Plagiarism: definitions, detection, and prevention

¶ … daunting issues in academia is and has always been plagiarism. The age of technology, especially with the introduction of the Internet has made a classic issue like plagiarism even more easily accomplished both by those who have full the intent to plagiarize and those who may do it unknowingly. This paper will provide a clear definition of plagiarism, address why students plagiarize and provide a discussion on the differences of intentional vs. unintentional plagiarism. Finally, I will discuss the importance of properly citing sources, direct quoting and paraphrasing.

Plagiarism is simultaneous with fraud. In its simplest form it is the intentional and also the unintentional act of passing off another's work or ideas as your own. Plagiarism includes:

using the works, research and ideas of another and passing off as your own using the creative work (written, oral, artistic or otherwise) without proper credit to the source/creator failure to provide footnotes, in-text citations, quotations marks or works cited for using materials, ideas and information that is not common knowledge or your own use of materials found on the internet without properly citing source (important to call this out as many believe information found on the world wide web is an automatic free license to use without crediting the source)

Unfortunately, the lack of awareness about what plagiarism is and what it is not can lead well-intentioned people to unintentionally plagiarize the work of others. Unintentional plagiarism is exactly that, plagiarizing without intent. This usually occurs when one fails to site a source because they are unaware that the source should be cited. When the intent to deceive is absent, but yet plagiarism occurs this is unintentional plagiarism. Intentional plagiarism occurs when the intent to deceive is present. Intentional plagiarism is having full knowledge that a work, words or a creative piece is the intellectual property of another yet, still opting to pass it off as one's own. With the advent of the World Wide Web, we have access to an abundance of resources and information at our fingertips. It is important not to fall into the belief trap that because something is readily accessible, that it does not require citation. Some students view all information on the Internet as equal to common knowledge simply because it is free, publicly shared, widely available, and indeed, quite "common." Nevertheless, the language, ideas, and work in electronic sources, even those without an identifiable author, must be cited (Avoiding Plagiarism, 2003).

Citing sources properly is the difference between plagiarizing another's work and not. Clearly, proper citation is critical in avoiding passing off another's work, thoughts and/or ideas as one's own. Avoiding plagiarism is quite simple, one must only acknowledge their source and cite properly. Improper citation is too considered plagiarism; here are some common examples of improper citation:

Original text properly cited:

On the basis of the current study and similar studies, it is clear that the need for systematic, comprehensive coverage of substance abuse issues in counselor preparation has been well established. The most appropriate method for providing this training has yet to be determined. Future research could address the feasibility of the three methods presented in this article for including substance abuse training in CACREP standards. (Salyers, Ritchie, Luellen, & Roseman, 2005, p. 41)

A common form of plagiarism would be just directly copying the quote (or parts of it) with attributing credit to the source. Paraphrasing without citing the original sources is also plagiarism as the example below indicates.

Improper citation:

On the premise of the present and other studies, apparently it has been established that the requirement for systematic, thorough coverage of substance abuse problems is great.

This citation is improper because while the words may be changed up, it is still a take on the original content and therefore should be cited as such. Not citing would be plagiarism.

A proper citation of this paraphrasing would appear like such:

On the premise of the present and other studies, apparently it has been established that the requirement for systematic, thorough coverage of substance abuse problems is great (Salyers et al., 2005).

Providing a references page for all resources used in your research is the correct way to give credit to who credit is due. Even if you use a particular work as a reference without direct quotes or paraphrasing, still cite the work as a source in your works cited page.

Paraphrasing is common way to present the words of another in a way that is more clear and direct to the point while the original words and meaning the original writer is attempting to convey remains intact. Simply put, paraphrasing is your own take on another's message. It is common to change up words in paraphrasing, but citing source of inspiration remains critical. Quoting is also very important in avoiding plagiarism. Quotes should be used when directly using the words of another. Quotation marks should be used with the quote is 40 words or less.