In this paper, I will discuss the definition of plagiarism, how to prevent plagiarism, the difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement, plagiarism checkers, and why plagiarism will cause me to fail INFT 5413. Essentially, plagiarism is the act of not giving recognition to a source.
(Yale, 2018). I can recall many of my courses at Arkansas Tech mentioned plagiarism and consequences of plagiarizing. The consequences are tough and for a good reason. To make sure you avoid plagiarism, be sure to cite your sources. Create a works cited page at the end of your document.
Make sure to include the author of the article, year it was published, location of the article, title of the article, and include a citation at the end of the article quoted that will link to the source in the works cited page. According to an article from University of Bradford, there are 3 types of plagiarism: direct copying, word switching, and concealing sources. Direct copying occurs when exact words from someone else’s research and not referencing where the information came from. Word switching occurs when you use someone else’s research and modifying words without referencing where the information came from. Concealing sources occurs when taking someone else’s research and putting into your own words. Another example of concealing sources is when using multiple sources but only sourcing it one time. (University of Bradford, 2018). Copyright infringement and plagiarism sounds like the same issue, but they have their differences.
Copyright infringement can happen if the source, and author are cited. Plagiarism only happens if you pass work off from someone else as your own work. Also, plagiarism can occur if permission has been granted from the copyright holder to use their work. Permission to use the work is not the same as being able to take credit and pass it off as your own. (Hawkins, 2018). There are websites that will check your document for plagiarism. These websites will search all over the internet to find matches only a few words in length or similar sentences. Many of these websites do not detect plagiarism, but instead scan for sections of identical text.
These plagiarism checkers look for matching strings of words. (Bailey, 2017). I have seen in previous course work where Professors will use TurnItIn for Students to submit papers and research to be checked against plagiarism. I can remember receiving an email from TurnItIn after submission that gave a percentage of plagiarism. This didn’t mean the document was plagiarized but had similar phrases. Plagiarism in INFT 5413 will lead to punishment. According to the INFT 5413 syllabus, the first time caught cheating, the student will receive a grade 0 for the assignment.
The first offence will lower the final grade by one letter. This means the chances of an A for the course will be impossible. The second offence results in a 0 for the class. Lesson is, do your own work, and when using a website, be sure to cite the source. (Hoelzeman, 2018).
Not only will plagiarism cause me to fail this course but will affect trust from future Professors in my classes.
