Definition of Intentional Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of someone else's words, ideas, or experimental results without giving credit to the originator of the work. It can be unintentional if the writer does not know how to properly cite sources or give credit to the originator. Intentional plagiarism occurs when the writer deliberately passes off written work as her own, knowing that some or all of the content was copied from another source.
Other People Are Reading
-
Unintentional Plagiarism
-
Young writers, especially, are often unaware of the rules of citation and plagiarism, but by the time the writer gets into high school, he needs to be aware of the right way to use other's work in a paper or essay. There may be some confusion about exactly what information needs to be cited as well as how to properly cite it. A misconception about plagiarism is that if the writer changes a few words in copied work, so it is no longer the same as the original, it is not plagiarism. This is not true. Any idea, concept, or written work by someone else other than the writer has to be cited because it is not the original idea of the writer. Paraphrasing does not negate the need to cite the source of the information.
Intentional Plagiarism
-
When someone knowingly uses the ideas, concepts or words of another and passes those off as her own original ideas, concepts or words, that person has committed intentional plagiarism. If a writer writes an original analysis of someone else's idea, concept or words, then the writer has created her own original piece, it is not plagiarized because the content is not the work of the originator of the idea, it is about the idea or concept and is an analysis written in the writer's own words. There is a big difference between writing an analysis of someone's work and paraphrasing that work. Paraphrasing is simply rewriting in the writer's own words, but not changing the original idea or concept. Paraphrasing must be properly cited, giving credit to the originator.
-
Examples of Intentional Plagiarism
-
Some examples of intentional plagiarism include, but are not limited to:
--Obtaining a paper from the Internet or other source and submitting it as original work. This includes paying someone else to write the paper.
--Copying any information from any other source without giving credit to the originator of the information.
--Including direct quotes in a paper, but not using quotation marks or citing the source of the direct quote.
--Making up a source just to look like the information is being cited. Sources, when written correctly, should lead the reader to the exact place where the information came from.
Consequences of Plagiarism
-
Depending on where the plagiarism occurs, the consequences will vary. In school, if the infraction is a first one and it can be shown that it was unintentional, the student may earn a "0" on the assignment and be given a chance to do it over. If it is intentional plagiarism, the school will take this seriously and could result in serious sanctions, including expulsion. In the workplace, plagiarism can occur in small, quiet ways such as copying a few paragraphs from someone's memo and incorporating them into a report without giving credit to the originator of the information. It can also be blatant, as in publishing one person's work under another person's name or presenting content in a speech that was taken from someone else without giving credit. In these cases, the company's code of ethics should address the issue and provide the consequences, which could range from public humiliation to suspension or even firing.
Avoiding Plagiarism
-
The easiest way to avoid plagiarism is to make sure that everything written in a report, article, essay, speech or other document is either original or properly cited from its original source. There are different style guides that dictate how the citations are to be formatted, but the one thing to remember is to make sure that any source listed correctly identifies the author, the original publication or website, the publisher, page number and any other information that will lead the reader to the exact spot in the original document the information comes from.
-
