Plagiarism

Plagiarism

Academic plagiarism is a concept that seems to be prevalent in society today.   I think that because of the increased demands that are placed on students, poor time management, insecurities with one’s own capability or knowledge and overall laziness are students’ main reasoning behind committing plagiarism.   No matter how you look at it, in all reality, plagiarism is equal to cheating or stealing.   However a student may try and justify their plagiarizing something, in my opinion, it is never okay.
There are several different forms of plagiarism.   I would describe plagiarism as someone copying someone else’s work and trying to pass it off as their own or using an author or another writers’ work and not giving them credit where credit is due.   It is also possible to “accidentally” plagiarize when you have incorrectly listed sources on a work cited or not knowing when to cite someone else’s ideas you’ve used.   A more common form of plagiarism is when the majority of a paper comes from another source, most often by copying the original text, even if the source has been cited.   Because you are using someone’s thoughts other than your own rather than summarizing or drawing from it your own conclusions makes it plagiarism.
Plagiarism is a big problem that teachers and professors face in a classroom today.   A lot of their time is put into searching and double-checking students’ papers to rule out any form of plagiarism.   Almost every student has a computer at home or has access to one.   With the internet, it makes it very easy to search for what others have written about a topic.   It has become an easy way for students to complete an assignment without having to put fourth much effort or do any real work.   Students who plagiarize lack motivation and become accustomed to being lazy and miss out on learning skills essential in many careers.
When I was in tenth grade I had to write a six page research paper on politics.   My best friend and I were at my house...