| Plagiarism |
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Plagiarism is not necessarily the same as Copyright Infringement , which occurs when one violates Copyright Law . DEFINITION Plagiarism is the passing off of another person's work as one's own, whether deliberate or accidental. Accidental plagiarism is usually the result of poor Citation Or Referencing or of poor preparation or a misunderstanding of plagiarism. Deliberate plagiarism is an attempt to claim another person's work as one's own. An unacknowledged use of words, ideas, information, research, or findings not one's own, taken from any source is plagiarism. According to Diana Hacker , the following are the citation criteria as specified by the MLA (Modern Language Association) (115), the APA (American Psychological Association) (157-158), Chicago-Style (186), and others (228-230). "Three acts are plagiarism: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words." A Pocket Style Manual , 4h ed., 2004 Bedford/St. Martin's. Self-plagiarism is the act of copying one's published or submitted writing (or products or ideas) without attribution of the source. For example, in academic assignments, the submission of the same paper (or substantially similar papers) in more than one course is considered self-plagiarism, as is the uncited use of one's published material. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense which can result in punishment ranging from a failing grade on the particular assignment or the course, an academic suspension or expulsion. Being found guilty of plagiarism can ruin an academic career; it may result in revocation of one's degree or the loss of one's job and will result in the loss of academic credibility. Although plagiarism is often loosely referred to as "theft" or "stealing," it has not been prosecuted, according to [http://faculty.law.lsu.edu/stuartgreen/pdf/j-green2.pdf Stuart Green]. Instead, acts that constitute plagiarism are in some instances treated as Copyright Infringement , Unfair Competition or a violation of the doctrine of Moral Rights . More often, charges of plagiarism are resolved through disciplinary proceedings. Just as there can be plagiarism without lawbreaking, it is possible to violate copyright law without plagiarizing. For example, one could distribute the full text of a bestseller on the Internet while giving credit for it to the original author, financially damaging the author and publisher. FREQUENCY OF PLAGIARISM There is no definitive research into the frequency of plagiarism. Any research that has taken place has focussed on universities. There are no published statistics for the school or college sectors; awarding bodies do not maintain statistics on plagiarism. Of the forms of cheating (including plagiarism, inventing data and cheating during an exam), students admit to plagiarism more than any other. 25% to 90% of students admit to plagiarism. However, this figure reduces considerably when students are asked about the frequency of "serious" plagiarism (such as copying most of an assignment or purchasing a complete paper from a website – 20% and 10%). AVOIDING PLAGIARISM In academe, plagiarism is avoided by using a citation style, such as MLA Style , Chicago Style , or APA Style . Generally speaking, facts that are common knowledge (for example, the date that WWII ended) need not be referenced, while facts that are not considered common knowledge in one's field must be cited. Similarly, a quote from any source, words or information, even if paraphrased, or any ideas not one's own must be cited. For instance, while it is acceptable to copy several paragraphs of text from a book and place them in a paper, if the source of the text (the author's name and title of the work) is not identified, even if the text is well known (for example, an excerpt from Lewis Carroll 's Jabberwocky ) this is plagiarism. Similarly, it is considered plagiarism to take someone's idea and then present it as one's own work. However, it is not considered plagiarism when two (or more) people independently come up with the same thing. This is commonly termed simultaneous inspiration, and comes about as the result of people exposed to the same source and interpreting it similarly. There is some difference of opinion over how much credit must be given in non-academic settings, such as when preparing a Newspaper article or historical account. Generally, reference is made to original Source material as much as possible, and writers avoid taking credit for others' work. The use of facts in non-academic settings, rather than works of creative expression, does not usually constitute plagiarism. COMMERCIAL PLAGIARISM AND ANTI-PLAGIARISM SERVICES A market has emerged for pre-written papers, often via websites offering essays and papers for sale to students. Some sites provide free documents because they receive monetary support from sponsors. Other websites offer essays. These websites provide a database of topics or custom-made essays on any topic (for a fee). Generally, such sites include a copyright statement or anti-plagiarism notice with their papers. Similarly, a counter-industry has developed, with companies such as Turnitin offering services for schools and instructors to compare a student's papers to a database of sources and search for plagiarism. PLAGIARISM AND THE INTERNET The Internet has increased plagiarism. Students are able to use search engines to find information. This can be copied and pasted into students’ documents. The Internet can also be used to combat plagiarism. Teachers use search engines for parts of suspicious essays. Using search engines to check papers for plagiarism, is impractical since teachers lack the time necessary to check each paper with an online search engine. Many teachers have turned to plagiarism prevention services like Turnitin that automate the search by comparing each paper against millions of online sources. The techniques used in such engines are often based on variants of the Rabin-Karp String Search Algorithm . Despite these counteractions, evidence suggests that the Internet increases the frequency of plagiarism. Internet plagiarism is not limited to academic dishonesty. Perhaps the most visible example occurred in late 2005 and early 2006 when the web site Ebaumsworld.com was accused of stealing and otherwise plagiarising various Flash Animations from such web sites as SomethingAwful.com , sister site Fark.com and YTMND.com . PLAGIARISM AND LAW According to some academic ethics codes and criminal laws, a complaint of plagiarism may be initiated or proven by any person. The person originating the complaint need not be the owner of the plagiarized content, nor need there be communication from a content owner directing that an investigation or disciplinary be conducted. However, due to their Fear Of Litigation , many editors refuse to recognize any difference between either simultaneous or accidental inspiration and plagiarism. In many academic settings intent does not even enter into consideration. [http://www.rbs2.com/plag.htm#anchor111111 Princeton] dismisses intent as "irrelevant" and Doug Johnson says that intent is "not necessary for a work to be considered plagiaristic and as one respondent put it, 'ignorance of the law is no excuse.' Some universities will even revoke a degree if plagiarism comes to light. FAMOUS ACCUSATIONS AND EXAMPLES OF PLAGIARISM
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Writer And Television Commentator
| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Monica_Crowley" class="copylinks">Monica Crowley was accused of plagiarism for a 1999 Slate Magazine article on Richard Nixon |
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