Plagiarism, Essay Example

In order to understand what plagiarism is, it is essential to get a broad definition. According to most people, plagiarism entails the act copying of someone’s original idea and presenting it as yours. However, according to most scholars, most people make this misconception and The Excalibur readers should be aware of this. In order to understand exactly what plagiarism entails, three sources will be used in this study. The first source that will be used is titled “How to fight college cheating” by Lawrence M. Hinman. In his article, the author states that students from high school think that copying and pasting articles from web sources is not cheating. However, in truth, copying and pasting articles from and website or books is cheating if one does not attribute the work to the original owner. However, it is essential to understand that one can have the same idea but present it in a different manner. In his article, the author states that cases of plagiarism and cheating have been rampant among high school students. He states that there have been a growing number of cases where students have been caught having plagiarized someone’s work (Hinman).

The second source that will be used in this essay is “The rules of attribution” by Deborah R. Gerhardt. In her article, the author talks of the importance of paying attribute once someone has used one’s written words. This means that by attributing the borrowed work from an original author one will be able to eliminate plagiarism (Gerhardt). The third and final source that will be used to help understand the consequence of plagiarism is “How I caused that story” by Doris Kearns. In her article, the author documents how she was caught up by using someone’s work and not properly accrediting it as supposed (Kearns). The most notable thing learnt from all the articles is that plagiarism is not copying someone’s work or idea but using someone’s work or ideas without attribution.

Works Cited

Gerhardt Deborah. The rules of attribution. The Chronicle Review. (May 26 2006), vol. 52, Iss. 38, Page B20. Retrieved on 13 October 2012 from http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/physics/ethics/attribution.html

Hinman, Lawrence. How to fight college cheating. The Washington Post. September 3, 2004. Retrieved on 13 October 2012 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/articles/A57836-2004Sep2.html

Kearns Doris. How I caused that story. The Time. Jan. 27, 2002. Retrieved on 13 October 2012 from http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,197614,00.html