What is Plagiarism?

            What is plagiarism? When I first heard the word “plagiarism” in the fourth grade I did not know what it is, but I knew it is a bad thing because I heard it over and over in every school year. Plagiarism is a fancy term for taking somebody else’s words or ideas and presenting it as if it is your own without bothering to give credit to the original author, both intentionally and unintentionally. Plagiarism is every teacher and administrator’s fear in every school settings; from grade schools to universities. They fear that students will plagiarize and they have to punish them, which can be harsh, and they do not enjoy doing so. Plagiarism can also occur outside school, like at a work place. Plagiarism can result from getting a zero on the paper, a suspension, an expulsion from an institution, getting fire on the spot at a job, and a hefty fine or sentence to jail time.

            Plagiarism is not ethical in our society. In the United States words and ideas can be stolen. According to PlagiarismdotOrg, an “expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property, and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions.” Plagiarizing in America is breaking the law. It is like stealing another person’s work and turning it in saying it is yours. That is lying. It is dishonest and unethical. Plagiarism is not okay if it is done by accident either. You may turn in your assignment and not citing your work by accident, but your instructor may not think it that way. Either way you will get in trouble.

There are many ways to plagiarize other then copying words or ideas from someone else and not giving credit and turning in someone else’s work as your own. Buying, stealing, or borrowing a paper is plagiarizing. Using your own writing that you have wrote from your other class without asking both teachers for permission is plagiarizing. Even asking a family member, a friend, or hiring another person to write your paper for you is also considered plagiarizing. Simply by doing your own work is the best way to avoid plagiarism. You can have outside sources and incorporating other’s ideas and information by giving them credit. Most cases of plagiarism can be omitted through citing your sources. By acknowledging that a certain information has been borrowed, and providing where you find those sources in your paper or in the bibliography of your paper is usually enough to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism will occur when you fail to put quotation marks and stating where you’ve gotten the passage of information from. So make sure you use those quotation marks when you need to. A student can avoid plagiarism by always making sure to cite your work, even if you fail at it miserably. Although you cited your work poorly, it is not consider plagiarizing. Your teacher may give you a poor grade, but it is better than getting a zero, so learn how to cite your work accordingly whenever you can. Citing your sources is important because it tells the readers that some materials in your work came from another source. It gives the readers the necessary information to locate those sources again if they want to learn more about it. It also shows the amount of research you’ve done. Copying a chunk of someone else’s writing and putting it in your work without using it in your own words is plagiarizing. If you are not going to use that material as a quote then you should really paraphrase it into your own words so that it fits in your writing. You should always use citations when you paraphrase. This way you can avoid plagiarism and it distinguishes your ideas from those of your source.

Remember if you are plagiarizing intentionally or unintentionally you are breaking the law, and you will face the consequences. Using outside sources and other’s ideas to incorporate in your paper to help you get your point across is only alright if you are citing your sources. Throughout your educational life there are many papers and research that needs to be done and avoiding plagiarism is the first step in getting a successful education. So always state where you get the information from.