The concept of plagiarism arises in the professional, creative and academic world. Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone elses work or ideas and passing them off as ones own (GCFLearnFree.org 00:00:10-00:00:15). Plagiarism may not be intentional, it often happens by accident, if the author forgets to quote a source, or misquote someone words (GCFLearnFree.org 00:00:55). Even if plagiarism appears in the work by accident, it can have serious consequences. In educational settings, finding plagiarism in papers can result in failed assignments or serious disciplinary punishments (GCFLearnFree.org 00:00:35-00:00:40). In the professional area, finding plagiarism can seriously damage an employees reputation (GCFLearnFree.org 00:00:45-00:00:50). Plagiarism seems like an easy way to get the job done; however, the consequences of stealing someone elses words can be serious. Avoiding plagiarism helps make any work new, original and valuable.
There are several strategies for avoiding plagiarism, among them competent citation of sources with the mention of the authors name and words in quotation marks and paraphrasing the sources content are. Paraphrasing is summarizing content or ideas from a source in ones own words (UTRGV Writing Center 00:00:40-00:01:00). Paraphrasing helps explain complex ideas from academic sources and make them more accessible to the audience. Proper paraphrasing includes understanding the content of the source, naming the source, finding ones own voice, not changing the authors original message, and quoting the source properly (UTRGV Writing Center 00:02:00-00:05:45). Paraphrasing should match the level of the audience; the author should choose the complexity of the content and the right words. It is also important to ensure the citation meets the established standards. Rethinking and paraphrasing ideas and content from multiple sources can be a challenge; however, it is essential to create original work enhanced by the use of scholarly literature.
In contemporary times, the advent of the Internet has made it easy to share various artworks. For example, sites such as Github and CodePen make it very easy to share graphic design works. The sites act as sources of inspiration for graphic designers; however, the challenge is the transitioning of the source of inspiration to the aid for plagiarism. About Saudi Arabia, there is no succinct data that shows the extent of graphic design plagiarism.
Nevertheless, there is a common cultural orientation of sharing in the community. The digitization of the graphic design contents has led to increased cases of plagiarism, not only in Saudi Arabia but across the globe. The main point in the paper is that reusing another persons graphic design work is not regarded as a violation in Saudi Arabia; instead, it is viewed as a means of sharing essential information and hence the need to address the issue.
Based on this perspective, plagiarism in graphic design in Saudi Arabia is a complex issue that needs a concerted effort to solve. There is a need to explore the various dimensions in which plagiarism takes place. Thus, the paper presents an exhaustive analysis of plagiarism in graphic design and the implications of technology in enhancing the problem; also, the paper provides a direction for solving the issue.
Graphic Design and Plagiarism in Saudi Arabia
Across the globe, plagiarism has become a big problem for authors and artists. The literal meaning of plagiarism is theft, taking materials that are produced by other people and presenting them as your own. It entails illegal appropriation of work done by other people or sharing the work of other persons or organizations like your own without attribution of the use to the author (Music 210). Plagiarism is unethical publishing and it is unacceptable both in academic and professional works. Presently, uptake of technology such digitization has resulted in widespread copy-paste plagiarism in different disciplines.
Plagiarism takes place in different ways. For example, it may include the use of other peoples ideas, texts, collusions, and self-plagiarism. Concerning graphic design, plagiarism can take place in two forms. It can be unintentional (accidental) or intentional (deliberate). Unintentional plagiarism happens due to the lack of knowledge about the limit of using other peoples ideas to create your design and failing to attribute the borrowed ideas to the owner (Music 210). This type of plagiarism is common among students and new graphic designers. On the other hand, deliberate plagiarism entails taking other peoples work knowingly and presenting the work to make the audience believe that the plagiarist is the originator.
The issue of plagiarism has been in existence for many years. It affects many disciplines such as academic and professional research. Also, it affects disciplines related to creative art; for instance, some of the masterpieces of Mozart were copied by Sallier. In poetry, a good example is the plagiarism of Shakespeares poems. In the field of graphic design, plagiarism has been common in the logo designs. It is worth noting that the problem is perpetuated by professionals, students, and even companies.
Logos usually undergo modifications so that elements from original work are hidden. Nevertheless, most of the copied logos have a clear resemblance to the original. For example, the logo for the 2020 Paralympics Games in Tokyo Japan has been subject to plagiarism claims. The design is claimed to have been stolen from a Belgian designer who had designed it for a stadium. Figure 1 below is the previously proposed logo for the Paralympics Games 2020 and the original work of the Belgian designer.
Figure 1: Plagiarized Logo for Paralympics Games 2020.
Graphic design is a visual language that can be understood across the globe by diverse audiences. It transcends language barriers and can be shared and understood by people of different cultures. This aspect is normally because graphic designers share styles, ideas, and design elements. For a long time, the point of differentiation of designs has normally been the cultural aspect (Al-Yamani and Abdul 4).
However, with digitization and the consequent easy sharing of the artwork, the cultural aspect has blurred. This is attributed to the close sharing of ideas and dishonesty in which originality that formed the foundation of graphic design as the true measure of culture has been flaunted by plagiarizing; hence, creating complex designs. Across the globe, universal contemporary culture in the field of graphic design has been created due to globalization and the current digitization of various kinds of information.
Therefore, it is not surprising that graphic designers from different cultures are emerging into a single culture in which designs are produced targeting the citizens of the world unlike in the past where specific designs were to be consumed in particular cultures (Economou 16). The universal contemporary culture points to the progression of a discipline which is less than 100 years since the time it was recognized as a profession. Nevertheless, the threat has been the increasing plagiarism and infringement of copyrights that seem to slow down the originality that is associated with different disciplines of art.
