“ Good poets borrow, great poets steal ” is a celebrated quotation mark by T.S. Elliot. The topic of this quotation mark has been altered into creative persons, vocalists and histrions to accommodate its significance but the quotation mark itself is being taken out of context. T.S Eliot does non back literary larceny, on the contrary, he argues that authors can utilize other people ‘s work as a foundation for their ain, taking it into a new degree by shooting fresh thoughts and establishing it to a new reader. Piracy of person else ‘s work in the artistic and literary universe is a platitude which goes back every bit early as the sixteenth century. Even Shakespeare alluded in Sonnet 99 that certain transcripts of his sonnets were stolen and published by William Jaggard as his ain, which Shakespeare referred to him as the ‘sweet stealer ‘ in Sonnet 99. Presents, it seems that rip offing and plagiarism is still a normal pattern with the pupils, and seemingly, a pupil who does non rip off and plagiarised is labelled within the pupil community as ‘abnormal ‘ ; “ In fact, it might be closer to the norm than most of us would wish to believe ” ( Kevin Bushweller ) . This essay will discourse the definition and jobs of plagiarism, its many signifiers, effects and appropriate punishment in the academic establishments. It will besides look at the overall academic unity and moralss of both the pupils, professors and universities.
Plagiarism is the unauthorized used or close imitation of the linguistic communication and ideas of another writer and the representation of them as 1 ‘s ain original work. To do a point, this is the straightforward definition of plagiarism that was taken word-for-word from the Oxford English Dictionary. However, this definition must be examined really closely and interpret it in a manner that every individual would understand, if it still equivocal. The etymology of the word came from the Latin word ‘plagiarius ‘ which meant ‘kidnapper, seducer, pillager ‘ and was used in the sense of ‘literary stealer ‘ . The suffix ‘ism ‘ was added to bespeak a signifier of pattern, an act or wont ( OED ) . In other words, in the literary and academic sense, plagiarism is merely another signifier of larceny. It is an act of stealing spoken and written words with purpose to claim ownership and originality of that work or belongings ; for illustration: a construct, statement, subjects and thoughts, essay, thesis and research etc. The close imitation of the linguistic communication pertains to paraphrasing, which merely means paraphrasing. Although it is non direct, it becomes plagiarism when the original thought is clearly maintained and stolen, and failure to utilize commendations. However, in some instances, rephrasing or interpreting a written work into laic adult male ‘s term is necessary in order for easy comprehension. For illustration, Shakespeare ‘s linguistic communication, antediluvian words, scientific and medical footings and survey.
It is of import to observe that plagiarism is different from copyright violation. Although both are act of larceny or larceny, the latter is an violation or misdemeanor of the rights of the right of first publication holder ; it is a offense, a civil offense and punishable by jurisprudence. Whereas, the ethical misdemeanor in plagiarism, although a serious offense, no jurisprudence has been made about it. The punishment is dependent on the universities ‘ academic policies.
Access to information is readily available on and offline has encouraged pupils to go lazy and the enticement to rip off seems hard to defy. Essaies, term documents, thesis and such like are available to purchase on the cyberspace. A batch of information on the cyberspace is available for free, once more, most without proper commendations and disclaimer, therefore, advancing irresponsible publication. One can besides use the service of a ‘ghost author ‘ taking dishonesty to a higher degree. These options combined with high engineering ( and other factors to be discussed in the subsequent paragraphs ) , has given pupils more chance to be fallacious about their ain work irrespective of their personal unity or the mere deficiency of it.
Probably the most common signifier of plagiarism is copying person else ‘s work word-for-word, copying phrases, paragraphs or sentences, without proper referencing or admiting the writer or the beginning. This does non intend that it is acceptable to copy verbatim every bit long as you acknowledge your beginnings. It is like stating “ it is all right to steal every bit long as I repent subsequently ” . To do this acceptable, the words or phrases must be put in quotation marks with proper recognition, and better yet, followed by your ain reading of the words or phrases. Paraphrasing and delusory quoting on the other manus, are being committed by the pupils who are cognizant that retroflexing person else ‘s work is erroneous but it is non incorrect to replace some words with equivalent word and add a few words of their ain as an effortless effort to do the work their ain.
An illustration of a high-profile and really awkward instance of plagiarism is Colonel Gaddafi ‘s boy, Saif al-Islam. It has been alleged that the former pupil of London School of Economics plagiarised his PhD thesis by copying parts of his thesis and using a shade author. It has been suggested that the university may hold turned a ‘blind oculus ‘ on Saif al-Islam ‘s action because of the immense sum of money he pledged to LSE. This is non surprising. Some schools, colleges and universities are turning a blind oculus on this scenario to achieve prestigiousness, higher ranking, and to conceal their ain inefficiency to set policies and processs in topographic point for this, and possibly the defect for neglecting to educate their pupils about the basic pattern or try authorship and commendations. Both suffer from the effects and both loses their unity and credibleness.
Punishments vary from the extent of the plagiarism, repeated offense, and depending on the university ‘s policies and processs. It range from a fail grade at the really least, a suspension from the peculiar category, or an ejection from the university wholly. In some universities, the grade will non even be awarded as a punishment for plagiarism. Another effect beyond the university is the hereafter of the pupil who committed plagiarism ; he or she may be rejected by other universities and possible employers. It is non merely the pupils who steal other people ‘s work but besides those who educate them. The penalty for professor who is guilty of plagiarism is either suspension or expiration from their station together with their black hereafter.
For pupils who ‘accidentally ‘ plagiarised should be penalised the same manner as those who deliberately plagiarised. Although purpose should be considered when finding opinion, “ ignorance is non an alibi ” . In fact, many are utilizing ignorance to acquire off from incorrect making and penalty. It is right to presume that university pupils are now in a phase where he or she is cognizant of good moral behavior, academic pattern and unity.
It is hard to avoid plagiarism because about everything about anything has already been written. In the words of Helene Hegeman: “ There ‘s no such thing as originality anyhow, merely genuineness ” . True, that it is difficult to be 100 % original and come up with a new construct or a fresh thought ( even this essay about plagiarism is non a freshness! ) . Everything is recycled and second-hand, but if one put his or her ain turn ( the keyword is ain ) , different position, accept an thought or rebut it, expand it, dissect it, add creativeness and freshness into it, so becomes your ain work. At the same clip, guaranting that it is decently cited, referenced, bibliographed and acknowledged beginnings where applicable, and besides use footers and endnotes where necessary.
One must take duty for their ain actions be that of the pupil ‘s ignorance or deficiency of understanding standard academic patterns, working on tight deadlines ; any alibi to rip off and steal. And that of the pedagogues ‘ and university ‘s deficiency of academic unity, neglecting to educate its pupils by deficiency of clear processs in topographic point and neglecting to supply pupils with the basic survey accomplishments and information on plagiarism. If this epidemic is non stopped or at least, minimised, universities are bring forthing nil but pupils with a grade in, Masterss and doctor’s degree in plagiarism. Finally, we must non bury one of God ‘s Ten Commandments: “ Thou shall non steal ” . Plagiarism is stealing and stealing is merely incorrect, and is punishable here on Earth and in Eden.
