In order to understand the concept of plagiarism, a literature review has been conducted. Literature was selected that illustrates the concept of plagiarism, the role of the educators, universities and colleges to prevent plagiarism, the computer software that can detect plagiarism, and how this proposed research explains the present knowledge base involving plagiarism among students.
The concept of plagiarism
The book of Kirszner and Mandell (2011)“The Brief Wadsworth Handbook” is essential for this research because it defines the meaning of unintentional plagiarism which is careless research habits. Plagiarism refers to the stealing another person’s intellectual property without giving proper acknowledgement. At the same time, the work of Marsh (2007) is equally vital since it has provided the different labels of plagiarism including “cheating, improper citation, misappropriation, copyright infringement or literary theft among others”. In simple terms, plagiarism refers to the act of presenting another person’s ideas or words to make it appear as your own by inadvertently passing a quoted passage in a paper by not including quotation marks and documentation (Kirszner and Mandell, 2011). The purpose of including the work of Roig (2006) is to present the traditional meaning of plagiarism which refers to the taking of words, images, ideas, etc. from an author and presenting them as one’s own work that is usually related to expressions including fraud, snatching of words, kidnapping of ideas, and literary theft (Roig, 2006). On the other hand, the work of Scanlon on plagiarism covers two indiscretions which are theft and imposture (Scanlon, 2007). Any person who shall pretend to own the ideas or work that he did not create should be denounced for theft and dishonest pretension.
On the other hand, unintentional plagiarism has been a persistent problem of students due to failure to cite the proper references in their academic reports. The work of Hansen, Stith, and Tesdell (2011) has provided the important aspect of plagiarism is not the act of copying another another’s work or ideas and alleging it as your own, but the greater concern is the violation of moral and ethical standards (Hansen, et al., 2011). This work has explained that any student who shall disregard acknowledging the work and idea of the original author and shall benefit from it should not be tolerated by academic institutions. Plagiarism is considered as stealing since copying the work of others for personal gain is forbidden under the law. Schools and universities enforce their own policies that deal with plagiarism which is commonly met with severe consequences. The work of Buranen and Roy (1999) is necessary since it explained how plagiarism can be considered as the opposite of forgery since plagiarism deals with the act of presenting the work of other as his or her own work. As opposed to forgery, it refers to the act of presenting the one who forged the work to be a work that was done by another person (Buranen and Roy, 1999).
Consequences of Plagiarism
It is immoral and unethical to claim a right over the original idea or work or ideas of another person to pass the work as his or her own and without giving acknowledgment to the creator. Though plagiarism cannot be considered as an act that is defined by law and does not pertain to any criminal or civil wrongdoing, such act is highly unethical and immoral since there is a deliberate intent to submit the work of another to derive benefit out of it. The work of Ramzan, Munir, Siddique, Nadeem and Asif (2012) was used to explain why the act of plagiarism can be equated to stealing and cheating, referring to criminal acts that are punishable under the criminal code. Most universities located all over the world such as England, America, Pakistan, to name a few, consider plagiarism as a serious offense that may result to an automatic failing grade or expulsion. However, there are some universities which impose lighter penalties by giving a failing grade or “F”. A student who is commit plagiarism will face academic probation that may mean he or she will be dropped from the class or may lead to automatic expulsion. The penalties for plagiarism by academic institutions that includes the following penalties: 1. Dropping of the student from the course; 2.) Student will be given a failing grade; or 3.) In case of compassion of the professor, the student is required to submit a revised paper.
Role of Educators and universities to prevent plagiarism
On the other hand, the work of Davis (2011) was included in this study since it explains the role of the educators in reprimanding the students who are caught guilty of plagiarism and how to discipline them (Davis, 2011). However, as part of the right of the student to due process, it shall be obligatory for academic institutions to notify the student through a written or oral reprimand that plagiarism has been detected. In universities in England, the penalties for plagiarism committed by the students are given a much softer line of penalties by majority of professors as opposed to the stiffer penalties imposed by American universities (Buranen and Roy, 2011).