As noted, plagiarism entails the unauthorized use or imitation of someones artwork and presenting it as an original copy. It also includes acts of appropriation where a graphic designer directly takes over another artists work and uses it as his or her original copy. In Saudi Arabia, plagiarism has been common in logos and advertisements. For example, a Saudi artist claimed that his work had been used by Swatch Company to advertise Omegas Seamaster Aqua Terra watch.
Figure 2: Hajj-Inspired Picture used by Swatch for Advertisement.
Karabag and Berggren stated that the publications are original works of producers; thus, when published they become sources of reference in which citability is key to the promotion of the originators (173). Besides, just like researchers and academicians, graphic designers should adhere to ethical codes based on the principles of integrity and honesty and authorization for use of any published work. Also, graphic plagiarism can be found in cover books, magazines and front pages of magazines and newsletters. Figure 3 shows similarities between two front pages of different publications signifying possible cases of plagiarism.
Figure 3: Front Page Similarities.
The graphic design in Saudi Arabia and the larger Middle East is a case in point. It is an industry that has blossomed, and creativity has been flourishing. However, compared to the Western world, graphic design as a profession is quite young in Saudi Arabia. Despite being relatively young, the industry has been driven by globalization which has influenced the local cultures that traditionally have been visually rich. Also, the socio-economic situations in the region have been affected by the influx of Western organizations.
This has had a direct effect on the dynamics of the industry. The results have been powerful, and many people have taken to display their creativity with excellent designs. In Saudi Arabia, there are unending streams of designs that are handmade, photographed and edited images that have been accepted by the locals. The graphic design has played a critical role in supplementing the visual culture which is regarded as a form of expression.
In Saudi Arabia and the entire region of the Middle East, graphic designs are integrated with the unique Arabic calligraphy. However, as the world ushers in the new graphic designers, Bamford and Sergio pointed out that the challenge of plagiarism is rife in Eastern cultures (18). Bamford and Sergio argued that plagiarism is not limited to the research and academic world, but it is interwoven in graphic designs where it is hard to detect (21).
Original works of leading designers are replicated and shared and even commercially sold without the consent of the originator. The duplication of the work transcends the regional boundaries; hence, any work shared over the Internet is open to infringement. This leads to the originators rights over the materials infringed and consequently, they lose income. In Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, this is not categorized as a crime due to cultural and social orientation.
The lack of detailed information on the extent of the graphic design plagiarism has been attributed to the cultural orientation of most Arab-dominated countries. Bamford and Sergio stated that the ownership and attitudes towards private property vary across the world (19). Therefore, some people may engage in unintentional plagiarism. For example, in countries where the tradition of private ownership is cherished, there are strict rules and regulations on intellectual property.
On the other hand, in Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, there is a tradition where most of the information is passed through the word of mouth. Therefore, there is a common perception that information comes from wisdom and as a result, it is in the public domain to be used freely. Thus, plagiarism is a new word for many graphic designers in Eastern cultures. What may be considered as cheating in the Western world such as the U.S. may be termed as sharing in Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia. The cultural perspective characterized by the social aspect of sharing makes it difficult to stop the problem.
In Saudi Arabia, the accomplishments of an individual are not recognized; instead, they are credited to the family or tribe which is unlike in the individualistic cultures where personal achievements are cherished. In individualistic cultures, people are not expected to share ideas, and if it happens, there must be an acknowledgment of the originator. This cultural divide presents the difference in the use of graphic design products. Many people who have been used to the culture of sharing do not find it wrong to copy or edit the graphic designs they access over the Internet as their own.
The aspect of interdependence cannot be ruled out in the increased cases of plagiarism (Sowden 227). For example, in modern Saudi Arabia, issues of academic honesty have been embraced due to the influence of the Western education principles of originality. However, in graphic design, there is still no clear demarcation between using the graphic designs shared over the Internet as sources of inspiration and when they use turns out to be plagiarism.
It is worth noting that plagiarism of either research or artwork is considered misconduct, it breaches confidentiality and intellectual property. In the modern world, there is an increased sharing of information. This includes photographs and other graphical designs. The process has been made easy by the use of the Internet and the emergence of social media. This implies that original graphical designs produced in the U.S. and fed into the Internet can be accessed across the globe. This denotes the importance of technology in disseminating information, but it turns out to be a problem when people use the contents without recognizing the authors.
Use of Technology and Creation of Awareness to address Plagiarism Issues
There is a lot of misinformation and confusion about the unacceptable and acceptable use of resources of third parties not only in Saudi Arabia but in many countries across the globe. This is exacerbated by the increasing digital content that is available for use. As a result, students and other artists continue to use online materials without attribution. Bamford and Sergio indicated that plagiarism remains to be the biggest ethical issue that faces artists across the globe (18). To analyze plagiarism in graphic design, different lenses can be used. The lenses revolve around the copyright laws, fair use and manipulation of photos and their relations to plagiarism. Plagiarism in graphic design should be approached in the context of morality and technology. In this aspect, Boylston pointed out that social awareness, culture, and moral choices influence the production and use of graphic designs across the globe (54).
Music noted that plagiarism can be avoided by providing source credit whenever an idea, fact, drawing or any piece of information from another person is used (209). Due to technological development, it is very easy to identify plagiarism in the academic and research work, but it becomes very difficult to detect plagiarism in the case of an idea or drawings. In graphic design, the plagiarists may integrate patterns to present a complex image that may appear original but on closer analysis, it shows it has been a modification of the original work of another person which is achieved by changing colors and scales.
Therefore, unlike in text where various online systems can detect the proportion of the plagiarized work, it is very difficult to achieve similar results in graphic design. As noted by Music, modification of captions of an image leads to the production of a complicated copy (209).
