Plagiarism at University
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The life of a university student is filled with daunting tasks such as research, reports, and papers. With all the available information on and offline, students are often tempted to commit plagiarism.
Be it intentional or unintentional, plagiarism has become increasingly widespread. With the internet becoming more and more accessible anywhere at any time, students are more likely to snip, paraphrase, or copy information and present it as their idea.
In this article, we’ll tackle what plagiarism is, the types of plagiarism at university, as well as other related topics.
What is plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s work as your own. It’s taking someone else’s ideas, with or without consent, and including them in your own without full acknowledgment.
Mistaking plagiarism as merely borrowing or copying someone’s original idea makes it seem as though it’s nothing serious.
However, the act of plagiarism is stealing an idea and claiming ownership of it.
It’s an act of fraud, no more, no less, and undoubtedly a disciplinary offense that warrants serious consequences to the plagiarist.
What are common types of plagiarism
There are different types of plagiarism that academic writers may intentionally or unintentionally commit.
This happens when the student is unaware of the research and citation process or doesn’t give any importance to it.
Here are some of the common types of plagiarism.
Unintentional Plagiarism
One of the most commonly committed types is unintentional plagiarism. This is when the student fails to attribute or cite their sources. Misquoting sources or paraphrasing without attribution is considered a similar case.
Unintentional plagiarism is a breach of integrity and carries the same consequences that fall under plagiarism.
Self-Plagiarism
Self-plagiarism is still unacceptable, even though it’s a lesser offense.
It’s the use of your pre-existing material, which includes ideas, statements, or even artistic expression without acknowledgment or permission from everyone involved. Think of it as submitting the same paper you used in high school as a report in college.
As long as there is no consent from the professors involved in the paper, it’s still considered self-plagiarism.
Verbatim Plagiarism
A common type of plagiarism that warrants a severe consequence is verbatim plagiarism, which is also known as direct plagiarism.
This is a deliberate word-for-word transcription of a portion taken from someone’s original work without any quotation marks, citations, or attributions.
Even if the student deletes some words or replaces others with synonyms, it’s still categorized as verbatim plagiarism.
Mosaic Plagiarism
Sometimes referred to as patchwriting, mosaic plagiarism is the use of phrases from someone else’s work without any quotation marks.
The writer may use synonyms in place of the original words to maintain the same structure and meaning, but this is plagiarism.
Even when you use footnotes or whether it’s intentional or not, it’s still academically dishonest.
Why does plagiarism matter
Plagiarism matters because it’s a breach of trust. It violates every known version of intellectual ethics across the fields of arts and sciences.
From an academic perspective, being able to trace where new ideas come from will show what’s new about your contribution.
For this reason, if a student commits any form of plagiarism, it negatively affects the creative process and diminishes the importance of the development of new concepts and ideas.
Why you should avoid plagiarism
The straight answer to this is that it is a serious offense.
If it comes out that someone is a plagiarist, they’ll lose their reputation as well as the legitimacy of any of their previous works.
Aside from being subject to penalties that may even lead to dismissal, plagiarism leads nowhere.
So, whether you’re a student or a researcher, you should be conscientious and respectful of the work of others.
What are the consequences of plagiarism
The consequences of plagiarism are severe, all of which can harm your reputation and affect prospects involving your academic integrity.
Let’s look at the consequences a student might face for committing plagiarism.
Failing a Semester
Imagine yourself working tirelessly over months, but you tried to get away with plagiarism.
Aside from getting an F for submitting plagiarized work, the faculty may disregard any effort and success you have achieved.
Accomplishing Additional Tasks
This is one of the more forgiving consequences. A committee may require you to accomplish tasks that prove you are willing to make amends.
Though this is the best way to fix your reputation, these activities may require long hours to work on them.
Expulsion
If proven guilty of committing plagiarism, a student may face expulsion —the worst kind of penalty that plagiarism entails.
They’ll be left with no option and will not be able to restore the trust given by the university. The tuition, time, and effort that a student has invested in will be lost due to a bad decision.
How university identifies/detects plagiarism
Universities have methods of checking plagiarism on academic papers. College professors put a lot of effort into this, and it’s good that there is available software that can help with the task.
Here are some ways universities detect plagiarism that you may find insightful.
Writing Style and Sentence Flow
Teachers are familiar with their student’s writing styles and can spot inconsistencies in their sentence structure or flow.
Plagiarism Software and Applications
Universities use tools or software such as Turnitin, Plagiarism Detector, and Duplichecker to prevent plagiarism.
Format Review
Inconsistent formats such as margins, subheadings, and even mixed statements can raise a red flag as plagiarism.
Summary
In order to avoid committing plagiarism, you need to understand what plagiarism is and what consequences you’ll face if caught.
You’ll also need good writing skills as well as a clear knowledge of the research process. Learning all the principles of good writing will enable you to express your ideas using your own words.
Know how to paraphrase and use quotation marks in direct relation to attributions and citations. Remember that being able to credit all your sources will strengthen your academic paper.
All things considered, avoiding plagiarism can be tricky at times, but being able to do so will prove the legitimacy of your paper and your academic integrity as a student.
