Plagiarism Case

It seems that in all of society, plagiarism has its effects. Students all over the world, in one form or another have been a victim of plagiarism. Whether it is being the plagiarist or having their work plagiarized. Not only is this done by students but we can see this in other sections of society such as the media, scientific experiments, and other professional entities taking information from others and claiming it as their own. Because plagiarism is the illegal use of another's material, we must make every effort to not fall into its clutches.

According to William Harris (2007) "The ubiquitous use of the Internet offers far more temptation for lifting another's writing than the college library with its shelves of printed books" (p. 1). With the inception of the internet, it has become easier to steal another's work with copy and paste more so than writing material from a book. Students are more comfortable copying from the internet than taking the time to scan or write from a book. Either way it is still the same. It is the use of someone else's words to be made your own. This is something that occurs often and the consequences can be hefty.

Harris (2007) makes the statement, "Charges of theft, rape, assault and drug use in college are felt to be of less importance than that all-threatening word PLAGIARISM" (p. 1). Although this seems a little harsh, it shows the stigma that goes along with one who is charged as a plagiarist. Plagiarism is not acceptable in any circles and is considered academic dishonesty. Due to this being such a prominent practice in college many types of software has been developed to detect the plagiarist. One software in particular that has been introduced is from a website is turnitin.com.

Turnitin.com scans papers for traces of others writings. Many instructors have begun to use this technology to ensure academic honesty in the classroom. Software of this type makes it harder for students to "copy" from someone's writings and thus creates a motivation for the student to learn his/her own writing style. Finding your own style and enhancing it by learning the correct procedures lessens the chance that you will plagiarize in the future.

Plagiarism is a serious issue and one that shouldn't be taken lightly. The consequences can be very severe and could follow you for the rest of your educational career if not your entire life. Take every step