What is Plaigirism?

Plagiarism

Time and time again as students going through our educational journeys, we hear about plagiarism. So many times, we hear our English teachers in high school or college professors, "make sure you use proper citations," or, "plagiarizing is a violation of academic integrity policy and can result in dismissal from the university."


Well, those things are true. But, these sorts of threats from professors and what can be viewed as an additional set of requirements on a paper does not give us, as students, the proper definition of what plagiarism is, and some other things about it. 


So exactly, what is plagiarism? According to Merriam-Webster, plagiarism is defined as "to use the words or ideas of another person as if they were your own words or ideas." Black's Law Dictionary  defines plagiarism as, "the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one's own mind."


In other words, plagiarism is stealing someone else's ideas, words, or actual documents (in extreme scenarios), using them as your own, and not giving proper credit, through citation, to its owner.


Plagiarism is some cases are minor and requires proper citation but some cases require legal action and monetary repercussions. Check out this site for some penalties of plagiarism. http://www.ithenticate.com/resources/6-consequences-of-plagiarism