Get Caught Plagiarizing by Bill Savage - Essay Example

Plagiarism One of the serious challenges encountered in s of learning is the pervasive problem of plagiarism. A number of definitions aimed at demystifying the issue of plagiarism have been posed by different authors. To this end, there are several standpoints regarding the meaning of plagiarism. Foremost, it refers to the failure to acknowledge a close paraphrase or quotation of written words to the original author (Savage). Second, plagiarism is recorded when a scholar fails to acknowledge another person’s opinion, ideas or theory (Savage).

Third, it equally involves failure to credit facts, graphs, drawings, statistics or information that is not common knowledge to the original author. To this end, it is important to note that plagiarism is classified as an ethical breach and an academic offense. Moreover, the offense of plagiarism can be addressed as a tort in a court of law (" Copyright Website - Info"). In this case, it is classified as a copyright infringement. Evidently, violation of a copyright by a plagiarist could right result into a law suit being filed against the perpetrator upon production of a legally registered copyright.

The repercussions of plagiarism among students in college are very dire since it ruins one’s academic path as well as destroying the long term career plans. Examples of penalties extended to a plagiarist include suspension, cancelling of academic grades or even expulsion. There are several reasons why students are found guilty of plagiarism. Foremost, some students engage in plagiarism out of laziness ("ASU Sociology Department”). In such a scenario, a lazy student sources the internet for assignment answers in websites such as Wikipedia and eventually copies and pastes the information word for word.

The student ignores the art of studious research and opts for short cuts in completing term papers and other assignments. Another cause for plagiarism by students is ignorance. In such a scenario, the student carelessly gathers information from a variety of online and book sources without dully acknowledging the authors ("ASU Sociology Department”). Moreover, the student assumes that no one will notice the plagiarised work and presents the work without citing all outside sources used. The third cause for plagiarism is arrogance by the students.

In this case, the student assumes that he or she can outsmart the professor when doing assignments without citing sources used. On the contrary, the student stands a high chance of getting caught since the professor’s has long years of experience and widespread reading of books and journals pertaining the course(Savage).A number of strategies that can be used to avoid plagiarism include indicating a citation that acknowledges the original author when quoting his or her words. This can be in the form of an in- text citation or footnote depending on the style employed in writing the academic paper (Savage).

Furthermore, the student should also ensure that he or she includes quotation marks in the text whenever the words are copied word for word. Secondly, the student can opt to paraphrase the words of an original author and consequently provide a citation. Third, the art of counter checking the paraphrase in tandem with the original text is vital(Savage). Evidently, it guards against accidentally using similar words or phrases as the original work done by the author. In addition, it is vital that a person documents facts that are not universally known as well as ideas that correlate to facts.

Finally, it is equally important to provide a comprehensive reference page for all outside sources used in conducting research for s term paper or any other assignment. References " Copyright Website - Info." Copyright Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2013. "ASU Sociology Department." Georgia Regents University. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2013. Savage, Bill. "Get Caught Plagiarizing by Bill Savage - Seattle Pullout - How To. - The Stranger, Seattles Only Newspaper."The Stranger - Seattles Only Newspaper. N.p., 26 Sept. 2002. Web. 8 Feb. 2013. .