As we may know, there are things that we consider as intellectual property as this is the creation of a person that came originally from them. However, our generation involves the digital world where information is easy to access yet may violate the copyright of owners. One of these offenses is called plagiarism where we use the work of another person without their recognition. This is a serious violation of the creator’s intellectual property. Thus, those guilty of it receive punishments based on the gravity of the offense. However, these measures can be severe as it gets as it can negatively affect a person’s course in life while they are studying for an academic community or while they are working professionally for an institution. 

As students who use information from all kinds of sources for an academic paper, there is always the possibility of committing plagiarism intentionally or accidentally. Therefore, there are consequences brought upon those caught red-handed in the act of plagiarism. On a class-scale, a student’s evaluation of the course they are taking may take a huge hit from receiving a failing mark on a project up to the entirety of the course when found guilty of said violation. Moreover, the gravity of the violation may even reach to the entire school where the suspect in question is liable for dismissal or even worse, expulsion (George, 2022). So as a student who could be liable for these offenses, the former would’ve been fine as you still have a chance for education but the latter displays a harsh approach towards the offender as it takes away your opportunity for a better future. Other than that, we have to take into account the status of your image at school academically. When other academic institutions find out about the student’s offense of plagiarism in his works at his current school, this may influence their choice of acceptance (Guides: Plagiarism: Plagiarism, n.d.). Thus, it would be wise to do things from your own understanding of a lesson as long as the creator is acknowledged.

Other than the field of academics, there is also the possibility of workers being susceptible and active in committing plagiarism. Professions that involve the use of knowledge from different sources such as scientists, researchers, lawyers and journalists may be liable to committing this offense in their works. The intention to serve the public is present yet if the process is not done in respect to the intellectual property of a person, they may face the consequences by losing their job and image as a colleague (Troppello, 2021). Life can get harder just from losing a source of salary. Additionally, the violation of your previous job may affect your resume once you start applying for another profession making finding a job hard where bosses look for those capable individuals that can be trusted with the job (Guides: Plagiarism: Plagiarism, n.d.). Much worse than this, the offender may have to take his offense to court where there is the likelihood of being convicted (Troppello, 2021). Therefore, people from the working class should be careful to use other’s work when imparting it to others. 

Now as plagiarism may be illegal yet gives you the easy way out of finding sources, committing it is like digging a bigger hole that will leave you stuck and affected in life the more you do it.

Plagiarism is an act done by someone that is stealing another person’s work. This is normally done by using the original author’s ideas and work without crediting them, or by using these said ideas and work as their own. Anything that involves original works such as inventions, and published works are considered to be intellectual property, and are therefore, protected by copyright. Other forms of plagiarism can include: failure to put quotation marks, being unable to paraphrase or summarize properly without in-text citation. In short, committing plagiarism is like committing a crime because it is a form of fraud. In addition, it is a mode of dishonesty because we are simply lying by perceiving the stolen information as ours (P.org, 2017). 

Unfortunately, plagiarism is a huge problem in work and more especially in school work. This is because our world today is highly technological. This makes it easier for students to commit plagiarism because they are able to access lots of information right on their fingertips (21st Century English Education, 2012). However, plagiarism is not just from the intent of copying and pasting to make doing assignments much easier, but is caused by other factors.

First of all, committing plagiarism can be from accidental causes. This is because students sometimes just do not know any better when it comes to citation. Kennedy (2019) says accidental citation is usually the result of improper citation, or note-taking skills. Students take a lot of notes, especially if it is about research, and this is where they normally get disorientated. There is a possibility that they have taken notes from a huge number of sources they found online, and with this, they either neglect to cite their sources, misquote the statement they used, or forget to quote the statement entirely (Kennedy, 2019). 

On the other hand, plagiarism can in fact be done on purpose. Jonathan Bailey (2020) mentions that student apathy is the main struggle of teachers when dealing with students because they do not have control over the student's attitude (Bailey, 2020). Furthermore, if students are not interested in the course, they will be less likely to exert any effort in that particular course, and very well commit plagiarism in their output (Kennedy, 2020). 

Some may argue that intentionally plagiarizing is all within the student’s will to do so. However, that is not often the case because they are sometimes pushed into doing it. Bailey (2020) explains that factors like academic stress play a major role here. This is because students are normally under pressure, especially when keeping track of their academic performance. Some students need to catch up to a certain grade, but they lack confidence in their skills to keep up due to fear. This is where they resort to potentially plagiarizing. They are also aware that doing this can result in consequences, but if it is to get a last glimpse of hope in passing, it is a risk they are willing to take. 

In conclusion, committing plagiarism is not only wrong, but very common and tempting. It may add credibility to the quality of work, but at what cost? Learning is more important than cutting corners to make life easy, and at the end of the day, that is the purpose of going to school.

Have you ever been researching a specific topic and then had to write an essay about it? It can be stressful to write, and you hope to make it go faster by plagiarizing someone else's work. Now, you don't want to be caught stealing someone's work, so you paraphrase it to make it look different, but it will still give the same results, which is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a term you've probably heard before, but many people believe it's acceptable to commit. Paraphrasing is also considered plagiarism in some ways when done wrong. Paraphrasing is so common, yet it is plagiarism if the credited source is not cited.