According to Al-Dabbagh et al., graphic plagiarism normally takes place as modification and integration of figures, tables, and charts (2). Some systems have been developed to detect text plagiarism such as Turnitin. However, the systems cannot detect plagiarism in graphic design. Despite the limitations, there are emerging techniques that can be used to extract features in graphical designs to analyze plagiarism. Specifically, there are technologies for detecting plagiarism of bar chart image. These are algorithmic approaches that have been developed by the use of computer codes.
They entail the use of program codes that can detect similarities by the use of patterns. An example of such technology is the intelligent bar chart plagiarism detector which uses algorithmic codes. It can be used to determine changes in the scales of image and the integration of pattern that the plagiarist may have used in statistical bar charts. Al-Dabbagh et al. pointed out that the ability to use algorithmic codes to detect graphical plagiarism in bar charts presents technological progress which in the future can be advanced to detect plagiarism in graphic design images (9). In addition to technological progress, there is the need to create awareness among designers to make them understand the differences between using the readily available designs for inspiration and what constitutes plagiarism.
As noted in this paper, the issue of graphic design plagiarism in Saudi Arabia is not intentional, rather it is due to the socio-cultural orientation. As a result, the measures that are employed in the Western world such as the use of computerized applications to detect plagiarism may not comprehensively address the problem in the problem in Saudi Arabia. Besides, there is a lack of adequate technology to detect the proportions of plagiarism in graphic designs. Therefore, to counter the problem, the approach should entail the creation of awareness and ensure that students are taught about the importance of originality and the negative implications of plagiarizing images (Boylston 53).
For example, a proposal that has been adopted in other countries should be implemented in Saudi Arabia, i.e. teaching towards an ethical legacy in graphic design . This will contribute to changing the perception of the upcoming graphic designers in Saudi Arabia.
Education will be the start of transformation and hence it will create a society that respects other peoples originations. Also, morals should be impacted at the education level where the student is penalized for any work that is considered to be plagiarized. Students should be taught the importance of professional standards. This will be in line with Holland, who noted, students with no professional experience are daunted by the professionalism and dont understand the importance of professional standards. It needs to be brought alive for them (9). The awareness should be based on the revolutionization of the mindset even in the communities where sharing is a norm. To realize this, the change should start at the school level where graphic design is taught. For instance, graphic design teachers should emphasize the excellence and promotion of individual work.
Conclusion
Graphic designers produce ultimate products of artists; an original graphic design is a measure of success and achievement of an artist. Thus, the artist has a right to benefit from the design commercially and through acknowledgments. This implies that any infringement hurts the original designers. Just like there have been developments in detecting and preventing plagiarism in academic and research disciplines, the field of graphic design should put in place stringent measures to reduce the cases of plagiarism. For example, there is a need for technological developments that will help to detect plagiarism in graphic design.
Also, there should be more emphasis on all graphic designers to abide by the ethical codes that guide the profession. For instance, upholding morality in which honesty and integrity are cherished to avoid issues of copyright infringements. The measures should be taken bearing in mind that many people in Saudi Arabia have embraced the graphic design. Consequently, the digitization of information has increased the cases of graphic design plagiarism in the country.
Recommendations
With the proliferation of graphic design plagiarism in Saudi Arabia, some measures can be put in place to curb its spread. The recommended solutions include the development of technology for detecting plagiarism and emphasis on morality in issues that relate to the use of other peoples work. For example, it is important to put in place international codes guided by ethical aspects of the graphic design industry.
The technological and moral aspects will help to address the general problem of plagiarism in graphic design across the globe. For people in Eastern cultures such as Saudi Arabia, the technology should be integrated with education to enlighten the people about the implications of plagiarism and the importance of originality in the profession of graphic design, i.e. using technology to detect cases of plagiarism and at the same time teaching the Saudi Arabians the importance of respecting other peoples work and originality.
Works Cited
Al-Dabbagh, Mohammed, Salim Naomie, Rehman Amjad, Alkawaz Mohammed, Saba Tanzila, Al-Rodhaan Mznah, and Al-Dhelaan Abdulla. Intelligent Bar Chart Plagiarism Detection in Documents. The Scientific World Journal 1.1 (2014):1- 11. Print.
Al-Yamani, Suhaila, and Hanan Abdul. Civilized Environment as a Source of Inspiration in Fashion Design by Using Computer. Journal of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management 7.1 (2011):1-13. Print.
Bamford, Jan, and Katerina Sergio. International students and Plagiarism: An Analysis of the Reasons for Plagiarism among International Foundation Students. Investigations in University Teaching and Learning 2.2 (2005): 17-22. Print.
Boylston, Scott. Teaching Toward an Ethical Legacy in Graphic Design. Teaching Ethics 7.2 (2007): 49-62. Print.
Economou, Inge. The Cultural Context of Contemporary Graphic Design . South African Journal of Art History Volume 18.1 (2003): 15-27. Print.
Holland, Dikens. Where Our Wild Things Are: Graphic Design Ethics in an Age of Exacerbation. Communication Arts 1.1(2010): 1-11. Print.
Karabag, Solmaz, and Christian Berggren. Retraction, Dishonesty and Plagiarism: Analysis of a Crucial Issue for Academic Publishing and the Inadequate Responses from Leading Journals in Economics and Management Disciplines. Journal of Applied Economics and Business Research 2.3 (2012): 172-183. Print.
Masic, Izet. Plagiarism in Scientific Publishing. Acta Inform Med 20.4 (2012): 208-213. Print.
