Plagiarism is one Form of Academic Dishonesty: True or False - Essay Example

Plagiarism Is One Form Of Academic Dishonesty; However It Cannot Be Assumed That All Plagiarism Merely Occurs Because A Student Is Aiming To Cheat Plagiarism The word Plagiarism has been derived from a Latin word which means ‘kidnapping’. Kidnapping in other words is stealing a person. Similarly plagiarism is stealing or cheating other person’s ideas or writing. An individual’s thoughts and ideas are personal and therefore stealing them is termed as plagiarism. It is considered as a severe offense to academics and the punishment is harsh. (Ann Lathrop, Kathleen Foss, 2004) This study has been conducted in 2003 among 56 students. The students were analyzed in groups that ranged from 1 to 11. The students that were chosen for this study came from different backgrounds. There were Business, Science, English, Design and Social Studies. Their status is 11, 15, 1, 12 and 10 respectively (Rabecca, 1999). Plagiarism has been defined in several words; it means: To present (ideas or words of another person) as one’s own. To use the production of an individual without crediting it. To consign literature stealing. To present the idea of another person in a completely reformed manner. Providing wrong information about the source of quotation. Copying of a number of ideas to such an extent that it forms major part of one’s work. It is not always easy to tell whether a person has plagiarized or not. Sometimes it is a deliberate step whereas in most of the cases it is accidental. It just happens that sometimes an individual ends up with sentences that accidentally match with the sentences or ideas of some author, writer etc (Ann, 2004). In order to make the work genuine, the quotations need to be placed in quotation marks and it is necessary that it is mentioned at the end of the essay in the form of the required bibliography (Ann, 2004) The consequences of plagiarism are severe. It is kept in mind by the reputed universities and colleges that the students are punished and penalties are imposed. This includes the downgrading of degrees, not allowing the resubmission of the work, assigning zero mark or even the assigning of lower qualification, for instance the degree of pass rather than Honours or even a certificate rather than the degree of diploma. The consequences may also include expulsion or suspension. (Marilyn Randall, 2001) PLAGIARISM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS AN ACT OF MERE CHEATING It is not necessary that plagiarism is done only for the intention of cheating or stealing other individual’s ideas. It is done for a lot of reasons. A few of them are listed below: 1. Poor Time Management: Time management is a very important aspect when it comes to managing the daily routine and meeting the required deadlines. However some students fail to understand its importance and face problems in the future. They are unable to complete their assignments on time, freak out at the last moment and are therefore tempted to plagiarize. Students tend to get desperate at the last moment; they have to juggle with multiple demands. This stresses them and puts them under a lot of pressure. This shows that their intention was not to cheat initially but due to some inevitable reasons, they were left with no choice than plagiarism (Rabecca, 1999). 2. Poor Information Deadline: This aspect also includes the problem of poor time management. The students are required and expected to complete a number of assignments and assessments on time. Their daily routine also requires that all the duties and chores are performed efficiently. Sometimes the deadlines that are provided contain the wrong information. It is sometimes confusing and is not explicitly described. This confuses the student and he tends to get baffled. It often happens that the student comes to know of the actual deadline at the last moment and he is therefore left with no option rather than stealing an individual’s ideas and presenting them as their own (Rabecca, 1999). 3. Outdated Course Line: It is often observed that the teachers use outdated course and non professional attitude is exhibited towards education. They do not give the required attention to the students and the studies. An attitude of disinterest is perceived by the teachers. This tends to de motivate the student and he loses interest in the studies. This happens because he is not able to understand the course and therefore is least interested in it. This makes the student careless and indifferent towards the particular course. The assignments are done half heartedly and half of them are plagiarized. They tend to think that if the teacher is non-serious towards educating them, they need not put in much effort. (William j Frost, 2005) 4. Peer Pressure: The students sometimes have to face a lot of problems when it comes to cope up with the expectations, be it cultural or parental. Currently, students already have a number of problems such as financial issues, employment factor, living expenses etc. Along with all these issues, they are expected to come up to the set standard and the cultural demands. It is a normal trend that parents also pose a lot of pressure on their children. Sometimes, they are able to come up to the standard but it happens most of the times that they are unable to do so. This is the time when they use inappropriate and indecent ways. This includes cheating and most majorly plagiarism. They tend to choose this method so that they can achieve better grades and make their parents happy (Marcia, 2005). 