English Comp

Colorado Technical University Online

Plagiarism

Phase 1 Individual Project

ENGL103-1501B-04 Composition: Writing and Research

Debra Christie

February 23, 2015

Although plagiarism has been a problem throughout history, it is currently demanding attention because technology has made it easier, well-known respected people have been found guilty of it, and because of it, it has severe consequences. Copying another person work or borrowing another person’s original ideas without giving credit or the proper citations is known as plagiarism. Plagiarism is considered a form of cheating; well-known respected people who plagiarize can be punished with loss of employment, damaged creditability and reputation. A New York Times journalist by the name of Jayson Blair was discovered performing plagiarism, stealing from other reporters. Once discovered Mr. Blair resigned from his career as a journalist before he could be terminated.

Jayson Blair performed years of plagiarism and supplemented his own reports with fabricated details in numerous of his stories published in “Times”. Blair not only damaged his creditability, he damaged the creditability of his work (Times). Times wrote, in its “Correcting the Record” piece, The Times talked a great deal about the trust it put in its employees, saying that “Every newspaper, like every bank and every police department, trusts its employees to uphold central principles.” This is why it is so very important to practice academic honesty because you have superiors and colleagues depending upon you to do what’s ethical. When plagiarizing it shows that you have no integrity for the ones who are reading your work.

However, the truth behind plagiarism is only a small part of a very complex and evolving situation. Plagiarism, its consequences and its causes, are not simple matters that can be looked at in just one light. As we begin to dispel these issues and view the realities of plagiarism in academic writing more complexly, we...