It is not very common for academicians to take up the works of others and present it as their own. Rather, it is always encouraged that the in case of such, the individual should take up the ideas of others and manipulates them to fit their context while giving credit to the original source. However, it so happens that copy pasting can take place. This is referred to as plagiarism and is the subject of this essay.
It is academic integrity to do and present original work whenever there is an assignment that has to be submitted. This is important as it helps in ensuring that there is no duplication of other people’s work, and it also helps to ensure that the researcher or the individual handling the assignment gets the required research skills. This is very important as it is the parameter that can be used to assess as to whether the research skills are imparted into the individual. However, it so happens that at times it is quite difficult to produce original work. At such desperate times, the academicians often take up the works of others and present them as their own. Of course, this is not acceptable and is referred to as plagiarism. This essay looks at this issue with greater detail.
Eret and Gokmenoglu, 2010, p.1) describe plagiarism as literary theft. This is to indicate that an individual takes what is not his and assumes possession of the same in academic terms. The history of the word has it that it was taken from the Greek word plagiary which means the taking of a different person’s ideas or words. It can also be traced to the words kidnapper, thief, plunderer or seducer. As such, it indicates that this is not something that an individual can be proud of. Rather, it is a source of shame and humiliation for an academician since it is practically against the ethics of education. Learning institutions, especially those dealing with research have measures to discourage this practice where in some institutions, those caught in the act or having committed it is often forced to leave school.
It is important to understand why people often get caught into the plagiarism trap. This can help in coming up with ways to prevent it from being so rampant. Some of these causes are as discussed in the paragraphs below. Eret and Gokmenoglu (2010, p. 3) indicate that one of the reasons why academicians may take to plagiarism is difficulty with the foreign language. This often happens in the case of international students who go studying outside their countries. The situation becomes worse if the student goes to an institution in which the language of teaching and communication is totally new. Under such circumstances, the individual might not comprehend at all what the tutors are saying. Similarly, it might be hard for the students to engage in research since they do not understand the language used in the sources. As such, they often end up taking bulk from the source, which eventually sees them score low as they present work that is not their own.
Another reason as to why this can happen is when there is too much workload for the students. For instance, there can be times when the students have too much courses to handle effectively. Under such circumstances, they are likely to be quite tied up with tight schedules that barely leave them any time to engage in meaningful research. A similar case can arise when the students do not have many courses but from the few that they have there are so many assignments to submit and on short deadlines. Under such situations, this can be too hard for the students to cope with and as such, they end up copy pasting the works of others so as to hit the deadlines. As such, they are not concerned about the quality or the originality of the work. They are just keen on having the work done (Eret and Gokmenoglu, 2010, p. 3). This makes their work low quality and lacks originality. However, it can be seen that this is not as a result of student negligence but as a result of lack of enough time to do comprehensive research.
Poor research skills are another factor that greatly contributes to plagiarism. This happens when the academician gets the information from the source but lacks the necessary literary skills that can transform the work to their own. This mostly happens with the first timers or the novice academicians who have not mastered the research skills. As such, it is not expected in academicians in the upper levels of study. This could also be the reason as to why most institutions of higher learning tend to give the foundation information on research during the formative years. This can make the students more informed and help them to be more skilled in this field.
At last, there is an indication that some people often get to plagiarism due to lack of knowledge on plagiarism. This is to imply that some individuals often get involved in the act simply by thinking that they are doing the right thing. In order to prevent such occurrences, it would be necessary for the learning institutions as well as the researchers to familiarize themselves with the research ethics so as to ensure that there are no cases of plagiarism that arise during works of research (Eret and Gokmenoglu, 2010, p.4).
Having looked at the definition and causes of plagiarism, there are various methods that can be used to come up with solutions to the problem. Of course, the greatest and most efficient method is to ensure that the researchers fully understand the research ethics and that they respect the same. Under such circumstances, it would be very easy to control the case of plagiarism by ensuring that they do not arise at all. Second, it is important for the academicians to have the proper research skills as this would automatically help them to steer away from the plagiarism menace. Understanding the language used as the primary language in teaching should also be the very first priority. As such, if an academician does not understand the language used as the mode of communication in the teaching, he should first ensure that he gets to understand the language as this can aid in research.
Inn conclusion, this essay has looked at the issue of plagiarism and how it affects the academicians’ work. This has been done through the review of an article on the same as writtrn by Eret and Gokmenoglu (2010). It started off by defining the term, then went ahead to look at the various causes of plagiarism. These include time constraint, poor research and academic skills, language problems as well as lack of understanding of plagiarism. At last, it has concluded by giving the possible solutions to the issue. It is hoped that the essay could be of assistance to academicians and researchers who want to steer away from this problem.
