Plagiarism - Research Paper Example

Referencing & Plagiarism Introduction For any academic work to be of high quality as well as being authentic there is a need to cite the references properly. Referencing is extremely important since it provides a means of acknowledging the hard work of others. Failure to acknowledge another’s work while using the same work to support one’s own work constitutes plagiarism. It therefore becomes clear that “referencing and plagiarism are closely related and for a person who is involved in academic writing, an understanding of both is essential”.

DiscussionReferencing is a way of acknowledging the work of others by following a system of referencing that is develop to show to the reader the origins of the works used. Referencing serves the purpose;Giving credit to the creator of a work. Demonstrating to the reader the origins of specific informationSince newer ideas evolve from older ones; references allows a means of showing the context of ideasDemonstrating the credibility of an academic work by showing that the information presented has originated from authentic sources.

This serves as a proof to the critical readers. (Neville, 2010) Referencing, although used to serve the purpose of giving credit to others can yet be used to plagiarize. Referencing short cuts like the following may constitute plagiarism;Vague summarization – also known as unreferenced summarization, is the narrowing or twisting of another’s ideas to be presented as one’s own. “Change of words” involves simply the change of words of others to present the same idea in one’s own words; the purpose being to present the idea as one’s own.

Works cited is good enough – when the discussion pertains to relatively common knowledge, a common tendency is to include the work in “works Cited” section of the document. Many academic writers consider is acceptable, but in fact this constitutes plagiarism. Compilation is a practice of compiling various chunks of information from a variety of sources to meet the requirements of the paper that is being written. Even if very little information is taken in this way from other sources, it still constitutes plagiarism.

Three types of proper referencing include the following;Direct quotation – when exact or near-exact words of another author are used in an academic work; the practice is known as direct quotation. Although rarely used in engineering, a direct quotation is often enclosed in inverted commas while being italicized. Paraphrasing is the presentation of someone else’s ideas in the words of the writer of an academic work. Essentially same ideas are presented using different words. Summarizing a work, results in the production of a work that contains a brief detail of the original work.

Plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional. Unintentional plagiarism may be the result of a referencing error like attributing a work to an unrelated author, misquoting or failing to mention the work of an author in the document. Intentional plagiarism on the other hand may be ignorant or malicious. Learning and improving the writing skills while adopting good time management techniques may assist in avoiding plagiarism. ConclusionAcademic writing involves a higher level of dedication on part of the writer to produce a work that is academically acceptable.

Having a sound knowledge of the referencing allows a writer to avoid plagiarism which is an unforgivable sin, in the world of academic works. For this reason, every student should have the basic understanding about referencing and plagiarism. This will enable the student to produce effective academic content that will ultimately improve his learning. ReferencesNeville, C. (2010). The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism. Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw Hill.