Plagiarism: A Basic Idea

Edited and Modified by Aadil.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1) Plagiarism essentially means the use of an original work without giving due credits to the author of that work.
2) Such use is both morally and legally wrong as the work of another individual is posed as one’s own.
3) Plagiarism of a copyrighted work can result in a copyright infringement if the author is not properly credited in the work.
4) Several methods to prevent plagiarism exist today, the most popular of which is the use of plagiarism detection tools that employ Artificial Intelligence to detect plagiarism in a work.

INTRODUCTION

In this information age where copying and cheating are fast becoming the easy way to complete projects and articles for many students across the world, the term plagiarism, its relevance, consequences, and other things related thereto become important to be defined. Plagiarism is now considered to be an academic sin by universities all across the world. The word ‘plagiarism’ comes from the Latin word ‘plagiare’ which means ‘to kidnap’. The boundary between plagiarism and research is often unclear. Learning to recognize the various forms of plagiarism, especially the more ambiguous ones, is an important step towards effective prevention. Many people think of plagiarism as copying another's work, or borrowing someone else's original ideas, but it is more than that.

MEANING OF PLAGIARISM

According to the Oxford Dictionary, plagiarism can be defined as taking someone else’s work and pretending it to be your own work. It is in fact more than simply copying someone else’s work. When students submit work purporting to be their own, but which in any way borrows ideas, organization, wording or anything else from another source without appropriate acknowledgment of the fact, the students are guilty of plagiarism. It even includes copying from unpublished works. Plagiarism is usually discovered by scholars and researchers during the continuance of their research work. Instances of plagiarism in today’s world of competition are ever increasing. One such case is when the popular historian Stephen Ambrose was accused of plagiarism on the basis of several passages from his books. The story made national news, and articles on Ambrose's use of sources and its implications for college students still continue to appear. A subsequent story involved Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin's copying from sources. Many such other cases have cropped up in the recent past.

TYPES OF PLAGIARISM

There can be different types of plagiarism on the basis of the degree to which the copying has been done. Firstly, there is "The Ghost Writer" in which the writer turns in another's work, word-for-word, as his or her own. This, in other words, is the verbatim copy of another person’s work. Secondly, there is "The Photocopy" in which the writer copies significant portions of text straight from a single source, without doing any alteration. Thirdly there is "The Potluck Paper" in which the writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different sources, altering a few sentences and paragraphs here and there to make them fit together while retaining most of the original phrasing. Another type of plagiarism is "The Self-Stealer" where the writer "borrows" generously from his or her previous works, thus violating policies concerning the expectation of originality adopted by most of the academic institutions. The common thread among all of the above types is that in all of the above the source of the original work is not cited.
 

Following are some types where although the sources are cited, yet they are said to have been plagiarized works. One of the most common of these is "The Forgotten Footnote". In this the writer mentions an author's name for a source, but neglects to include specific information on the location of the material referenced. This often masks other forms of plagiarism by obscuring source locations. Yet another type of these is "The Resourceful Citer". This is where the line between compiling and plagiarizing seems to be too thin to be noticed. The writer here properly cites all sources, paraphrasing and using quotations appropriately. But the catch is that the paper contains almost no original work. It is sometimes difficult to spot this form of plagiarism because it looks like any other well-researched document. And lastly, there is "The Misinformer". Here the writer provides inaccurate information regarding the sources, making it impossible for anyone interested in finding them at all.

Sometimes there are cases where even though the author has never read an article or the piece but has committed plagiarism unknowingly. One may choose to write on the same topic as the other but the odds are that he may even convey the same ideas and express them similarly in his paper also. If this does happen, it is highly unlikely that one will be accused of plagiarism. But one has to be definitely careful of accidental plagiarism where one could have read a piece and forgotten that he had actually read it somewhere. This is because if one’s ideas turn out to have been influenced by a source that you read but failed to cite for any reason, you could be guilty of plagiarism. Although there can be many such cases resulting in plagiarism, most of them cannot be proved to be illegal. This is because there lays a vast gap between plagiarism and copyright protection (which is protected under the law) though the former can be said to be a type of copyright infringement.

The Copyright Act makes a clear distinction between an ‘expression’ and an ‘idea’. While an expression is that which is protected by the law against copying, idea does not avail of any such cover. Here I would also like to bring out the difference between plagiarism and paraphrasing. It is extremely important to note that changing a few words from an original source does not qualify as paraphrasing. This is plagiarizing. A paraphrase must make significant changes in the style and voice of the original while retaining the essential ideas. Plagiarism can be said to be a combination of stealing and lying. It should be remembered that paraphrasing is also a type of plagiarism. Paraphrasing when the original statement is still identifiable and has no acknowledgement is plagiarism.

It is difficult to give accurate information on who plagiarizes. According to Walker, up to 90% of all students plagiarize in some universities. And there are several tools available which help in detecting plagiarism in a work. There is the JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service which is an online service and is available absolutely free of cost. If the source is suspected to be electronic, an advanced search on Google may prove useful for finding exact matches to a string of text.

PREVENTION OF PLAGIARISM AND EFFECTIVE TOOLS

Several ways exist for the purpose of preventing plagiarism, but the primary focus must be on ensuring that authors are aware of the detrimental effects that plagiarism has on their academic abilities. In a hurry to quickly finish off their work, authors often resort to copy pasting the work of other authors, which degrades their own ability to create original work by going through multiple sources and processing this information to contrive a new and authentic work. Authors who resort to plagiarism lose their ability to focus and cause decay to their working memory as it is no longer being used.

