Plagarism

This research paper provides a clear and concise definition of plagiarism. It addresses why many students plagiarize and how they justify why it is OK. It provides examples of intentional vs. unintentional plagiarism, and it is so important to cite your source. I have provided specific examples of improper citation and defined briefly why it is considered plagiarism. The paper also focuses on the correct way to cite sources, give credit to direct quoting, and how to correctly paraphrase.

Why is Plagiarism Wrong?

Lets first look at what plagiarism is. According to the Webster's American Family Dictionary (Random House, Inc., NY, NY 1998, p. 720 (9)), Plagiarism is the unauthorized use of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own. In other words it is to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one's own or to use without crediting the source or reference.

Plagiarism can also be defined as intentional and unintentional. Is one worse than the other? No both are equally wrong. We will discuss this in greater detail further into the paper.

Why do students/individuals plagiarize?

There are numerous reasons why students plagiarize. In some instances it’s because they are trying to manage school, careers, in some cases and social lives. The demand often gets to be too much. However this does not make it right. Another reason is because so many students experience worries and anxieties about writing and research in general. More and more students entering college do not know how to properly research and write papers much less properly cite their references. Many students that plagiarize do so out of laziness. They are afraid to ask for help so “borrowing” someone else’s work is just easier and they find ways to justify it, such as it’s the same as paying for their education.

According to CNN online, Kathy Slobogin (April 5, 2002 Posted: 1:05 PM EST (1805 GMT (5))) wrote that most students feel that...