As I reflect back to what might have gone wrong with my paper in ENGL 105, I feel a great feeling of remorse. The nature of my violation is plagiarism by misuse of sources in my written paper in ENGL 105. It becomes an act of plagiarism when I used the sources I found, and not correctly citing them. During my work on the paper, I did not have enough knowledge about the proper citing and documentation techniques that could have avoided the violation. I also lack further understanding about our university’s policies; especially, the consequences of my actions. I know realize that with my violation, I have committed a serious misconduct to the university rules, and I disrespect the authors of the sources I misused or technically plagiarized.
The works on the plagiarized paper is my entire fault and I should take full responsibility to it. There is no one to be blamed but me. I should accept the penalties and consequences of my action to the fullest. I should also have to understand further the proper rules and regulations about plagiarism and how to avoid it. I should also understand other forms of violation and I should try to avoid them also since I realized the consequences of not following the university rules. There are many things that I fully understood in the nature of my violation and the consequences of my action.
I also realized that there are many ways to avoid my violation if I understand the proper citing techniques and proper documentation that is required in every style such as APA and MLA. I should have prevented the violation if properly used my sources and cite them properly in my paper. According to the definitions of the University Library, my violation is not an intention of cheating but a result of the ignorance of the rules and the laziness to think personal ideas and use the ideas of others and not citing them in the written paper (WSU, nd). I realized that there are two ways to avoid or prevent my violation during my process of writing my paper.
The first method to prevent the plagiarism by misuse of sources is to be not ignorant on the proper rules for citation and documentation. I should understand the proper way of using my sources in every time I write academic and technical papers. There are two styles in the citing the paper works and uses different ways and methods to cite the sources. The APA style uses author and date for the in-text citation and the MLA uses author and page number. There are other styles that can be used such as the Chicago style (The Purdue OWL, 2012). If have used these methods, I would have prevented the violation. Citing the sources would need in-text citations for using the idea of others and quotation marks for using the same exact words in a paragraph (The Purdue OWL, 2012).
The second way that should have prevented me for my violation is by removing my laziness in reading the sources and creating my own version and citing the sources. The most common way of using the idea of others is to paraphrase it which is also the most common mistake the students could be done (Roig, 2002). In paraphrasing, there are certain sentences that I accidentally did not paraphrase properly due to my laziness in expressing words in my own version. I should have prevented the violation if I read the paraphrasing techniques and not be lazy to apply them. Some of the techniques in proper paraphrasing is reading the entire paragraph and understanding it before paraphrasing or creating my own expression of the idea. I should have avoided my method of paraphrasing by sentence which could lead to more risk of plagiarism. I should also have properly quoted the exact words that I used in my paper from my sources to avoid my violation.
In the process of accepting my violation, there are many things that I have learned and realized which I could use to avoid further violations not only in the university but also for my professional career. For me, integrity is an ideal or concept which can be recognized in the consistent actions and principles. It is a virtue which can be reflected in an individual for the actions and methods used for the actions. I realized that I did not apply the concept of integrity of the University which is their highest basis of students conduct. For the university, the students should be accountable for the actions and principles that are used in their works related to education which conform integrity.
The academic integrity policy is the cornerstone of the university because the students could apply them in their future professional careers. Academic integrity is characterized by honest and responsible way of learning and scholarship. It is one of the basic principles of the university in helping students to apply a responsible learning which could build their characters as the future professionals and leaders. Without the academic integrity, the students could apply their misconduct and irresponsible acts in the professional careers. Since the student’s actions could reflect the university’s principles, academic integrity should be applied by the students because all are responsible for their own acts.
Intellectual properties are ideas and concepts produce and written in the owner’s works which is published or not. The moment the owner writes them, or the work is final, the rights for intellectual property should be applied. It is a concept which the right is mostly violated in the act of plagiarism. The individual should always have the right to be cited and acknowledge for his or her works when the other used them in their own works. The act of plagiarism is the one that violates the rights for intellectual property.
If there is another incident that I violated the University’s academic integrity policies, there are more sanctions that could be given to me. Aside from giving me no credit to the work, I may have a failing grade to the subject. For the degree of my violation, I could also have a probation status which could lead to community service or fines. For the worst cases, I could have expelled and remove my university recognition for violating the academic integrity policies
For my academic goals, I realized I should apply academic integrity in all my works as a student and also as a professional in the future. I should not violate the laws and should understand the concepts and methods in proper citation, documentation and use of sources properly. I should remember that working with an academic integrity is better than late works although I should probably not apply both. I should also remove my behavior of laziness in understanding the concepts and working my paper which should apply academic integrity.
References:
Roig, M. (2002). Avoiding plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and other questionable writing practices: A guide to ethical writing. Retrieved from: <http://ori.hhs.gov/images/ddblock/plagiarism.pdf>.
The Purdue OWL. (2012). MLA Formatting and Styling Guide. Retrieved from: <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/>.
The Purdue OWL. (2012). General Format. Retrieved from: <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/>.
VAILTutor. (nd). Virtual Academic Integrity Laboratory. Retrieved from: <http://www-apps.umuc.edu/vailtutor/>.
Washington State University Libraries. (nd). Plagiarism: What is it? Retrieved from: <http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/library-instruction/plagiarism/what>.
Washington State University OSSA. (nd). Mission and Core Values. Retrieved from: <http://standards.wsu.edu/about-ossa/misson-and-core-values/>.
Washington State Legislature. (nd). Washington Administrative Code (WAC). Retrieved from: <http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx>.
