Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined as the act of using someone else’s work—often written words—and presenting it as one’s own. It can be both intentional, where someone knowingly copies another's writing, and unintentional, where proper citation is overlooked. This issue is especially critical in academic settings, ranging from high school assignments to doctoral dissertations, where it is viewed as a significant breach of academic integrity. As a result, educational institutions typically impose strict penalties on those found guilty of plagiarism to uphold ethical standards.
Determining what constitutes plagiarism can be complex, particularly in collaborative environments, such as team projects where contributions from multiple individuals are common. While some practices, like using ghostwriters, may raise ethical questions, they are not classified as plagiarism because ghostwriters are considered part of a professional team. In academia, students must accurately cite direct quotes, paraphrases, and key ideas from others, as failing to do so is deemed plagiarism. The ramifications for plagiarism can vary; while academic penalties focus on educational goals, in commercial publishing, plagiarism can lead to civil lawsuits and financial repercussions for the offender. The rise of digital tools and artificial intelligence has further influenced the landscape of plagiarism detection and prevention.
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Subject Terms
Plagiarism
Summary
Plagiarism is the use of another person’s work, often written words, as your own. Plagiarism can be both deliberate (knowingly copying someone else’s writing and pretending it is your original work) and accidental (using the work of another person in your writing and improperly citing it). Plagiarism is a particular issue in the academic realm, be it in the context of a high schooler’s homework assignment or a PhD student’s dissertation, and it is considered a serious violation of academic integrity. As such, plagiarism is often harshly punished by academic institutions.
At Issue
It is often difficult to determine what counts as plagiarism, because groups of people often work on projects as a team. For example, it may be selfish for celebrities not to credit their ghostwriters, but this is not considered plagiarism, because ghostwriters are members of the publisher’s staff. In addition, most new ideas are based on combinations of old ideas. In an academic context, students are taught to analyze the sources of their ideas. Therefore, they are expected to provide citations for any direct quotations, paraphrases, and important ideas that are taken from another published author. Failure to do so is plagiarism. Because what a plagiarist steals—credit—is intangible, punishment is usually informal and is based on ethical or social factors. Students who plagiarize are penalized by their schools because teachers want them to learn not to steal in any situation. Professors who plagiarize have violated the social norms of scholarship and therefore their reputations as scholars. In the world of commercial publishing, however, when a plagiarizer robs an original author of profit as well as credit, plagiarism is grounds for a civil lawsuit, and legal penalties can include financial compensation of the injured party.
In the early twenty-first century, a number of electronic tools were developed to catch plagiarism. The refinement of artificial intelligence (AI) in the 2010s and 2020s complicated the issue, as AI programs were used to both facilitate and catch plagiarism.
Bibliography
Barnett, Sofia. "ChatGPT Is Making Universities Rethink Plagiarism." WIRED, 30 Jan. 2023, www.wired.com/story/chatgpt-college-university-plagiarism/. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.
"How to Avoid Plagiarism." Harvard University, usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/how-avoid-plagiarism. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.
"Plagiarism." American Psychological Association, July 2022, apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/plagiarism. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.