Academic Plagerism

What is plagiarism? As defined in the Merriam-Webster online, “plagiarism” is the act of stealing and passing off someone else’s ideas, as ones’ own without crediting the source. Brief or attributed quotes generally do not constitute plagiarism. (Dames, K, June 2007 p.24 (4). The word originated from the Latin word plagiarius that is an abductor and plagiare, which means to steal. The subject of Plagiarism is an ethical topic that has affected many areas of academic life. It can include limited borrowing without sufficient detail to the source. Plagiarism is breached when one uses another persons work and does not acknowledge that the work is not their own. Plagiarism is an extremely serious offence and is considered a “serious violation of the ethics of scholarship”1. In a quote from (The American Historical Association statement on Standards publication) “In addition to the harm that plagiarism does to the pursuit of truth, it can also be an offense against the literary rights of the original author and the property rights of the copywriter owner”. Students and sometimes faculty members in schools have been accused and in some cases, severely punished for committing plagiarism. Some of the accidental cases of plagiarism are in the use of quotations, paraphrases and summaries in compiling documents where the source not cited correctly. When plagiarism is an accident the punishment is sometimes as severe as the act that was intentional.

There have been many incidents of plagiarism in the academic field. According to an article, quoting UNESCO report on corruption on education continues to grow worldwide. (Labi, A. 2007) Some of the finding of the report state, “higher education in the United States is beset with ethical problems” (Labi, A. 2007). Academic fraud is so widespread that the problem is undermining the validity of American Degrees (Labi, A. 2007). The internet and World Wide Web have made plagiarism very simple. The copy and

References: Sept 2007 from www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/24national/main3095184.shtml Bartlett & Smallwood (2004, December) (Document ID: 782042781). Dames, K. Matthew. “Understanding plagiarism and how it differs from copyright infringement.” Computers in Libraries 27.6 (June 2007): General OneFile.Gale University of Phoenix. 17 Sept 2007 Gale Document Number: A166201223 Embelton, K., & Helfer, D., (2007 June) The Plague of Plagiarism and Academis Famous Plagiarists. (2006) George O. Carney. Retrieved September 27, 2007, from http://famousplagiarists.com Labi, A. (2007,Jine) Corruption in Education Is Growing Worlwide, UNESCO Reports, Chronicle Of Higher Education, 53(41) A42-A42 September 25, 2007 from Academic Search Premier Database Office, U 102, Revised July 2006. Retrieved September 26, 2007, from United States Copyrighthttp://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html