Sowden, Colin. Plagiarism and the Culture of Multilingual Students in Higher Education Abroad. ELT Journal 59.3 (2005): 226-233. Print.
Writing academic papers could prove to be a rather difficult task for students if they are not aware of how they can avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism refers to the use of an authors words as if they are your own without proper citations.
There are several citation styles in which students can write their academic papers. These include MLA, Harvard, Oxford, APA, Chicago, Turabian, and the like. This paper is an in-depth exploration of the methods a student can use to avoid plagiarism using the MLA citation style.
One of the methods that can be effectively used to avoid plagiarism is the paraphrasing of text from books, journals, websites and other sources. After the paraphrase, one should make sure that no five consecutive words are as they are in the source.
The person writing the paper should also ensure that the author of the website, book, journal, etc is duly acknowledged. During paraphrasing, the person writing the paper should just pick the idea being passed by the author and use his/her own words to pass the same idea in his/her paper.
This is an effective method of avoiding plagiarism since the final paper of the student has originality, and it is also relevant to the topic the student intends to discuss ( How to Avoid Plagiarism 1).
Another effective method of avoiding plagiarism in papers is the use of direct quotes in papers. The direct quotes should be placed within the paper by the use of double quotes within the quotes there should be text from the book, website or journal from which the student is getting the information.
Unlike in paraphrasing, when double quotes are used, the text placed between them should be exactly as the author wrote it.
Direct quotes are mainly used in situations where the alternative, paraphrasing of the text, would either distort the information or make it fail to achieve its desired impression.
Direct quotes are also advantageous to a student who uses them often because they show the credibility of research and the tutor can verify that the student has used the sources he/she claims to have used at the Works Cited section.
Another important part of a plagiarism-free MLA paper is the Works Cited section. This is the last part of the paper in which the student lists the references that he/she has used in the paper.
The references are listed by writing both names of the author, separated by a comma, followed by the title of the website article, in double quotes, and the date the article, and date of retrieval separated by a hyphen.
The URL of the website is then pasted for use by any person who may want to view the site. The URL is normally pasted within angle brackets for MLA formatting style. For books, both names of the author are given as in a website.
However, the title of the book is in italics, and it is followed by the name of the city in which the book was published. The name of the publisher is then given, followed by the year of publication. The two are separated by a comma.
The word print is then written at the end of the book refers to show that it is a paperback. The title of the references should be in italics with a capitalization of each initial word.
That is, Works Cited. The references appearing in this list should be arranged alphabetically ( A Statement on Plagiarism 1).
For every reference that appears in the Works Cited list, there should be a corresponding in-text citation at the part of the paper that used the specific reference.
The in-text citations are normally put in brackets, and they contain the surname of the author and the page from which the text was captured. The name and the page are separated by a space.
Works Cited
A Statement on Plagiarism. Capital Community College. Online. 2010. Web.
How to Avoid Plagiarism . College Board. 2010. Web.
It is very important for students to write using their own words because this makes a positive contribution to the scholarly world. It would be very difficult to make any advances in the society if no scholars wrote any original work. Whenever someone writes something using new words, this approach broadens the topic and introduces new nuances to the addressed subject. Consequently, the person who reads these words later can interpret a certain topic differently, thereby introducing new research angles. When a topic is explained using original and specific words, the audience has an opportunity to connect with the writer on a higher level.
The same benefits can be passed on to the writer who has a chance of understanding a topic better if he/she explains it using his/her own words. When students fail to use their own words and/or neglect to give credit to the original writers, this is known as plagiarism. Plagiarism is a capital offence in most institutions and it can lead to expulsion or other forms of disciplinary actions towards the students who practice it.
Plagiarism is manifested through various practices in the course of academic writing exercises. Complete plagiarism occurs when a scholar presents an article, passage, or any other paper that belongs to another writer. In instances of complete plagiarism, there is no paraphrasing or any professional acknowledgement that is involved. Complete plagiarism also involves using unpublished works that have been written by other students.
Near-complete plagiarism occurs when full portions of another persons work have been used in a students paper. For instance, a student can tweak another persons work by adding an introduction and a conclusion to the copied work. This form of plagiarism is also not tolerated in academic circles. Patchwork plagiarism is a very common form of plagiarism and it involves students lifting written passages from several authors and combining them to make a complete paper.
Lazy plagiarism covers instances where the students words coincide with those of another writer. Lazy plagiarism often results from poor study habits but instructors cannot be able to distinguish it from other forms of intentional plagiarism. The last form of plagiarism is self-plagiarism and it involves instances where a student uses a paper that is intended for one course to satisfy the needs of another lesson.
Writing original content is primarily beneficial to students because it enables them to score good grades and avoid conflicts with school administrations. There are several methods that the students can use to avoid plagiarism. For instance, a student should be able to keep track of all the materials that he/she uses during his/her preliminary research. All academic papers start at the research stage, and the students should keep track of this period to enable them to cite all their sources accordingly.
During the writing stage, a student should avoid imitating essay formats by other writers. Consequently, the students should adopt a stance of originality from the onset. The student should also maintain a clear demarcation between quotes and original materials. Most instances of plagiarism occur when a student cannot decide whether to quote or paraphrase original material. All students should be familiar with the process of referencing and citing works from other writers. This practice is critical especially for all information that is sourced from online sources. The entire process of avoiding plagiarism is harnessed through the editing process.
Plagiarism in scholarly writing involves the use of resources without acknowledging its authors. It is an act associated with the lack of integrity, and most academic institutions are quite strict about the avoidance of plagiarism (Anderson, 2016). Writers should avoid plagiarism through the application of several measures. One of the measures is by writing original ideas without looking into information provided by other scholars.