Plagiarism is considered part of the Honor Codes of every academic institution that imposes discipline among the students that should be strictly followed. It is expected that students, professors and other members of the faculty should conform to the Honor Codes without fail. The work of Ramzan, et al., (2012) was included in this research to explain the ethical responsibility of the students to give credit and respect to the ideas and words of the original author in accordance to the intellectual property rights recognized by law. It further explained why academic institutions expect that every student and faculty must comply accordingly with the terms and conditions imposed by the administration to avoid any conflicts of interest in the future. Academic honesty is the cornerstone of any college or university and the offense of plagiarism should be strictly admonished.
Plagiarism as an ethical misconduct
Plagiarism is regarded as a grave form of ethical misconduct that has been addressed by scholarly, artistic, and scientific disciplines among universities (Roig, 2006). The work of Hansen et al., (2011) is included to explain how professors can provide guidelines to avoid plagiarism regardless of intent of the students in order for them to give credit the work of other authors. At present, the anti-plagiarism guidelines implemented in universities all over the world are intended to prevent students from committing a similar mistake twice. The essence of these anti-plagiarism policies is to avoid copyright infringement. The problem with unintentional plagiarism is that even if the student or author had no intention to copy the work of another and pass it as his or her own, the academic policies do not accept good faith as a defense that will mitigate the penalty imposed. It is mandatory for students to ensure that proper referencing is used in all the reports and papers before submitting them to their professors. Roig (2006) argued that any responsible writer has an ethical responsibility to the readers and to the authors whose ideas and words are being borrowed and to give them the credit that they deserve. Thus, on the part of the students, it is vital that they use their own words when paraphrasing sentences before submitting the paper to their professors. Quotation marks should be used for any sentence that has been cited in a verbatim manner that was copied from another author. It bears stressing that students must acknowledge all sources that are used in writing the school papers at all time. Quotation marks and proper referencing are useful tools that should be strictly followed by students to avoid any incidence of plagiarism.
Plagiarism-detection software
The work of Heckler, Rice and Bryan (2013) was used to explain the effect of “Turnitin Systems” to reduce the chances of plagiarism. In fact, computer technology such as the “Turnitin Systems” has the ability to verify if the work submitted by the student is original and properly referenced to deter plagiarism (Heckler, et al., 2013). The work of Youmans (2011) is useful for the study because it presented how the adoption of plagiarism-detection software in higher education will lessen the plagiarism cases in the future.
References:
Buranen, L. and Roy, A. M. (1999). Perspectives on Plagiarism and Intellectual
Property in a Postmodern World. New York City: State University of New York
Press.
Davis, L. (2011). “Arresting Student Plagiarism: Are We Investigators or Educators?”
Business Communication Quarterly. 74(2), pp.160-163.
Hansen, B., Stith, D. and Tesdell, L. S (2011). “Plagiarism: What’s The Big Deal?”
Business Communication Quarterly. 74.2 (2011):188-191.
Heckler, N. C., Rice, M. and Bryan, C. H. (2013). “Turnitin Systems: A Deterrent to
Plagiarism in College Classrooms”. Journal of Research on Technology in Education.
45(3), pp. 229-248.
Kirszner, L. G. and Mandell, S. R. (2011). The Brief Wadsworth Handbook. California:
Cengage.
Marsh, B. (2007). Plagiarism: Alchemy and Remedy in Higher Education. New York City:
Ramzan, M. Munir, M., Siddique, N. and Asif, M. (2012). Awareness about plagiarism amongst
Roig, M. (2006). Avoiding plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and other questionable writing practices:
A guide to ethical writing. Web. Retrieved on August 25, 2013, from
http://facpub.stjohns.edu/~roigm/plagiarism.doc.
Scanlon, P. M. (2007). Song from myself: An anatomy of self-plagiarism. Plagiary: Cross-
Disciplinary Studies in Plagiarism, Fabrication, and Falsification. MPublishing:
Michigan.
Youmans, R. J. (2011). “Does the adoption of plagiarism-detection software in higher education
reduce plagiarism?” Studies in Higher Education. 36(7), pp. 749-761.