5. Ambiguous Instructions: Most of the time the tutors are unable to provide incorrect information about referencing instructions. The information is ambiguous and does not provide clear instructions. Due to this, the students do not know of what they are expected to do and the result is poor quality or plagiarized assignments, reports etc. this also happens with inexperienced students. Most of the students are not aware of the UK academic writing style and therefore produce assignments that do not match the standard and requirements of the course (Marcia, 2005). 6. Procrastination: It is often observed that assignment specifications are not clear. Students are unable to understand them properly. They are not completely aware of the requirements of the assignment and therefore it is perceived as difficult. The students tend to degrade their abilities in most of the cases and therefore efforts to understand the provided instructions. They think that the assignment is difficult and beyond their intelligence. All personal efforts are retarded and are utilized to steal other individual’s ideas i.e. plagiarism. (Rebecca Moore Howard, 1999) 7. Challenging the Authority: The plagiarism detecting system is often perceived by the students as being poor or inefficient. Students often boast as being bold and hence decide to challenge and test the system. Although they are aware of the consequences, but still go to the lengths of plagiarism considering the penalties of resubmission as minor issues. They do not pay much attention towards it and therefore indulge in the plagiarism act (William, 2005). 8. Indifferent Attitude: Most of the students have extrinsic goals like awards and certification and the thought of mere grades and marks does not satisfy their goals and needs related to it. Their attitude is a little indifferent towards the mandatory courses since they provide only intrinsic rewards. This makes them least interested towards it, their basic aim is to pass and not learn. In this regard, they just tend to complete their assignments through plagiarism without bothering about the consequences (William, 2005). 9. Misinterpretation of the Role of Collaboration: Most of the assignments are of group work nature and the students often get the wrong idea when it comes to the concept of working together. They do not realize the importance of individual performance and therefore an attitude of carelessness is observed. This aspect includes activities of plagiarism, cheating etc. (R Murray Thomas, 2003) 10. Competitiveness: A lot of students face the problems of competing with either their siblings or their class students. Due to this issue, the problem of peer pressure arises and due to this they are forced to adopt the plagiarism act so as to come up to the expectations of their parents and teachers (Marcia Devlin, Kathleen Gray, 2007). 11. Sneakiness: Cheating as opposed to plagiarism is the major factor and many students indulge in this particular activity because they have a habit to do so. (Marcia Devlin, Kathleen Gray, 2007) CONCLUSION Plagiarism has been proved to be a result of nothing but lack of time management and other skills such as over competitiveness and an indifferent attitude towards the matter that inhibit an individual to do the right thing. In order to refrain from getting sacked or getting degraded, or losing their competitive edge in front of everybody, they chose an alternate of copying other people. Moreover, with time, they develop a certain habit regarding this activity, considering the ease with which is it accomplished. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ann Lathrop, Kathleen Foss (2004) Student Cheating and Plagiarism in the Internet Era, Page 250, Libraries Unlimited. Marcia Devlin, Kathleen Gray (2007) Higher Education Research and Development, Volume 26, Number 2, Page 191-198, University of Melbourne, Australia. Marilyn Randall (2001) Pragmatic Plagiarism, Page 30, University of Toronto Press. Michael J Quinn (2005) Ethics for the Information Age, Page 321, University of Michigan. William Frost (2005) The Reference Collection, Page 37, Haworth Press. Rebecca Moore Howard (1999) Standing in the Shadow of Giants, Page 255, Greenwood Publishing Group. R Murray Thomas (2003) Blending Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Thesis and Dissertations, Page 110, Corwin Press. Read More