For instance, after developing a study, a researcher may opt to use their own words and format to create a report. In such a case, the report is not involved with plagiarism. The second and most widely used approach is paraphrasing information provided by other scholars and referencing their work in the report. Paraphrasing is quite an interesting process because a writer uses an idea from a scholar and instead of quoting them, he or she uses different words.
Paraphrasing eliminates plagiarism in writing, but only if the paraphrased ideas are referenced to the relevant scholars. The resources used in the preparation of an essay or a report must contain the paraphrased information.
Grammar and Plagiarism Checker
I have used Turnitin to check most of my papers for grammar, spelling, and plagiarism. The platform is quite reliable because one only has to upload their paper and specify the types of checks that are required, before waiting for a short while for the paper to be checked. The platform compares the paper with all the resources available in the online space, and it highlights similarities with different sources. Once a plagiarism report has been provided, Turnitin also provides a link to the resources whose content is similar to the paper.
The plagiarized parts of the paper are also highlighted in the checked paper. This helps in identifying the sentences and words in an essay or report that need to be paraphrased. After paraphrasing and editing the paper, one has to check the paper one more time to see if paraphrasing eliminates all the reported plagiarism. One of the most interesting findings that I have made while using Turnitin is that changing a few words in a sentence can eliminate plagiarism in the sentence.
Recommended Resource
Another online resource for checking grammar, spelling, and plagiarism is grammarly. Just like Turnitin, Grammarly has been designed to pinpoint errors and plagiarized sentences in an essay. The application is quite reliable because it also compares an essay with a wide range of online resources, and it gives a comprehensive report of the resources involved with the plagiarized content. One of the advantages of using the application is that it also suggests some words that can be used to replace the plagiarized words. However, it is always advisable to clear the plagiarized content and paraphrase the associated ideas.
Scholarly writers must uphold integrity in their writing because there are dire consequences associated with plagiarism in their work. Grammarly and turnitin are some of the online applications that can help in ensuring that the final reports and essays are not associated with plagiarism and other writing mistakes.
APA Rules
One of the APA formatting rules on page 23 of the sixth edition manual is that the preferred format of writing authors names is the surname, followed by the abbreviation of the middle name, then the first name. This rule was designed to ensure that there is no mistake in identifying authors (WCUPA, 2017). Page 26 highlights the rules of writing an abstract in APA format, and one of the factors to consider is the accuracy of the content.
References
Anderson, R. (2016). The difference between copyright infringement and plagiarism-and why it matters. ACORN: The Journal of Perioperative Nursing in Australia, 29(4), 50.
WCUPA. (2017). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Web.
Plagiarism is unacceptable for academic papers writing it contradicts the law, ethics, and moral principles. Every student, professor, and scholar has to use only his or her own thoughts and conclusions for ones scientific work. The importance of plagiarism-free academic papers among students is to be discussed below.
Academic Dishonesty, Plagiarism, and Cheating
Academic fraud defines any form of cheating within different kinds of academic writings, exercises, and conclusions. It includes such terms as plagiarism, data fabrication, cheating, providing false information, bribery, sabotage, and other essential factors that may influence the quality of a research (Juyal, Thawani, & Thaledi, 2015). Plagiarism is an appropriation of authentic conclusions or observations. Usually, plagiarism is used by students who did not attend classes constantly or did not pay enough attention to their course.
Cheating is another form of academic misconduct, which is used by students for passing examination without an appropriate knowledge. Cheating implies the use of different cheat sheets, mobile applications, and other forms of additional information. Official Statistics informs that almost seventy percent of students in high schools of the United States of America admit cheating. If a person was caught cheating, it means that he or she cannot become a good professional of ones occupation because it requires not only practical experiences but a technical knowledge as well.
Academic, Ethical, and Moral Misconduct
Academic misconduct corresponds to the meaning of academic dishonesty and does not allow students to use other peoples works for their own assignments. The only way that lets students use other scholars conclusions is to quote. Reference implies the use of quotation marks so that the professor could see and compare students research to the original one. Indeed, ethical and moral misconduct does not always refer to academic writing or plagiarism, but a student has to understand that adopting other peoples work, might offense the original writer. Such actions show disrespect to an authentic owner and his or her job.
Differences among Academic Dishonesty, Plagiarism, and Cheating
All three terms of Academic Dishonesty, Plagiarism, and Cheating refer to one another. Moreover, committing plagiarism or cheating shows that one is not honest to his or her teachers or professors (Singh & Remenyi, 2016). Plagiarism is used by a student to avoid the exploring process or reading an appropriate literature. Cheating, on the other hand, is used by a student in a classroom or an examination room to answer unfamiliar questions. By cheating, a student provides oneself additional information that he or she is not acquainted with.
Differences among Academic, Ethical, and Moral Misconduct
Academic misconduct only refers to disrespecting other peoples works, philosophies, and thoughts. Whereas, ethical and moral misconduct, do not give a person carte blanche for abusing other people in public, neglecting their personalities, and detracting their merit. As it was said before, academic fraud does not correspond to the moral and ethic standards. Moreover, moral misconduct should provide pangs of conscience to the person that did something wrong. If he or she does not regret ones actions, then this person is hard to be and make friends with.
Changes towards Nursing Profession
My thoughts and actions will definitely change my approach towards nursing profession I will show more respect to my professors, colleagues, and my future patients. I will not be adopting someone elses words anymore because it contradicts my principles of morality. I will be honest with my academic papers from now on, and I will avoid plagiarism or cheating as much as possible. Besides, I promise to follow ethical and moral rules in my academic works. Now I understand all the consequences of plagiarism and cheating, which will help me in writing academic papers of a higher quality.
