Plagiarism in the Education Standards - Case Study Example

Plagiarism Introduction The need to understand and practice proper writing conventions and academic research is one of the basic aspects of college learning. It is therefore necessary that every student studying at college level develop the skills and habits of submitting work which is completely free of plagiarism. This process requires a high degree of honesty as well as academic integrity which means doing extensive research and honestly using the work of others while keeping the originality of the work by thinking creatively and bringing forward new intelligent ideas. Plagiarism in the era of internet has moulded its face in a very confusing manner and the line of distinction between original and plagiarized work has faded out to a much greater extent. Despite the technical advances seen in the computer and internet technology, plagiarism appears to be affecting a great deal of creative thinking that otherwise could have contributed greatly to the growth of human knowledge as well as our college education standards. Plagiarism continues to affect our education standards despite the fact that many counter measures are in place. Although plagiarism is academic dishonesty, it is not always intentional and this aspect of plagiarism demands special consideration. Cases of intentional and unintentional plagiarism should always be differentiated, and the consequences of both cases should also differ. Discussion Plagiarism is defined as “the wrongful appropriation or purloining and publication as ones own, of the ideas, or the expression of the ideas (literary, artistic, musical, mechanical, etc.) of another” (The Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. XI, Second Edition). Plagiarism is a punishable offense that can be further classified as intentional or unintentional. The various definitions of intellectual property rights fall under the categories of ethics and law. For the resolution of issues, intent may be given due consideration in ethical realm, however, intent is not a consideration when it comes to matters of law (Anderson, 1998, p22). Although the ultimate outcome of matters of intentional and unintentional plagiarism may be similar, a basic difference lies at the base of both types of plagiarism, i.e., intent. The penalties for unintentional plagiarism may be severe, but not as harsh as those of intentional plagiarism (Kirszner, 2009, p177). There is no doubt that plagiarism is academic dishonesty, but all matters of plagiarism are not the same. On many occasions it has been observed that a number of students are not even clear about what constitutes plagiarism. The demarcation between paraphrasing and plagiarism is altogether lost in such cases (Roig, 1997). Detailed analysis of such work should be carried out prior to labeling it as plagiarized or otherwise. In addition, proper counseling of such students should be done and they should be trained to avoid unintentional plagiarism in future. When plagiarized work is submitted to a teacher and the teacher comes to know about plagiarism, the teachers feel violated. There is a feeling that the student was playing them for a fool or was being lazy (Wells, 1993). Ultimately, this may result in loss of scores, academic losses and in severe cases expulsion from educational institutions, which can have monetary losses too. But the question arises, what if the plagiarism was unintentional? Should there still be such drastic punishments? What is the criterion for differentiating between intentional and unintentional plagiarism? A number of reasons have been proposed by researchers as the possible causes of deliberate plagiarism. These may include laziness, sneakiness, competitiveness and the pressure due to academic workload requirements and to running out of time (Devlin, 2007). The most common reason is laziness as many of the students say that they plagiarize because they do not want to work hard. The next major reason for plagiarism is that students do not know how to cite electronic information. After this reason comes the fact that a vast majority of students plagiarize because they do not consider it to be wrong. Because students are always pressed for time appears to be the next reason. Students also state that since it is difficult for them to keep tract of web information sources, they choose to plagiarize. The next main reason appears to be the peer-pressure for excellent work. The least common reason for plagiarism appears to be the fact that students do not think that their opinions counts (Wang, 2008). Whatever the reason is, there is a need to motivate students to take active part in academic activities instead of being lazy and at the same time proper education should be imparted to overcome their educational difficulties in matters of plagiarism. Plagiarism not only spoils the whole purpose of education but also affects the intellectuals who are beyond doubt the people behind the development of a nation. A number of methods have been proposed by innumerable researchers in the field of plagiarism, to help devise methods, approaches and policies to combat the evil of plagiarism. Proper education may help internalize the noble value of honesty. Ethical norms and guides should help support character building. It is the responsibility of educators, administrators and policy makers to create ethical environments in educational institutions (Celik, 2009). Students plagiarize when they consider plagiarism to be acceptable socially and morally. This mindset needs to be changed by making students realize the importance of intellectual rights of other individuals. Students tend to follow what they see around them and what they are taught. Therefore, teachers should follow the habit of citing other’s work in their lectures and in doing so should set an example for their students. With these measures, students learn to give due credit to other’s work while making use of their own creative ideas. Moreover, they also learn to differentiate between intentional and unintentional plagiarism, which prevents them from future academic problems. Many times it happens that the work of a student is published by the name of his supervisor, with the student’s name appearing as the fifth author, despite the fact that most of the work was done by the student himself (Carroll, 2001). Incidents like this not only discourage the students but also prevent others from engaging into genuine research activities. Moreover, if the work of a student is not given due consideration, or he is given the least benefit of his own work, he will be justified to do the same with his juniors when he comes in power. Therefore it is of utmost importance that the academic conduct of seniors should be so fair that they become a source of inspiration for the next coming generations. Conclusion Plagiarism is no doubt a punishable offence. However, not all plagiarism is intentional. There are occasions when students fail to appreciate the difference between original and unoriginal work. Under such circumstances, there is a need to understand the problem of student who has indulged into the crime of plagiarism. To be fair with the student, the student should be given ample opportunity to defend himself while explaining his confusion of the problem, in case he is confused. On the other hand, there are cases when the plagiarist is proud of his plagiarism. Such writers should be dealt with according to the rules and regulations of the educational institutions, and punitive action should be taken against them to protect ethically and legally intellectual property rights of others. References ANDERSON, J. (1998). Plagiarism, copyright violation, and other thefts of intellectual property: an annotated bibliography with a lengthy introduction. Jefferson, N.C., McFarland & Co, p22. CARROLL, J., & APPLETON, J. (2001). Plagiarism: a good practice guide. [U.K.?], Joint Information Systems Committee. Cemile Celik. (2009). Perceptions of University Students on Academic Honesty as Related. The Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge. 14 (2), p271-278. WANG, Y.-M. (2008). University Student Online Plagiarism. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON E LEARNING. 7, 743-758. DEVLIN, M., & GRAY, K. (2007). In Their Own Words: A Qualitative Study of the Reasons Australian University Students Plagiarize. Higher Education Research and Development. 26, 181-198. KIRSZNER, L. G., & MANDELL, S. R. (2009). The pocket Wadsworth handbook. Boston, MA, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, p177. ROIG, M. (1997). Can Undergraduate Students Determine Whether Text Has Been Plagiarized? The Psychological Record. 47, 113. WELLS, D. (1993). An Account of the Complex Causes of Unintentional Plagiarism in College Writing. WPA: Writing Program Administration. 16, 59-71. Read More