According to the MIT Office of Academic Integrity, paraphrasing means taking words from another source and reconstructing them using your own vocabulary. This way, it preserves the meaning of the original text but does not copy the exact wording. Paraphrasing isn't necessarily a bad thing since someone could explain what you wanted to say better, and that's fine. It only becomes a bad thing when you just copy and paste everything, make small changes to the message, and call it your own without giving credit. A lot of people do it like that because of the lack of effort, but it is also plagiarism if they don't restate who they quoted it from in their own words. It's just unethical to use someone's hard work and call it your own without even giving them a single credit and just changing a few words to sound original. But why is it so common, you may wonder? According to La Trobe University, if properly referenced, "paraphrasing is important because it indicates that you understand the source well enough to write it in your own words." It also offers a strong alternative to the infrequently used direct quotes. "It's a convenient way to use source material for research papers and essays." For an academic essay, simply copying and pasting the source, adding references, and finishing in one day is not acceptable. There should be a variety of direct quotes (with references), indirect quotes or paraphrasing (with references), and your own comments. This is important because it shows you and your readers (that is, the instructor) that you understand the source well enough to write in your own words. It also provides a powerful alternative to using direct citations.

Going back, paraphrasing is so common and important, but it can be considered plagiarism if not credited. Paraphrasing is taking the main ideas from the source you got it from and reconstructing them in your own vocabulary to not fully copy someone's work. It's important to always cite the sources, as it's considered plagiarism if you don't. Paraphrasing is very important to do, as it shows that you understand the source material well enough to write it in your own words. So now that you know how you should paraphrase properly, good luck on that test paper that's going to need you to research and apply what you read there.

Plagiarism, a temptation that spreads like a contagious virus that has started as early as when humans learned how to write. We as a species use plagiarism usually as a last effort due to many negative factors like doing their tasks really late, being told and threatened by others to take someone’s credited work and many more. In my opinion, plagiarism is one of most used offenses in the history of writing yet a preventable one for all. I will be showing some helpful advice that I use on how to not give into the temptation and committing the act of this forbidden fruit called plagiarism.

The first tip I can give is to not ever procrastinate or cram your tasks or research. To do a task or research with finesse, grace and excellence, proper time management and scheduling is a must needed skill to develop early on. This is because procrastination leads to moments of panic attacks and large amounts of stress. Not just that, cramming also leads us to not finish the task at the due date or worse, leads to the thoughts and possibly the act of commiting to bad research habits, awful choices and the lack of needed motivation to make it presentable. So always plan out how to do your tasks, balance it so that you will not be overworked yet also rush it for time is gold.

Another good tip is to commit to your work and never stray from it. Never ever ask others about sharing  their task to you for it is their problem to solve, for that is a way shorter and indecent way to finishing your job.  Remember, if you have questions or don’t understand the task that you are given or assigned to, do not be afraid and confront your boss or teacher about your concerns. Not just that, asking questions to them shows that you have grit to overcome the challenges that come alongside the given task and you are willing to put in the effort on it instead of working and submitting it half-baked or mediocre at best. If it’s a collaborative work like by pairs, trios, or groups of four, ask your group leader since they are the one that know about the tasks. Sometimes, it is better to take the harder, yet a very rewarding path rather than the easier but uninspired and lackluster one.

The last good tip is to ask for others’ input on your work. Always remember that asking others’ opinion on your work is not copying, but note-taking advice to improve on your skills and your mindset on the work. But also choose and combine the advice from the people you ask because some may work for you while for some you have to modify it for your pace and needs.

Overall, together we can fight and overcome the problem of plagiarism, all it  needs to start with training your mind.

Our society today is prone to many contagious diseases as we develop more in this digital age. One of these contagious diseases that often go unnoticed and taken more lightly than it should have been is plagiarism. Most people don’t recognize that plagiarism is a cancer that starts out small but grows to become a more serious issue especially to its victims such as the original authors and creators whose work have been stolen, the audience and viewers of information and lastly the perpetrator who committed the act of plagiarism themselves.

It starts off as a compulsion for people to simply just copy and paste to accomplish whatever task they need to deal with. Especially considering other factors such as time pressure and  desires to work on another task, it is no wonder that people would give in towards this desire to take the easy route. However the consequences that people neglect to care about and have towards its victims are strictly the creators of whose works go left uncredited. It is essentially the theft of these creators’ effort, time and hardwork. The same creators who spent time out of their day, collecting the data, organizing and simplifying it for other people to have an easier time understanding information. Just for them not to only get left uncredited and unappreciated for their work but to have their work stolen by the people whom they helped and who didn't even put in half the amount of effort, time and work done. It is extremely disrespectful as it is akin to claiming ownership of that work and identity of the creator of that work.

Despite the awful treatment towards its victims of original authors and creators, there is yet another tragic victim which consists of the audience. During the act of plagiarism, the audience is tricked into believing the source of the plagiarized work instead of the original source. This abuses the trust of readers due to their invested time and interest towards a plagiarized work. The audience and readers spend time and effort reading the works and writing of others so that they can apply it towards their own lives. Just for them to be cheated and lied to as the source of information becomes invalid and untrustworthy. In a blog that describes plagiarism, it described plagiarism as taking advantage of the good faith of readers as well as potentially making them feel that they are not respected as well as for their time.

Lastly the worst victims of them all, is the one who started it all or in other words the one who plagiarized. Plagiarism brings nothing but misfortune to the person who plagiarized as they lose many things. They lose the reputation that they had built up to that point in terms of professionally and academically. They face many harsh and legal repercussions due to them committing a crime. Stunts one’s own growth and creativity to produce their own work and many more. All of these negative repercussions that just stemmed from one simple copy and paste.

Plagiarism is a plague that causes many harm to its victims being the original creators and authors, the audience and lastly to the person who plagiarized. Plagiarism is a plague that’s small but has devastating impacts and effects towards our society.