Plagiarism does not give me a useful knowledge that might help me in my future occupation. If I continue plagiarizing, I might have a lack of professional experience and knowledge, which is not acceptable for a nurse leader (Weber-Wulff, 2014). In case of any emergency or an unpredictable situation, I might not be able to help a person because I did not learn the information that I have stolen from another source. In order to win my present professors and future bosss respect, I will not be using any kinds and forms of academic misconduct that were mentioned above.
Conclusion
Plagiarism and other forms of academic fraud are similar to a robbery because scientific works of scholars provide them their royalties. Once one has stolen someones credible statement, it becomes more popular, but its founder does not. Therefore, this person does not get his or her payments per view, which lowers ones royalty, so it is equal to a robbery. If a student wants to use someones paper, it is proper to ask for official rights or consider using the quotation marks. Besides, if this situation with plagiarism and cheating will go on in the country, it might influence the national labor market. Hence, a lot of scholars might stay without a job, and students might not have any desire to become researchers because their works might not be valuable anymore.
References
Juyal, D., Thawani, V., & Thaledi, S. (2015). Plagiarism: An egregious form of misconduct. North American Journal of Medical Sciences, 7(2), 77.
Singh, S., & Remenyi, D. (2016). Plagiarism and ghostwriting: The rise in academic misconduct. South African Journal of Science, 112(5), 1-7.
Weber-Wulff, D. (2014). False feathers: A perspective on academic plagiarism. Heidelberg, GE: Springer.
Plagiarism is one of the issues affecting the quality of education, the integrity of learners, and the reputation of learning institutions because it entails an unauthorized use of research information, such as ideas, data, methods, figures, and language, without attributing to their authors. In essence, plagiarism has become a serious academic offense in modern society where information technology has made it possible for students in institutions of higher learning to copy or imitate the work of other researchers without giving credit deservedly (Howard, Ehrich, & Walton, 2014). Across the world, universities have noted various cases of plagiarism among students who strive to get better and improved grades by presenting the work of other authors as their own. The increasing instances of plagiarism among students have compelled the institutions of higher learning to develop quality assurance systems to ensure the presentation of high-quality work. Therefore, critical examination of plagiarism shows that it has short-term benefits of allowing students to get favorable grades, but it has long-term tragic effects such as loss of respect, integrity, and income.
Loss of Respect and Reputation
Among students, plagiarism has severe consequences because it causes a loss of respect and reputation. Given that modern universities have developed quality assurance systems and formulated stringent academic policies, they can detect plagiarism and appropriately punish students. The nature of punishment that students get can be course failure, lowered grade, suspension, or expulsion. In cases where students unintentionally plagiarize a particular work without previous history of plagiarism, universities usually penalize them by reducing their grades or failing them in affected courses. Some universities with a stringent academic code of conduct normally suspend students and put them on probation, during which they learn how to prevent plagiarism by attending workshops and seminars. In cases where plagiarism is intentional and rampant, universities ordinarily expel students and revoke academic certificates awarded to them. Due to widespread cases of plagiarism and poor academic performance, American universities expelled over 8,000 Chinese students (Doss et al., 2016). As a consequence, Chinese students lost respect and reputation in American universities because they exhibit tendencies of academic dishonesty.
Plagiarism also causes a loss of respect and reputation among professionals. Academic work forms the basis of career growth and development, for it determines the nature of knowledge and skills. However, by exhibiting academic dishonesty, plagiarism taints the respect and reputation that professionals have earned over the years. In this view, professionals, such as doctors, architects, and nurses, who have plagiarized in the course of their careers risk exposure and loss of their entire career when discovered. The loss of respect and reputation has an immense effect on plagiarists careers because employers or clients would not trust their services or products. The damage plagiarism inflicts on ones career is significant and irreversible. Since plagiarism would make one lose academic credentials, employers would have to downgrade positions or even sack employees. Subsequently, it would be impossible for plagiarists to restore their reputations in the labor market and regain their work positions even if they change employers. Eventually, the careers of employees end when their acts of plagiarism become evident in their workplaces. Moreover, plagiarists do not get recognition from respective professional bodies for they lose respect and reputation. For instance, professionals such as journalists, nurses, doctors, and researchers would no longer exercise their careers because their regulatory bodies would revoke their practicing licenses. Therefore, plagiarism, once discovered, leads to the loss of respect and ruins the reputation of established professionals in various fields, irrespective of their positions.
As plagiarism occurs in the institutions of learning, its prevalence determines organizational reputations. Singh and Remenyi (2016) explain that rules and regulations coupled with the existence of an effective disciplinary system determine the ability of universities to curb plagiarism. In this view, the reputation of a university is dependent on its ability to curb plagiarism among students. Universities with limited regulations and weak disciplinary systems tend to condone plagiarism and provide poor quality education. The inability to fight cases of academic dishonesty gives universities a bad reputation in the education system (Singh & Remenyi, 2016). Thus, the prevalence of plagiarism in a university lowers its reputation in the job market, for organizations consider their students as inadequately prepared to work in the competitive and demanding work environment.
Loss of Integrity
The emergence of plagiarism in the institutions of higher learning has brought into question the integrity of students and quality of learning. Plagiarism has serious long-term effects on students and professionals because it erodes integrity and promotes unethical practices. Since integrity is the foundation of character, it determines the way people perform their work in academic and professional fields. Students with integrity perform the right things irrespective of the circumstances under which they learn. Allowing students to plagiarize their work at school creates an unethical culture of cheating, which they would extend into their workplaces (Rujoiu & Rujoiu, 2014). In essence, students who are dishonest in their academic performance would also be dishonest in their workplaces. Johnstone (2016) argues that academic dishonesty is a significant predictor of unethical behavior that employees exhibit in the workplace. This argument implies that plagiarism affects the integrity of students and predisposes them to unethical behaviors in the workplace.
