Plagiarism: The Big Picture

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Plagiarism: The Big Picture There is much more to plagiarism than most people think. To the average individual, that person probably thinks plagiarism is simply copying an original work and thinking it is not a big deal. I used to think this way also, until reality gave me a good slap across the face. Truthfully, plagiarism is a huge issue and is in fact a crime punishable by several means. There are two types of plagiarism: accidental/unintentional plagiarism and intentional plagiarism. Plagiarising intentionally would be copying and pasting directly from a source without paraphrasing at all. The types of people that do this perhaps want to make themselves look knowledgeable and seem like they have a clue what is going on. On the other hand, they are just plain lazy and don’t want to put any effort into the work. Unintentional plagiarism is not deliberately copy-and-pasting like the examples above. Writers without much experience can be assumed to do this because they cannot figure out when they are plagiarising. Grammatical errors such as forgetting quotations if you are quoting directly from the source can ‘unintentionally’ turn itself into unoriginal work. Inexperienced writers may also have a lack of citations, or perhaps improper signal phrases and parenthetical citations. (The Owl of Purdue, The University of Wisconsin) With plagiarism comes a variety of consequences and penalties. This form of “academic dishonesty” can mean little to no credit on an assignment, discipline at school, expulsion from a university, loss of a job, and especially loss of credibility and a professional reputation. Outside of education, an act of plagiarism can result in fines, jail time, and it will go on your criminal record. Recently, a Uni... ... middle of paper ... ... chances of getting into a good college or a good job because nobody wants a cheater on their campus. Avoiding plagiarism is not a hard thing to do. Including correct citations and a properly formatted works cited page, and not to mention paraphrasing, can ensure that your work is 100% original. Works Cited Stolley, Karl, Allen Brizee, and Joshua M. Paiz. "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Avoiding Plagiarism. The Writing Lab, The OWL at Purdue, and Purdue University, 7 June 2013. Web. 29 Dec. 2013. United States Copyright Office. "International Copyright." U.S. Copyright Office - International Copyright. The Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 31 Dec. 2013. The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin. "How to Avoid Plagiarism." Avoiding Plagiarism: Quoting and Paraphrasing. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, 2009. Web. 30 Dec. 2013.

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