Running head: UNDERSTANDING OF PLAGIARISM 1

Understanding of Plagiarism

Cong Li

California State University, Monterey Bay

Date:

IST 522 Instructional Technology

Dr. Tourtellotte
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Understanding of Plagiarism

In academic fields, plagiarism leads to serious consequences. Therefore, it is important to

understand the definition and scope of plagiarism. Plagarism.org website defines plagiarism as

copying words, ideas or other forms of media from other people or sources without accurately

and properly giving credit to the original owner (“What is Plagiarism,” 2017).

Elements of Plagiarism

From this definition, we can see that plagiarism is not limited to copying the exact words

from someone. It is considered plagiarism if you use other people’s ideas without properly

giving credit to them. In addition, other forms of work, such as music, image, or video, are also

protected from illegal copying.

Culture Influence

Different cultures may have different interpretation of plagiarism. In some countries, it is

a popular phenomenon to copy information from the website without proper citation and

reference. Everyone knows plagiarism is bad, but people may unintentionally plagiarize due to

cultural acceptance. Take China as an example, piracy issues regarding multimedia products and

brand name items are widespread. The government does not enforce the related laws, which

results in people unaware of the seriousness of this infringement. Another example is how

Chinese people are taught at schools. From an early age on, they are taught to memorize facts,

sayings, texts, comments, etc. They never get a chance to develop critical thinking skills or freely

express their opinions. Consequently, essays or papers are largely copied from others or

memorized information without citing the source.

Self-Plagiarism
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Self-plagiarism is self-explanatory. It means copying from yourself. For example, if you

write a paper for one course and then using the same paper for another course without notifying

the professors, it is considered self-plagiarism.

Solution

The first step to avoid plagiarizing is to understand the definition of plagiarism. By doing

some research, it is not hard to find examples of plagiarism. After getting a clear picture of what

plagiarism means, it is important to learn how to do in-text citation and references correctly.

There are three common ways to use your resources without plagiarising. Direct quotation means

coping a phrase or a short sentence word-by-word with quotation marks. Paraphrasing needs to

avoid using the same structure or too many of the original wording (Jerman, 2012). Summarizing

is the best way to set up the foundation of your arguments or comments. All three methods can

provide the necessary reference you need and lead you away from plagiarism. Lastly, practice

makes perfect. When in doubt, you should consult your professors.

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References

Jerman B. ( 2012, June 24). Retrieved from https://writingcommons.org/open-text/research-

methods-methodologies/integrate-evidence/summarize-paraphrase-sources/692-when-to-

quote-and-when-to-paraphrase

What is plagiarism? (2017, May 18). Retrieved from https://www.plagiarism.org/article/what-is-

plagiarism