As research and development are key outcomes of universities, their publications are prone to plagiarism, which affects the integrity of researchers. Research ethics require researchers to publish their original work through an elaborate process of peer-review. However, when researchers attempt to publish plagiarized work, they bring their integrity into question and invite serious scrutiny of their work. As a result, publishers reject their work and successively blacklist them. Hong (2017) explains that editors of the Journal of Korean Medical Science detected plagiarism on papers submitted by unethical Chinese researchers and prohibited them from publishing for five years. Hence, plagiarism makes researchers lose integrity among publishers and editors of peer-review journals.
Additionally, plagiarism affects the integrity of learning institutions, for they are academic centers where students acquire values that are integral to their lives, profession, and society. Since learning institutions inculcate ethics in students, they determine the nature of values that they espouse in their workplaces. According to Wong, Lim, and Quinlan (2016), universities play a significant role in shaping lifelong integrity, which determines the social and personal responsibility of people in society. Hence, parents and employers expect universities to nurture students and equip them with appropriate ethical values. Universities that condone plagiarism lower their integrity, for they are unable to meet the expectations of parents and employers. Consequently, parents are not willing to school their children in universities with questionable integrity diminished integrity. Moreover, employers reject graduates from universities notorious for condoning plagiarism and other unethical behaviors.
Loss of Income
In addition to the loss of respect and integrity, plagiarism also makes professionals lose their income. Given that employers recruit employees based on their academic certificates, the discovery of plagiarism causes one to lose their job. The revocation of certificates due to plagiarism compels employers to terminate jobs of the affected since their qualifications are dubious. For example, Étienne Klein, a famous physicist, lost his job as the head of the Institute for Advanced Studies for Science and Technology because he plagiarized numerous works of philosophers, scientists, and writers (Enserink, 2017). Therefore, the loss of a job is a significant effect of plagiarism that affects income.
Plagiarists also lose the income that they earn from their publications when discovered. As readers have to pay a subscription fee to access articles, books, and journals, they enable authors to earn from their published work. However, in cases of plagiarism, publishers are compelled to retract some publications, hence, denying plagiarists from earning income from their purported work. The analysis of articles in Cochrane Database and South African management journals by editors shows high levels of plagiarism (Rohwer, Young, Wager, & Garner, 2017; Thomas & Bruin, 2015). The findings imply that a significant proportion of authors are likely to lose income from articles they publish due to retraction. Also, as plagiarism infringes on intellectual property rights, legal suits by authors lead to monetary compensation. In this view, plagiarists lose not only their earnings but also money when they compensate authors.
Conclusion
Plagiarism is a grave academic offense that students and professionals commit when universities provide a favorable environment. Overall, plagiarism causes students, professionals, and universities to lose their respect and reputation, for it shows that they engage in or condone unethical academic practices. Plagiarism also diminishes the integrity of students, researchers, and universities in the labor market, the publishing industry, and the education system, respectively. Loss of income is another effect of plagiarism because employees lose their jobs and authors fail to earn from their publications while risking prosecution.
References
Doss, D. A., Henley, R., Gokaraju, B., McElreath, D., Lackey, H., Hong, Q., & Miller, L. (2016). Assessing domestic versus international student perceptions and attitudes of plagiarism. Journal of International Students, 6(2), 542-565.
Hong, S. T. (2017). Plagiarism continues to affect scholarly journals. Journal of Korean Medical Science, 32(2), 183-185.
Howard, S., Ehrich, J., & Walton, R. (2014). Measuring students perceptions of plagiarism: Modification and Rasch validation of a plagiarism attitude scale. Journal of Applied Measurement, 15(4), 372-393.
Johnstone, M. (2016). Academic dishonesty and unethical behavior in the workplace. Australian Nursing & Midwifery Journal, 23(11), 33-34.
Rohwer, A., Young, T., Wager, E., & Garner, P. (2017). Authorship, plagiarism, and conflict of interest: Views and practices from low/middle-income country health researchers. BMJ Open, 7(11), 1-10.
Rujoiu, O., & Rujoiu, V. (2014). Academic dishonesty and workplace dishonesty: An overview. Proceedings of International Management Conference, 8(1), 928-938.
Singh, S., & Remenyi, D. (2016). Plagiarism and ghostwriting: The rise in academic misconduct. South African Journal of Science, 112(6), 1-7.
Thomas, A., & Bruin, G. P. (2015). Plagiarism in South African management journals. South African Journal of Science, 111(2), 1-3.
Wong, S. S. H., Lim, S. W. H., & Quinlan, K. M. (2016). Integrity in and beyond contemporary higher education: What does it mean to university students? Frontiers in Psychology, 7(1094), 1-6.
The paper contains the necessary information that sheds light on the issue of plagiarism (Keiser University, n.d.). The primary aspect seems apparent – plagiarism is when an individual tries to represent somebody’s thoughts, ideas, and words as their own.
Discussion
Before watching this piece, I was acquainted with the essentials of the concept and what inconveniences it implies to many modern spheres – especially scholarly ones. However, I did not know that taking someone’s idea (even not a fundamental one) from a particular source and providing it in a completely different formulation and context would be considered plagiarism as well. Nevertheless, after taking my time, I concluded that such an approach to detecting plagiarism is reasonable. It is crucial to protect and promote significant ideas concerning an author’s efforts and originality. Nowadays, this does not seem like a great problem to implement, given the advanced frameworks for referencing and citing. Among them, APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard styles can be mentioned.
