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Plagerism Means More than Copying the Written Word Essay

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Plagiarism, what is it? Webster’s defines plagiarism as “wrongful appropriation, purloining and publication of another author's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions, and the representation of them as one's own original work”.

Now some would argue that in order to truly plagiarize someone else’s work they have to be a copy written author. This how ever is not true from an academic point of view. Plagiarism covers so much more, i.e.; using unauthorized notes during a test, copying answers from another student during a test, downloading information such as text, computer code, artwork, or graphics from the internet and presenting it as you’re work without acknowledgment, copying from others during a work group and even …show more content…

First thing a student can do is manager their time, by organizing their time and sticking to the schedule they create and in itself be the most powerful tool in avoiding plagiarism. Other things you should do are make sure you understand exactly what plagiarism is, make sure they know what their college or university deems plagiarism, for some might be more broad scoped than others. Also if they don’t understand how or what to cite while writing they should get help in any form they can, most institutions have writing centers online and tutors available to assist, all one has to do is ask.

My key take away from module 5 is that in today’s technologically advance world there are more ways than ever for a student to slip into the plagiarism trap and honestly not know it. Reading a few other articles on plagiarism such as “The Plague of Plagiarism: Academic Plagiarism Defined” by Irving Hexham, Department of Religious Studies, University of Calgary, I actually see where a student could still be confused as to what to cite or not to cite as there are some scholars who believe that if you can find the same information used in more than three places then you don’t have to cite, and yet there are others who say if more than five places you don’t have to cite. Bottom line here is if a student reads and understands their institutions guidelines on plagiarism and manages their time well, there should never be a reason any student should fall into the plagiarism trap.

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