Plagarism

[sayala]

What is so bad about plagarism?

[Ouisch]

It's a form of theft. You're stealing someone else's words and putting your name on them. And it doesn't matter if the plagiarist is getting paid or not; to writers, proper credit is almost as important as a royalty check.

[Naamplao]

What is so bad about plagarism?

In addition to what Ouisch said (and I agree with him 100%) Would you feel good if everyone praised your work...when it is not in fact your own work? What satisfaction is there in that? It can become potentially embarrassing since it is relatively easy to find out if you have plagiarized a document. As a teacher, it is not hard to spot since the voice of your writing would not sound normal to a teacher. Once it has been determined that you stole ideas and words from someone else then you will have a tarnished reputation. My reputation is something that I treasure personally.

[sayala]

as a teacher How can you tell when a document have been plagiarized? how can you determine?
I am 300% agree with both of you, but if I need some info from the web site and then added to my assignment how can it be plagiarized? can you explain it to me

Thanks

[Ouisch]

I a particular student usually turns in papers that read: "I like dogs. Dogs are nice." suddenly turns one in that says: "Chicago is a thriving megalopolis situatied on the banks of Lake Michigan.", then it's pretty obvious that he has copied the Chicago essay from somewhere. It's completely contrary to his usual style, and uses words beyond his normal vocabulary and it will raise red flags for the teacher.

If several students turn in essays or papers that are very similar to one another in style and wording, that's another indication that some of them might have copied the information directly from a book or the Web.

There's nothing wrong with using reference materials for your work, but you should never copy the information word for word. You must put the information into your own words. If the encyclopedia says, "Chicago is a thriving megalopolis situatied on the banks of Lake Michigan," you can change it to say "Chicago is a large city located on the Lake Michigan shoreline" and it won't be considered plagiarism. You've put the text into your own words.

[sayala]

Thank you so much, that help understanding you have a clear example on how not to do plagiarism. Greatly appreciated