Understanding Plagiarism
The links on the right provide an in-depth explaination into what constitutes plagiarism. We provide it as an informational guide for you to be certain you understand the complexity of plagiarism issues. Statistics supporting the idea that incidents of plagiarism are increasing in frequency are presented, and the idea that new technologies may have contributed to the increase is explored. Written from the optimistic perspective that plagiarism can be minimized if sufficient information is provided to students and other writers, the paper defines important terms and offers guidelines for determining when to quote and when to paraphrase. Additionally, the concept of common knowledge is explored.
Plagiarism in academia is a misrepresentation of the authorship of someone else’s work.  As for written work, Copyright law allows that once original text is written, copyright protects it.  This allows an author to sell, lease or use her original material in any way she deems appropriate.  Any writer, who willingly copies or uses another’s written work in any way without proper acknowledgement, puts himself at risk of dire consequences. He may also jeopardize the original author’s credibility and/or financial opportunities.