plagiarizing [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/11/29/how-to-not-get-caught-plagiari/

Senders, S. (2008). Academic plagiarism and the limits of theft. In C. Eisner & M. Vicinus (Eds.), Originality, imitation, and plagiarism: Teaching writing in the digital age (pp. 195-207). Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015073943162