Today’s world is driven by original ideas that diversify humanity’s being and serve as a foundation for its continuous development. Under such circumstances, originality may be considered an essential phenomenon that should be inherent to people. For me, Figure 1 reflects the main feature of originality – it represents something unique and different from ordinary things. The image of the bulb made me perceive originality as a light that illuminates our path toward a bright future.
Conclusion
However, the price is to be paid; original people differ from the rest and often experience loneliness and feel that they are misunderstood. In the picture, the lit bulb shines among many other ones that are doomed to exist in the darkness of ignorance.
The desire to make things work faster, simpler and easier originates from the world we find ourselves in. Things are modeled to move much faster and in the process we try to imitate others with the desire to do things better or similar to what they have spent a lot of time perfectly put together. With the advent of information age brought about by internet, retrieval of information has become very fast and simple. The question that we should answer appropriately is that is it not the right time we re-think about the quality and the originality of our written works or are we less intelligent and lazier than those who have taken their time to do things right and original.
May be it is because we care less and we do not appreciate the role of originality and how much value our works would add to the fields under which we study. Students often find themselves plagiarizing a whole class assignment while they remain aware of the consequences of such academic thefts. The whole sad truth is that plagiarism is committed every minute and second not only by students but adults alike. The central question therefore is that why do people commit plagiarism. Can we positively address this question in the context of human behavior and feelings?
It is within our knowledge the role played by internet in our lives. The role of technological advances is to make work easier and simplify our lifestyle. It is rather sad that in some instances, the reverse occurs and others bear the negative gains of technological advances. We need time to have a deeper insight on the merits of the internet. We must create a balance between following the simpler and easier path of copy and paste and coming up with an original work.
Internet has made plagiarism so easy and so simple. In our attempt to remain in fashion and keep up with the times, we abuse the technological advances and commit academic thefts. Irresponsibility and laziness have caught up with us at disproportionate levels. The right processes of undertaking our assignments seem long and tedious. Researching, reviewing, criticizing, collecting and questioning have become very boring and unnecessary processes.
A major inherited trait and human behavior that has made plagiarism thrive in all our academic aspects is laziness. We do not have time to follow procedures and copy paste our work with the belief that we can make them look better within the shortest time possible.
More profound during school years, laziness contributes significantly to plagiarism. The growth patterns of humans from teenage to young adulthood are often characterized by higher degrees of laziness and the desire to let things work on their own accord. This explains the reason why plagiarism is mostly committed during our undergraduate years of study. Another reason for this is that the most common form of punishment in this period of study is always warning as opposed to prosecution in adults. A lazy student would rather escape with a warning than fail to completely submit an assignment in time.
Our feelings that relate directly to intense academic work and concentrated analysis and involve the use of brain is very poor. Human beings tend to take a lot of their time involved in leisurely thinking activities at the expense of activities that demand accurate answers such as addressing research questions. Our brains are designed in a way that we tend to concentrate more on things that are more appealing to us. Since our feelings are affected by our surroundings, we tend to give little attention to things that demand that we draw inferences, comparisons and analysis and in turn put more of our time and effort on simplified facts. This is one major reason why plagiarism using resources from the internet is more common. Online searches provide millions of analyzed and synthesized data and facts at the touch of a button.
The last reason as to why we find it easy to plagiarize than to come up with our original work is the human weakness to desire fame and wealth within a short time and using the shortest means. This explains why a good number of renowned academic, literary, song writers and producers have become victims of plagiarism. A good example is Mariah Carey and Friedman’s case. Globally known for her talent as singer, producer and song writer, she had to pay Friedman $1 million for producing his song without permission. Human beings fear the reality of being poor and as such would use every available means at their disposal to escape from poverty.
The reality however, is that it is easier to become rich using foul play in contrast to following the long path. Writing a book whose contents is stolen from another source while knowing that it would record huge sales volumes definitely would be tempting. A very good case of “stay famous, look talented and remains rich” while plagiarizing.
In conclusion, the question we must answer is that are we humans capable of using the internet appropriately while avoiding plagiarism. The fact remains that plagiarism is wrong and cannot be tolerated at whatever levels. My efforts here to explain this form of crime in the context of human behavior and feelings does not mean I support plagiarism if it happens within these reasons. We must have the ability as humans to effectively control our behaviors and feelings.
When writing a scientific article, the researcher is faced with the problem of selecting literature and presenting evidence to make the work weightier. A necessary step is to use previously established ideas and values and add relevant information to the article, but this must be done with care so as not to plagiarize one’s work. Plagiarism is the use, direct copy, or close imitation of another author’s language and thoughts and an attempt to issue it as one’s own (Plagiarism, 2022). That is considered a severe academic and intellectual impairment and can lead to negative consequences.
Recently, the issue of plagiarism among nurses has become increasingly relevant, as plagiarism affects the integrity of the bachelor’s degree. An academic work’s main example of copyright infringement can be the generalization of information from some source without indicating the author when adding this to one’s text. Citing without attributing the author is also considered ignoring the author’s research work. The grossest plagiarism is the verbatim copying and pasting of information from any source.
Copyright infringement and plagiarism detection in the work of a future medical officer is a breach of trust and can significantly affect a nurse’s future work. It questions the qualifications and professionalism of a person who may not take seriously in the future. Therefore, to avoid such negative consequences, I will follow citation rules in my academic work. For example, first and foremost, when using information from someone else’s work, I can issue a citation. In addition, I can paraphrase information from any source available to me and indicate the author of the work on which I based it. It will enhance my paper’s uniqueness and make me appreciate the work of others by the author. It is necessary to respect researchers and write according to the rules to avoid plagiarism in work.