Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Liberty University
COUN502
Prof. Myers Abstract
This research paper discusses the many facets of plagiarism. While students are used to hearing the word ‘plagiarism’, many are ignorant to the extent of plagiarism, the importance of crediting original authors for their words or ideas, and how to properly cite and reference to avoid plagiarism. There are extensive academic sources available online that clarify and give examples of the do’s and don’ts of referencing, citation, and acknowledging use of information from other sources. It is important to understand that much of plagiarism is unintentional, but can be prohibited with appropriate planning, research and guidance.
Plagiarism
Upon learning about plagiarism in school that day, a 5-year-old informed his mother that plagiarism is ‘stealing someone else’s facts’ and ‘very bad’. It was an accurate and concise explanation. To elaborate, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010) defines plagiarism as ‘the practice of claiming credit for the words, ideas, and concepts of others.’ While this does not sound as critical as ‘stealing’, the fact remains that using another’s words or ideas without appropriately acknowledging their origin is taking something that belongs to someone else. For many students, this concept just does not seem so severe, which may be a reason plagiarism is a common problem.
Some of the reasons students plagiarize are 1) laziness, 2) panic due to procrastination, 3) lack of confidence in academic ability, 4) lack of understanding how to integrate source material into their own argument, and 5) they just do not see the importance of sources and citing. (“Top Ten”, 2006) The argument can also be made that the ease of access to a plethora of information through the internet allows for less consideration to accurately reference sources. SafeAssign suggests that it is this ease of ‘internet information
Liberty University
COUN502
Prof. Myers Abstract
This research paper discusses the many facets of plagiarism. While students are used to hearing the word ‘plagiarism’, many are ignorant to the extent of plagiarism, the importance of crediting original authors for their words or ideas, and how to properly cite and reference to avoid plagiarism. There are extensive academic sources available online that clarify and give examples of the do’s and don’ts of referencing, citation, and acknowledging use of information from other sources. It is important to understand that much of plagiarism is unintentional, but can be prohibited with appropriate planning, research and guidance.
Plagiarism
Upon learning about plagiarism in school that day, a 5-year-old informed his mother that plagiarism is ‘stealing someone else’s facts’ and ‘very bad’. It was an accurate and concise explanation. To elaborate, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010) defines plagiarism as ‘the practice of claiming credit for the words, ideas, and concepts of others.’ While this does not sound as critical as ‘stealing’, the fact remains that using another’s words or ideas without appropriately acknowledging their origin is taking something that belongs to someone else. For many students, this concept just does not seem so severe, which may be a reason plagiarism is a common problem.
Some of the reasons students plagiarize are 1) laziness, 2) panic due to procrastination, 3) lack of confidence in academic ability, 4) lack of understanding how to integrate source material into their own argument, and 5) they just do not see the importance of sources and citing. (“Top Ten”, 2006) The argument can also be made that the ease of access to a plethora of information through the internet allows for less consideration to accurately reference sources. SafeAssign suggests that it is this ease of ‘internet information