What is Plagiarism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 12

What is Plagiarism - Essay Example It is even found in articles found in newspapers and magazines; for example in 2010, renowned New York Times reporter and Pulitzer winner were Chris Hedges was found to plagiarize directly from another reporter’s work. At the college level where we are exposed to so many research articles and writings and are often expected to present writings of our own, it becomes almost impossible not to succumb to the temptation of using materials that we may have read or seen somewhere. This is where most students and scholars go wrong. Students are not aware of the fact that even paraphrasing without citation is very much unethical and therefore most end up plagiarizing owing to ignorance of rules of ethical writing. The habit of abiding by plagiarism rules needs to be instilled from a young age. Students need to be first made aware about the existence of â€Å"plagiarism† and its rules and should be first given warnings about plagiarizing in their own papers. They should be encouraged to read articles but also acknowledge them in case they are using the same for their own work, hence students must also be introduced to citation approaches. This initial introduction at least ensures that all students are equally aware of plagiarism and therefore any student found indulging in plagiarism, later on, would have done it out of choice rather than ignorance. Students found to plagiarize should be punished according to the degree of plagiarism detected. The punishment should become harsher with subsequent instances by the same person. Even though homework might seem less important than research articles, students and scholars found to indulge in any kind of plagiarism need to be treated equally a nd hence punishment should be the same for usage of plagiarized material.