Plagiarism

“The Danger of Plagiarism”Name
Date
Institution
The Danger of Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined as “the presentation of someone else’s work as your own” (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2015). In other words, this pertains to the act of using or stealing someone else’s idea. This serious academic offense usually happens among postgraduate students. In a survey conducted by Attwood (2008), there is about 1.9% of the student population in postgraduate and 0.67% in undergraduate are guilty of plagiarism case. This rising rate pushed some authors to regard this case as something “endemic” (Roberts, 2007) and “spreading like a flu” (Schroth, 2012). Academic institutions should adopt the stricter process of detecting plagiarism and harsher policies to students who will be found guilty to alleviate the case.
There are many factors that account to the rise of plagiarism case in many universities. One factor is the lack of apt treatment for students found guilty. There seems a direct relationship between penalties and plagiarism. Attwood (2008) mentioned that “larger universities with less selective admissions policies have higher rates of student plagiarism and apply less severe penalties than their more selective counterparts.” This research suggests that penalties for plagiarism vary according to the type of academic institution. Thus, it is important that schools adopt harsher policies to alleviate plagiarism cases. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University that student who is found guilty faces consequence from “the loss of credit for a course to expulsion from school”.

In this way, students will be more aware of how serious and grave plagiarism is.
Another factor that accounts to the rise of plagiarism case is the lack of knowledge of students about this offense. For instance, the survey conducted by Duke University revealed that 77% of students did not regard plagiarism as a serious offense (Roberts, 2007). This implies that the students lack knowledge and practice about the danger of plagiarism. Perhaps, universities should start incorporating course that will aim to educate the students how to avoid plagiarism and what sanctions wait to those who will commit it. By letting them aware of the what’s, why’s, and how’s of plagiarism, there will be no more excuse to commit such academic crime.
Technology plays a major role in detecting plagiarism. Prior to the advent of technology, educators had a hard time judging the student’s work. The process of “uncovering plagiarism demands effort” (Schroth, 2012). Fortunately, the introduction of computers and internet aids the teachers to check the papers of students. Educators can take advantage to downloadable programs on the internet. For instance, Roberts (2007) highlighted the importance of Turnitin in detecting plagiarism to the students’ works. This program allows the teacher to run the student’s work to an application, which “highlights matching passages and provides the sources” (Roberts, 2007). This efficient way of checking also provides an electronic report, which can be printed and handed as evidence to students who will be found guilty. It is encouraged that teachers should use this application or other plagiarism detector programs on the internet to help alleviate the case of plagiarism.
Education is a bridge to attain one’s goal. Thus, it is appropriate to seriously take this process in order to graduate with merit. Plagiarism is evidently a serious case, which allows the students to steal one’s information. This may lead to losing credit to the course or worse, the expulsion of students to the university. It is also important that schools adopt harsher policies and educate students regarding plagiarism. Further, the use of technology is also deemed helpful in detecting and alleviating the case of plagiarism.

References
Attwood, R. (2008). 143 Students Expelled for Plagiarism. The Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/402351.article on 8 April 2015.
Roberts, J. (2007). Technology Sniffs Out Student Plagiarism. CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/technology-sniffs-out-student-plagiarism/ on 8 April 2015.
Scrotch, R. (2012). The Plagiarism Plague. America. Retrieved from http://americamagazine.org/print/150525 on 8 April 2015.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2015). Plagiarism. VirginiaTech. Retrieved from http://info-skills.lib.vt.edu/using_info/2.html on 8 April 2015.