Plagiarism Must Be Stopped

901 Words2 Pages

Ethics and plagiarism go hand in hand. In a world that says cheaters prosper, it is no wonder that plagiarism runs rampant in our society. Once considered a country that was founded on integrity, honesty, and upright morals; we find ourselves in a society that rewards those who pass off other’s work as their own making it hard for individuals that truly deserve recognition and work hard think about their ethics. It is important to understand what plagiarism is and what the consequences of intentional plagiarism are. In my opinion, passing off someone else’s work is highly inappropriate, unacceptable, or for a lack of better words just plain wrong.

According to Griffin (2006), new ideas are few and far between. Furthermore, he asserts that even the most ingenious minds, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, have not truly articulated their own ideas in manner that would call for one hundred percent originality. Emerson’s documented observations closely resemble the work of German philosopher, Immanuel Kant. Moreover, Griffin (2006) suggests that if Emerson was a university student in society today that his work might be guilty of plagiarism since their works so closely resemble one another. Griffin (2006) goes on to say that each case should be dealt with individually to be fair since being fair is meeting the needs of the individual. Next, he argues that a person’s academic history be taken into consideration. Furthermore, what were the intentions of the individual who allegedly plagiarized and what is the depth of their understanding in the discipline they are highlighting in their work? Griffin (2006) does mention that unintentional plagiarism does happen and when it does should it be dealt with like all other plagiarist actions?
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...ride, fear, and inconsistent rules make it very easy for individuals to want to continue to intentionally plagiarize. Society as a whole needs to look for different ways to counteract the instances of cheating, but at the same time not instill fear into current or potential students.

Works Cited

Callahan, D. (2006). On Campus: Author Discusses the "Cheating Culture" with College Students. Perspectives, 1(4), 1-8.

Griffin, N. (2006). Write of wrong: Thoughts on plagiarism. Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/items/1531069-appropriate-criteria-for-plagiarism

Martin, B. (1994). Plagiarism: a misplaced emphasis. Journal of Information Ethics, 3(2), 36-47.

Park, C. (2004). Rebels Without a Clause: towards an institutional framework for dealing with plagiarism by students. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 28(3), 291-305. doi:10.1080/0309877042000241760

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