Threat to Selling Online: Plagiarism

By Juniper Jones

Among journalists and researchers, plagiarism is considered as a mortal sin. The act of plagiarizing the work of any author is a serious offense that can be penalized by dismissal or pecuniary fine. In order to write and be paid without any penalties for plagiarism, it would be advisable to be freshened up by the guidelines of plagiarism.

Plagiarism was deduced from the Latin word, "plagiare" which means "to kidnap." Plagiarism is defined by Oxford Dictionary as the act of coping another's work as though it was your own work. A good example of plagiarism is a student who submits paper works containing other authors' concepts, ideas, or wordings but were not properly cited or acknowledged in the paper.

Today, plagiarism has been seriously punished. Academic censure or expulsion is the penalty imposed for the act of academic dishonesty or fraud in the academe. Suspension or termination is bestowed upon plagiarizing one reporter's report because it is considered as a violation of journalistic ethics.

There are many forms of plagiarism. "Ghost Writer" is the form of plagiarism wherein a writer copies in verbatim the work of another author. "The Photocopy" is another form of plagiarism wherein a substantial part of another author's work has been duplicated by another writer without making any changes.

In the "Potluck Paper" the writer uses multiple sources, changes a few sentences and paragraphs while keeping the original format. Another form of plagiarism is "The Self-Stealer" wherein the writer copies excerpts from their previous works which is a violation of originality policies. The common denominator in all of these is that the sources are not cited.

Plagiarism perse can be considered stealing or likened to a crime of theft, but the person violating it is not considered as a criminal because the writer is not liable criminally in any courts and even before the common law. One, who plagiarized, however, can be civilly liable after a suit has been filed in civil proceedings. Plagiarism can fall as a violation of several laws such as copyright law, unfair competition, and doctrines of moral and intellectual rights.

The active participation of both individual and institution is needed in order to prevent plagiarism. Writing original content and citing the sources in the article is the responsibility of every individual. Actively laying down rules and instituting penalties to prevent individual from committing plagiarism is the responsibility of institutions.

Plagiarized works can now be detected through the creation of online tools and software, such as Copyscape and Turnitin. Similarly, there have been approaches to limit online copying. Comprehending plagiarism is an effective way of preventing the act. - 31521

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