Plagiarism is the unauthorized use and/or representation of another persons words or ideas as your own. It is not limited to the written or spoken word, as lifting others research charts, or graphs and drawings would also fall under the definition. Certain paraphrasing can also be construed as plagiarism. With use of the internet, there is easy access to more written and spoken works than ever before. Couple that with the fact that there are just many more people now writing and publishing, which makes the potential for plagiarism increasingly higher.
College students writing papers and essays sometimes get caught up in accusations of plagiarism. Often time they are innocent mistakes, easily corrected. Other times, however, they are purposeful. Failure to cite proper sources is one of the most common mistakes made. Students must be extra careful to ensure that they cite the sources for their work. Grammar and punctuation are also critical, whether it’s an essay for college entrance, or a paper for a class.
Plagiarism is not confined to college students by any means. Some famous people over the years have been caught in plagiarisms linguistic web.
During his unsuccessful Presidential campaign of 1988, Joe Biden was caught up in a plagiarism scandal for allegedly using the words of British politician, Neil Kinnock. Famous authors and historians, Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin, the latter a Pulitzer Prize winner, have also been accused of pirating the works of others.
Jayson Blair, a former NY Times reporter was drummed out of the business for plagiarizing others materials. Other news reporters who pilfered works have suffered the same fate.
Care must be taken when writing to ensure that you don’t inadvertently borrow another author’s words or thoughts. There are many programs available that will check your work such as Grammarly. Some will also help with grammar and punctuation.
If you’re not sure, it is always wise to check your papers before submitting them, as an error, even if inadvertent can cause great harm your reputation.
Plagiarism
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