Among journalists and researchers, plagiarism is considered as a mortal sin. The act of plagiarizing the work of any author is a serious offense that can be penalized by dismissal or pecuniary fine. In order to write and be paid without any penalties for plagiarism, it would be advisable to be freshened up by the guidelines of plagiarism.

From the Latin word “plagiare” which means to kidnap”, the word plagiarism was created. From the Oxford Dictionary, the word plagiarism is defined as the act of copying another author’s work to appear as it was an original work of the one who copied. Plagiarism can be best illustrated by a student who copied another author’s wordings, concepts or ideas without citing or acknowledging the sources.

Today, plagiarism has taken into many phases and is punishable by serious penalties. Plagiarism in academe is considered as an academic fraud which can be penalized by academic censure or expulsion from school. Plagiarism in journalism which is reporting that of the other reporter’s report falls as a violation of journalistic ethics which is punishable by suspension or termination.

Plagiarism comes in many forms. If the writer copies the words of another author verbatim, this is known as “Ghost Writer.” Another form of plagiarism is “The Photocopy” wherein a writer duplicates a considerable percentage of text directly from a single source, without making changes.

Using multiple sources, changing several sentences and paragraphs but keeping the original format is another form of plagiarism and is called the “Potluck Paper.” The act of copying excerpts of the previous works or commonly known as “The Self-Stealer” is also a form of plagiarism as it violates policies on originality. The bottom line of all forms of plagiarism is the failure to acknowledge the sources.

Plagiarism perse can be considered stealing or likened to a crime of theft, but the person violating it is not considered as a criminal because the writer is not liable criminally in any courts and even before the common law. One, who plagiarized, however, can be civilly liable after a suit has been filed in civil proceedings. Plagiarism can fall as a violation of several laws such as copyright law, unfair competition, and doctrines of moral and intellectual rights.

In the prevention of plagiarism, the participation of both individual and institution is needed. Among individual writers, preparing original papers or citing the authors of the text copied is their responsibility. Institutions, on the other hand, have the responsibility of laying down rules and instituting penalties among violators in order to prevent individuals from committing plagiarism.

Due to the concerns of plagiarism, online software tools to detect plagiarized works such as Copyscape and Turnitin have been proliferated. There have also been moves in initiated in order to limit online copying. A deep understanding about what plagiarism is an effective tool in avoiding plagiarism.

For more about the Psychology of Plagiarism, visit Psychology Fitness, a source for many psychology topics. Monique Bocelli is a freelance writer.

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