what is plagiarism and its consequences

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Plagiarism and its Consequences
When coming up with an academic writing it is important for the writer should understand that the reader assumes that all the information in the writing are the writer’s original ideas. However our knowledge in a given subject might be limited and often we have to find sources of more information. It is both ethical and legal for a writer to acknowledge all the sources of information and ideas he uses in his writing. There should always be a clear distinction of where the original writer’s ideas end and where those from other sources begin. Plagiarism is not an intentional act in all cases. In some it is purely unintentional. Those with responsibilities of checking academic writing have devised several ways of detecting plagiarism in a piece of writing. There are those who re read submitted work as many times as possible to establish its authenticity. Computer experts have developed complex algorithmic programs that detect this trait in academic work (Faidhi & Robinson 1987). Others have taken to making students use their own experiences as a major reference point when tackling academic assignments. Most universities have policy statements that declare their stand against plagiarism and outline consequences of this behavior. There are still those institutions that resort to an honor system in which students promise not to cheat and to notify authority in case such an act is observed
Plagiarism despite all these checks has continued to be a problem in academic circles. In the Journal of Information Ethics, this is deeply discussed. First it is because in most cases plagiarism is hard to detect. Only a few cases are discovered and when they are fewer of the culprits face stern action. The most detec...

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...when a writer lifts parts of another writers work and includes it in his own original writing.
There are several ways a writer can avoid plagiarism. Proper citation comes in handy. When using another person idea there is need to use quotation marks properly and always acknowledge the source. Sometimes a writer will use his own words to acknowledge a concept or information that is not considered general or common knowledge. In this case the writer must acknowledge the original source of the idea. There are more stern ways of dealing with plagiarism. A tutor might invoke fear of consequence into his students by imposing punishments that come with plagiarism. This tactic has been found to work well with students. A more productive approach is rethinking the course assignments and giving assignments that bring out the creative rather than the generic side of tutors.

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