Plagiarism The Illegal Recycling of Information Essay

Plagiarism: The Illegal Recycling of Information Plagiarism is defined as using others people’s ideas, writings, and quotes without giving credit to the author by citing the material in the paper. Plagiarism can come from copying many things including charts, graphs, text, and music. Even paraphrasing an author’s work without citing it can be considered plagiarism. Plagiarism certainly has been around long before the first research project was assigned. One of the most famous scientists Gregor Mendel had his work plagiarized by another scientist Hugo de Vries in the 19th century.[1] Mendel had come up with breakthroughs in genetics, but no one realized what he had accomplished. Later in the early 1900’s, de Vries†¦show more content†¦Students now have the ability to cut and paste sections of an article, or they can purchase a term paper on-line. He also believes that they plagiarize because they â€Å"are faced with too many choices, so they put off low priorities.†[4] If a student has a lot of things to do, they will not spend much time on the things that have a low priority or things that are considered boring. He also points out that a big reason for plagiarism is that â€Å"many students have poor time management and planning skills.†[5] If the student waits until the last minute to write a paper, they may not have enough time to completely research topic. Other students plagiarize because they â€Å"fear that their writing ability is inadequate.†[6] If the student does not believe that they have the ability to do good work, they may think that the only chance to get a good grade is to cheat. Students can find area to plagiarize in many different places. If they get really lazy, whole research and term papers can be found for a fee or for free on the Internet. Term papers can also be found at local sources such as fraternity files.[7] Students that want to make their papers longer might not cite less than the total quote that they used or they might fake a citation.[8] Both ofShow MoreRelatedPlagiarism : Should Colleges Allow Self Plagiarism?1564 Words   |  7 PagesAllow Self-Plagiarism? Plagiarism, the act of using another’s words or ideas without giving due credit, is a cultural taboo. Yet, given the ease with which it can be done in our electronic world, it is more widespread than ever. In response to the deluge of plagiarism in colleges, professors have expanded its definition and made it more restrictive. Not only do they consider using the unedited work of another to be plagiarism, many consider reusing one’s own work, or â€Å"self-plagiarism,† as severe