In recent times, Artificial Intelligence has seen a rise in popularity for its use in detecting plagiarism. Such tools that employ AI to detect plagiarism are now widely being used in academic institutions. One of the most popular examples of such a tool is Turnitin. Although these tools are widely popular in preventing plagiarism, they are not enough to make students conform to the rule of not resorting to plagiarism. The knowledge about properly citing sources is also important to ensure that the work of the original author does not go unnoticed.

The most important rule while creating an original work is to go through multiple sources to gain more information on the content that the author intends to publish, after which they may employ their skills to contrive such original work. Whenever any line from an original work is being quoted, the original author should be cited to ensure that they receive due credit for their work. Such citations should be given in the proper format to ensure that they point accurately towards the original work. Several systems of citation exist to ensure that every work is properly cited so that the original author receives their due credit and to ensure that the work is not flagged for plagiarism. An example of such a system for uniform citation is Bluebook.

The author can create a list of the sources from which their work is created, after which a page specifically for bibliography can be created. Care and diligence from the author to prevent is insufficient if the institution under whom the work is being created does not promote original work. All authors under an institution, whether academic or commercial, should be made aware of the consequences of plagiarism, along with the creation of strict rules against plagiarism that includes a penalty for the same.

ARISING LIABILITIES AND PENALTIES

Plagiarism might be viewed as a trivial issue until the penalties and liabilities that plagiarism impose on the perpetrator is taken into view. Penalties for plagiarism are often quite severe. Loss of reputation, whether academic or professional, is inevitable, along with monetary losses from the legal suits that were invited through this act.

All original literary works are copyrighted under the Copyright Act, 1957. If the content from an original literary work is used without crediting the original author, a copyright infringement is constituted, the punishments for which can be severe, including imprisonment and fine. This applies only to works that are protected from copyright under the Copyright Act.

A copyright infringement is only one of the legal consequences of plagiarism. An author who falsely represents the work of another as his own is essentially committing an act of fraud, the punishment for which under the penal laws in India is also of the severe kind. A dishonest intention to do the same also adds cheating to the list, further exacerbating the penalty.

These were the legal penalties that may be imposed on an individual who resorted to plagiarism, but the penalties and liabilities that may be imposed on them by their academic institution has not yet been taken into account. Academic institutions may impose a penalty that varies in its degree with respect to the extent of the plagiarism.

A student who was involved in plagiarism might be penalized by being expelled from their college or maybe given a low grade for such work, the rules for which vary from institution to institution. In the end, the academic and legal consequences of plagiarism may be the catalyst for the end of an author’s career.

CONCLUSION

Plagiarism can be prevented through a variety of ways, but the actual focus should be on raising awareness about the detrimental and degrading effects of plagiarism on today's youth. Plagiarism does not cause any physical harm to the author, but that does not mean that it should be considered a trivial issue. Students and writers who turn to plagiarism as a way to swiftly complete their work do not realize the degrading effects that it has on the student's psyche. They lose the ability to gather knowledge from multiple sources and formulate it in a way that helps convey their ideas effectively to the reader. Their working memory is also affected since it is no longer being used to create authentic and original work.

Plagiarism has again garnered public attention for multiple reasons,  but primarily due to the detrimental effects of Artificial Intelligence. As mentioned earlier, there are multiple ways to prevent plagiarism, but AI has seen an increase in popularity specifically in the field of plagiarism. Several tools that employ the unquestionable usability of Artificial Intelligence in the field of plagiarism detection have helped them gather public fame. They received the most attention from academic institutions that make use of these tools to make students adhere to their rules on authentic work. But the use of a plagiarism detector will not suffice in upholding the academic integrity of students; they should instead be made aware of the detrimental effects of plagiarism. Proper citation methods must also be taught to students to ensure that they are not accidentally involved in plagiarism and instead properly credit the original author from whom they borrowed the information.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1)    What is plagiarism?
ANS: Plagiarism refers to the use of an original work in one’s own work without giving due credit to the author of that original work. There are multiple types of plagiarism, from directly copy-pasting a work to paraphrasing the contents of an original work.

2)    Can not giving credits to the author of an original work amount to copyright infringement?
ANS: If an author uses the content of an original copyrighted work without giving due credits to its author, then such use shall be deemed as an infringement of the copyright of that work, the punishment for which shall vary from imprisonment to a fine or both.

3)    Why is plagiarism harmful to students?
ANS: Plagiarism destroys a student’s ability to gather information from multiple sources and use that information to contrive a new work that expresses the intention and ideas of the author. In essence, it deteriorates a student’s ability to create an original work.

4)    How can we prevent plagiarism?
ANS: Plagiarism detection softwares exists in the market that employ Artificial Intelligence to detect plagiarism from literary works. Such tools are generally used by academic institutions to deter students from resorting to plagiarism and such other methods. Students and authors of such literary works should also be taught to properly cite an author and their original work when using content from that work. They should be made well aware of the deteriorating effect that plagiarism has on a person.

5)    What should be kept in mind while citing an original work?
ANS: Always employ uniform citation methods like Bluebook to cite a work. Such citations should be created in accordance with the rules prescribed in the citation methods so that they accurately point towards the original work.