Abstract
The paper describes about plagiarism and how it is carried out in research work and academics. The paper also cites one famous instance of plagiarism and its consequences discussing about Ambrose’s history book and how it had similarities with a previous work by another author of the same discipline. The consequences that followed the harsh criticism and the controversy have been discussed in detail so as to provide an understanding of the possible impediments one could face for plagiarism. The ways of avoiding plagiarism are discussed in detail in the paper so as to present a clear idea about the steps to be taken for avoidance of any impediment in academic work. It has been explicated how important it is for any individual to avoid any instance of plagiarism is delved into in the course of this paper so as to have a holistic view of the matter in context.
Plagiarism can be defined as a type of fraud. It involves stealing someone else’s work and also not telling the truth about it. In academic research work and papers it is imperative to mention the source from where a particular quotation or idea is taken. The original source of the extracted part has to be mentioned as per the norms and formatting styles in the paper. If any such extraction is not accounted for in the paper, the part of the paper would become an instance of plagiarism. It needs to be reckoned that plagiarism is unethical as a practice and it attracts immense castigation in the academic community. As such, academic researchers and students need to be doubly sure about not plagiarizing in their academic works.
It has to be noted that there have been a number of famous instances of plagiarism that have been critiqued widely and have also brought disciplinary action against the individuals found to be guilty of plagiarism. One can recall how the celebrated historian and author Stephan Ambrose was caught up in a major controversy regarding plagiarism in his book. This was in the year 2002 when the book, The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s over Germany was encompassed by harsh criticism for being plagiarized from a book called Wings of Morning: The Story of the Last American Bomber Shot Down over Germany in World War II (1995) penned by the author, Thomas Childers who was a professor of history in the University of Pennsylvania. Very specific stand-out phrases were found in book the academic works (example: “glittering like mica”). Nonetheless, Ambrose did not acknowledge Childers work to be a source used in penning his book. The author was immensely criticized by the academicians and critics. This led to a popularized scandal that was consequently covered by the media of the world. Following this incident, Forbes.com went on to zero in on as many as four more such cases of plagiarism in the other books authored by Ambrose. (Online Classes, n.d.)
It can very well be understood from this controversial instance that it is not fine to plagiarize under any circumstance. In the times when plagiarism can be pinpointed by online checking, it becomes more dangerous for any person to plagiarize as it would put to stake the reputation as well as initiate chances of disciplinary or legal action against the person involved in plagiarism. (Badke, 2007) Any individual should be original in his or her work. Plagiarism is not only an issue in academics, but it also needs to be avoided in work related to any sort of expression of arts and aesthetics as well. “Reliance on plagiarism detection software such as Turnitin can assist academics to detect plagiarism with increasing student numbers.” (Smedley et. al, 2014) It should be the primary aim of any individual to be original in the work, and to acknowledge any work that is borrowed from someone else in the domain. Indeed, academic research might involve inclusion of cumulative previous research, but everything has to be cited properly in the text.
References
Auer, Nicole J. & Krupar, Ellen M. (2001). Mouse Click Plagiarism: The Role of
Technology in Plagiarism and the Librarian's Role in Combating It. Library Trends: 415. Academic OneFile.
Badke, W. (2007). Give Plagiarism the Weight It Deserves. Online, 31(5): 58-60.
Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxybz.lib.montana.edu
Smedley, Alison & Crawford, Tonia & Cloete, Linda. (2015). An intervention aimed at
reducing plagiarism in undergraduate nursing students. Nurse Education in Practice 15: 168-173.
(n.d.). Top 10 Plagiarism Scandals of All Time. Online Classes. Retrieved from
http://www.onlineclasses.org/resources/top-10-plagiarism-scandals-of-all-time/
