Plagiarism in Academia: Types, Causes, Consequences, and the Way Forward

It is very common these days for students and respected scholars to steal other people's work, ideas or arguments and publish them as their own without giving due credit to the original authors. Our desire for undue recognition or to be seen as intellectuals has also led us to copy and paste copyrighted materials. Perhaps this is happening because of our little or lack of understanding of the extent of this crime. Therefore, as you will see shortly, this article will explore what plagiarism means and how we can help tackle it in our academia.

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First, let's deepen our understanding of the word plagiarism. This term was derived from the Latin word "plagiarius," which means "kidnapper." As early as the first century, famous poets accused fellow poets of "kidnapping their [poem] verses." That's when the term first came into existence. According to Stanford University, it is the "use of another person's original work without due and proper acknowledgment of the author or the source." Additionally, Brown University defines plagiarism as "submitting someone else's work as your own by substituting part of the work or reusing part of previous work – including your own – without proper citation." Regardless of how you copied from your sources, if you do not credit the authors, you have committed a serious academic offense that can cripple your reputation.

But before that, let's enrich ourselves with the four most common ways of committing plagiarism: Direct, self, mosaic, and accidental plagiarism.

For example, direct plagiarism occurs when the plagiarist copies from others without citing or paraphrasing the copied text. In other words, direct plagiarism is when one copies the work of others "word-for-word" or "verbatim" without any changes or due attribution.

 

Although scholars have divergent views on self-plagiarism because many of them believe that plagiarism happens when one steals from "external sources" and not his. However, this does not imply the action is justifiable academically. Therefore, self-plagiarism is when writers use their previous works in new ones, perhaps with a few changes,  without citing them just because they are the original authors.

On the other hand, mosaic plagiarism occurs when a writer borrows ideas from different sources and merges them into an entirely new idea as if they are the original authors. Copyleak's blog simplifies it as the "author's failure to give due credit to the online [sources] of the original work." Therefore, if you find yourself committing this, you are being academically dishonest.

Similarly, accidental plagiarism is closely associated with mosaic. Here, the writer commits plagiarism when he/she uses somebody else’s work “unintentionally.” Again, please note the word "unintentional;” hence the law is stringent: accidental use of another person's work without the appropriate citation is as good as plagiarism.

Admittedly, there are many factors influencing plagiarism in our world today. Each setting has its unique circumstances. But reportedly, plagiarism penetrates our society because of our laziness to stay committed and do what we are supposed to do. In some cases, it is a result of the needless influence of our lecturers.

For example, project supervisors at tertiary institutions tend to force their students to choose research topics based on what the supervisor wants them to work on, while the students in question have their preferred research topics. As a result, you would see "frustrated" students paying people to do their homework. Most of the time, the people paid to do the said work will shamelessly copy from others without due credits. This is seriously alarming and is happening in our universities.

Again, we know from our psychology that the feeling of inferiority is another factor that drives students and scholars to plagiarize somebody else's work. For example, Floora Janet, a Ph.D. scholar at the University of Cagliari, Italy said that "... lack of confidence or an inferiority complex about one's work can lead one to imitate others." Also, the way we make fun of our colleagues simply because they have done something below average makes them feel exposed and lonely "to take refuge in copying someone else's rather than striving to constantly improve their writing,” she added.

By now, you should know that plagiarism in all its facets is a serious academic offense and is therefore severely punishable by the law. It is a criminal offense and should be avoided at all costs. Penalties for the defaulters can include expulsion from school, rejection of the research project, fines, and, in critical cases, imprisonment. In addition, plagiarism causes lifelong embarrassment, and the culprits will end up damaging their academic integrity. This is just what this article can list.

Now, where's the hope? Well, the solutions are not far-fetched. To be honest, we need to go back and fight it using a bottom-up approach. For instance, we must introduce plagiarism education into our elementary and tertiary education curricula. Because for us to produce intellectual graduates from our universities, we must prioritize tackling plagiarism. At home, parents should ensure their children are guided and encouraged to do their homework as they should.

Likewise, lecturers, teachers, and project supervisors should monitor their protégés. Lecturers should be able to thoroughly review their students' homework and project reports. This will keep the students on their feet to do the right thing. Also, the school management should provide modern plagiarism detection tools like Turnitin to combat this endemic effectively. Furthermore, students and the general public should learn to correctly cite their sources. In addition, the students should be allowed to choose research topics in the last year of their studies without being subject to conditions imposed by their supervisors. This will increase innovation, efficiency, and enthusiasm and, above all, curb plagiarism in academia.

 

In summary, our desire for fame by infringing on other people's copyrighted materials is, without a doubt, despicable. Both inside and outside of academia, plagiarism is a blatant violation of intellectual property laws. In this article, we have seen what plagiarism is all about and the possible ways of combating it. Now, it's up to us to get rid of these boisterous charlatans among us and guide those who unintentionally commit plagiarism.

In conclusion, I hope this article can bring back plagiarism to the limelight and the world to see what it is. In the same vein, I am pleading with all of us, budding and established writers, to avoid citing and paraphrasing inappropriately or not giving due credit to our external sources. There is nothing more significant than a respected personality. And perfection is an attribute of God. Therefore, let us do our best to always be as authentic as possible and rid the academic community of plagiarism.

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Thank you for reading and see you next time.