Plagiarism And The Internet

PLAGIARISM AND THE INTERNET

Plagiarism and the Internet

Matthew Catchings

TJ Johnson

Michael Lieu

Patricia Porter

University of Phoenix

Plagiarism and the Internet

Plagiarism comes from the Latin word plagiare which means "to kidnap." It is the act of using material, in whole or in part, without proper citation. Compared to forgery, where the material itself is authentic or not, plagiarism is about copying ideas (Wickapedia Network, 2007). With the rise of the internet, where anonymity is both a blessing and a curse, plagiarism is much more apparent now.

Plagiarism comes in many forms. Using words, facts, and statistics without proper citation is plagiarism. To avoid it, proper citation is needed on any borrowed language or idea presented ("The Meaning and Prevention of Plagiarism"). Any form of media, whether it is a book or a website, has to be properly cited. Distinguishing between "common knowledge" and original work presents a challenge to the writer. Jones Andy, in The Meaning and Prevention of Plagiarism, states that "common knowledge implies that the audience and the author have agreed on certain facts." If determining whether the idea of "common knowledge" is difficult, citing the reference would be the best course of action.

How plagiarism affects people would depend on which side of the plagiarism they are on. Those on the plagiarizing side might feel smug. They think they have put something over on someone, or they have avoided a significant amount of work. For a while they might be able to get away with it. They will think that this is the way to get ahead quickly. Eventually it will catch up with them and they will have to suffer the consequences of having their career, and reputation ruined.

Those whose work has been plagiarized may never know. They may go their whole life not knowing that someone else is gaining from their hard work. They may have to watch as someone else takes all the credit and accolades for all the hard work they have done. This can not only affect people but a company. This can lead to loss of staff and ruining of moral in whole groups of workers when a superior goes so far as to present work done by their subordinates as their own.

Plagiarism used to be much more difficult. You either had to stand over a copy machine feeding it coins or you sat at a table laboriously copying down each passage you wished to use. Then these notes had to be transcribed onto your paper. To make matters worse, your professors pretty well knew what was in the school library and they were on the watch for it. The internet has changed all that. You are not out in the open in the internet, where anyone can observe what you are up to. Instead, the would-be plagiarist sits anonymously at their computer safely out of sight in their rooms. Just Google your subject, cut the information you need and paste it into your document. Modern word processors make it easy to shuffle sentences around to further hide the source. The internet's vast information network made it harder for professors to track. It is all too easy for the student to tell themselves that no one will know that they copied this from the internet.

Term papers have always been for sale or available from the house archives. A student could try to sneak one by the professor. Not an easy task. With a limited source of these papers, a professor could easily detect bogus papers. He has seen them all. Repeated use of the same paper quickly became obvious. Once again the internet comes to the rescue. With a vast number of websites available on the net, the chance of the same paper showing up for the same class has diminished. Just a few clicks, your credit card, and that late term paper are ready to turn in. You do not even have to cut and paste into your paper. No one to see you buying a paper from the grad student on the mall that everyone knows has term papers for sale. With the competition for grades so fierce, and so many papers out on the net for sale, it is easy for the student to rationalize that there must be many people doing it. Why put yourself at a disadvantage. It is all so easy, all just a few clicks away.

What's being done to stop plagiarism from internet usage? First and foremost, plagiarism will never be eradicated. In some way, shape or form plagiarism will always exist. Unfortunately it is just human nature to "take the easy route" when it comes to completing assignments or articles or whatever it is that you happen to be working on when you hit the time crunch. In an abstract to an article published in CQ Researcher (2003) it was stated:

Journalists and educators alike call plagiarism a growing problem and many say the Internet is partly to blame. Studies show that