Personal and Professional Practice - Essay Example

? Personal and Professional Practice Produce a short report (500 words) to new to the which explains what a plagiarism is and how to avoid it. Plagiarism means passing off somebody else’s work as your own this could either be from another student, journal, work from a book and even website (Wolff 2012, p.2). When a student copies another student’s work, it will automatically results in plagiarism. Taking parts from books without properly referencing the sections amount to plagiarism. Plagiarism is a grave crime that can lead one to be expelled from the school or even suspended (Braniac 2012, p.6). People plagiarize because it looks like the easiest and quick thing to do when writing a project or even assignments. Author Ian Fleming wrote a novel with two of his colleagues, but he never mentioned them as co writers, he got sued by his colleagues and fined for plagiarism (Wainwright 2008, p.18). This amounted to plagiarism as he did not involve his counterparts in the final edition of the book yet they participated in its writing. Copying someone else’s work without their permission is plagiarism. A number of famous authors have become dodged with a number of controversies dealing with their books. Authors like Dan Brown and Lynda l Plante are just but examples of leading authors, who have battled court cases related to plagiarism (Arnold 2008). In order to avoid plagiarism in any of the work, one should be able to reference correctly all the ideas, materials, and theories that have been applied (Braniac 2012, p.6). Any individual reading your work should have the ability of telling exactly where the information is from. Read your work over and over again to ensure that there is no plagiarism before handing in your assignment (Cottrell 2008, p. 41). . One should be able to reference directly, for example and also indirectly (Arnold 2008). One should be able to posses the knowledge of putting his or her own ideas in their assessment. In order to avoid plagiarism, one should use quotation marks, indirect referencing or at the same time, placing different ideas into your own personal words and including a reference at the end of each sentence (Cottrell 2008, p. 54). Referencing your work effectively and properly will prevent plagiarism from happening (Braniac 2012, p.6). Another way of avoiding plagiarism is by educating the students of the issue. Teachers should not assume that the students know what plagiarism is, even if they pretend to know what it is. The students should be provided with an explicit definition of plagiarism (Arnold 2008). Even when revising or paraphrasing another person’s words, or even just using their ideas, the author must still be given credit in a note (Wolff 2012, p.3). Ignoring crediting the appropriate authors, amount to lying. Students should include an annotated bibliography in their works. This should include a brief summary of the source, its location and also an evaluation about the importance of the source (Braniac 2012, p.6). Writers should be aware of the sources of the papers. Plagiarism detector should be used to check the levels of plagiarism (Wolff 2012, p.1). These detectors will enable the students prevent issues of plagiarism in their work or reports (Cottrell 2008, p. 28). Plagiarism is an offence; anyone doing it will be heavily punished. Bibliography Arnold, B, 2008, Caslon Analytics plagiarism incidents, Retrieved August 13, 2012, from http://www.caslon.com.au/plagiarismcasesnote.htm Braniac, A, 2012, How to Prevent Plagiarism, eHow, 6. Cottrell, S, 2008, The Study Skills Handbook, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Wainwright, M, 2008, Persaud suspended from practice for three months over plagiarism, The Guardian, 18. Wolff, J, 2012, Does plagiarism matter? Answer in your own words, The Guardian, 2-4. Personal and Professional Practice Name: Institution: Why is plagiarism viewed to be such a grave offence? Plagiarism is duplicating someone’s work claiming to be yours. People who commit plagiarism steal other people’s work and thoughts, and tell other people it is theirs (Wolff 2012, p.2). Individuals spend most of their time thinking, writing and experimenting just for someone else to come and steal the work. According to Wainwright (2008, p.18), it was the degree of Dr Raj Persaud dishonesty that led him to be reprimanded and suspended from job practice for three months by the council of General Medical (Wainwright 2008, p.18). Plagiarism is stealing someone else work. Stealing is taking somebody’s property without the people having the knowledge of you taking it, and keeping the item and telling other people that the item is yours (Cottrell 2008, p. 30). This is no difference from plagiarism. It is taking what people have done and using it to get credit (Arnold 2008). Thieves and other criminals get prosecuted to the fullest and sentenced, the question is, why should plagiarizers not be prosecuted? Anybody that takes and uses someone else’s work as his or her own and gains from it should be punished to the fullest by the existing law. This counts as a crime (Cottrell 2008, p. 37). You are taking someone else’s work without their authorization (Braniac 2012, p.6). People may assume this as being just a minor crime and not a serious offence since it is a thought of somebody’s book, and how could this affect someone (Braniac 2012, p.6). In reality, it is as serious as stealing an item from a store. According to Arnold (2008), German novelist Schatzing became accused in 2005 of taking parts of his bestselling book Der Schwarm from a number of texts by Thomas Orthman, a marine biologist, from a scientific website. The biologist demanded 15000 Euros in compensation from the author. This is just but an example of how serious plagiarism can be (Arnold 2008). Authors put a lot of time and energy in their writing. They work for long hours, and when they have their work published, it is a thrilling moment for them (Cottrell 2008, p. 40). It is something they can present to the people and tell it is through their hard work, and sacrifice that they came up with the work (Braniac 2012, p.6). People should be honest about their work and not steal other people’s work. According to the article by Wainwright (2008, p.18), Dr Persuad became informed by the panel that was investigating him, that doctors should, at all times, be trustworthy and honest, and they should always adhere to high standards in delivering their duty (Wainwright 2008, p.18). According to articles by both Wainwright and Arnold, it is always a terrible torture for any author. This is a project that they have protected and watched it unfold to completion (Wainwright 2008, p.18). Authors put their heart and soul into their articles or books, and it becomes their life (Arnold 2008). Each writer’s work is his or her obsession, and when it becomes stolen by someone else, it is usually devastating. It is one feeling that no writer would wish upon themselves (Wolff 2012, p.1). Bibliography Arnold, B, 2008, Caslon Analytics plagiarism incidents, Retrieved August 13, 2012, from http://www.caslon.com.au/plagiarismcasesnote.htm Braniac, A, 2012, How to Prevent Plagiarism, eHow, 6. Cottrell, S, 2008, The Study Skills Handbook, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Wainwright, M, 2008, Persaud suspended from practice for three months over plagiarism, The Guardian, 18. Wolff, J, 2012, Does plagiarism matter? Answer in your own words, The Guardian, 2-4. Read More