Plagiarism

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the lack of originality
in presentation of pieces of work. It may also be referred to as a form of
cheating in the academic field. This is because it entails the use of another
person’s ideas and presenting them as one’s. However, it should be noted that
plagiarism occurs when someone uses another person’s work as their own. This
implies that one may use someone else’s idea provided that they cite the
person’s work. This applies for both paraphrased work and quoted work. This
paper seeks to have an in-depth look at anti-plagiarism policies within the US and UK academic institutions

Plagiarism comes in different forms.
There is full plagiarism that involves using authors word for word without even
making any effort to paraphrase a single word. Other types of plagiarism range
from self, minimal, partial and source citation. Plagiarism is wrong and should
be highly condemned. This is because it is stealing and should therefore not be
treated with any exception. Use of other people’s work and presenting them as
one’s is theft of intellectual work and should be treated as a crime.  Its perpetrators should be punished through punitive
measures in order to curb its spread. Unlike in the commercial setting where
there are patent rights to guard the work of each and every person; it is not
the case in the academic setting. However, plagiarism is highly condemned and
anyone found with plagiarized work may damage their reputation and lose their
career. (Gilmore 53)

For students, when presenting their
work for assessment, they must ensure that it is not plagiarized. They can
achieve this by acknowledging anybody’s work that they may have made reference
to when doing their assignments. Failure to acknowledge other people’s work may
lead to achievement of lower grades. As a result, they lose their market in the
business world. They must, therefore, ensure that they avoid plagiarism at all
costs.

The US and UK academic institutions have come
up with an anti-plagiarism policy. This policy ensures that individuals are
forewarned of the consequences of plagiarism. However, the policy also tries to
distinguish between intentional and unintended forms of plagiarism. The policy
is implemented through the learning institutions. The academic institutions
take an initiative role of educating students on ways of avoiding plagiarism in
their work. However, in case of any plagiarism case, the institution concerned
has the authority to take action as it deems rightful. The policies also look
at the violation of copyrights. (Caroll and Appleton 43)

In the UK and US institutions of learning,
plagiarism is highly discouraged and is categorized as an academic fraud. As a
result, involvement in plagiarism may result to penalties which may include
fines and expulsion to the larger extent. The  penalties for plagiarism  may lead to one being expelled from the
school as well as cancellation of academic certificates he/she may have been
awarded. The implementation of these polices is aimed at curbing the rate at
which academic cheating is spreading. At this era of advanced electronic use
and development, the rate of students plagiarizing other peoples’ work is on
the rise, necessitating for stringent measures being put in place. These
policies will therefore help in curbing the rapid upsurge of plagiarism that is
spreading very fast within the academic institution, making it ideal to have
necessary measures so as to make learning real and valuable.

It should be noted that plagiarism is
a serious offense that may even have heavy penalties such as facing jail term
and imprisonment. Students need to learn the importance of presenting original
work. In case of any references made, it is also equally essential that the
students acknowledge the owner of the work. In acknowledging the authors of
these works, students also need to learn how to use the correct citation style.
(Anderson 56).
It is also important for students to utilize the easily accessible
anti-plagiarism software that are available online. Some of these
anti-plagiarism softwares include; turnitin, duplichecker and article checker.

Originality is extremely crucial in presentation of
any piece of work. Plagiarism is not only cheating, but also dishonesty to self
and others. Other nations should follow the example of the US and UK academic institutions in
ensuring that students present original work. Use of set policies which have
dire consequences in case of failure to adhere to them is a good implementation
process. This will lead to the shaping of writers who are creative and who are
ready to work like a team, eventually leading to prosperity in academic field.
Unless plagiarism is discouraged to students, the world will be treading on
dangerous grounds which will likely lead to suppressed creativity, laziness and
generally, a generation of people who will not be in a position to tackle day
to day challenges of work and life. Any students caught plagiarizing should be
subjected to punitive punishment which will serve as a warning to other
students who might be tempted to do it. Unless it is discouraged, the world
will soon be full of academic liars who will have good grades but which can not
be translated to practical application of knowledge they claim to have accrued
during their academic life.