Problems of Plagiarism in Today's Universities

PLAGIARISM

Not long ago, plagiarism was known only to small group of students. Today, it is widely recognized as a world of its own. It has become a quickest mean to find a solution to any problem. Plagiarism or "wrongful appropriation" emerged in 18th century in England. Before the term was recognized, the authors in the previous centuries were encouraged to "copy the masters closely." Plagiarism in today's world has also taken its place in the media and journalism. It is not illegal but discouraged on moral grounds of "academic dishonesty." Plagiarism in 18th century was done to avoid the inventions of original ideas and not wasting time investing them. Plagiarism though not illegal but has severe effects on one's career as today's world is only "pleased" by original and creative ideas. Since, it has made a place in the media, where the audiences are always looking for something new, exciting and original plagiarism can have severe effects on someone's established careers in this competitive world.

PROBLEMS OF PLAGIARISM IN TODAY'S UNIVERSITIES

In present education world, plagiarism among students is creating quite a big problem which is faced by the universities. Apart from the students of schools and colleges, plagiarism highly prevails among the students of universities. Lack of appropriate knowledge among the students lead them to plagiarize material from different sources. Plagiarism can be an intentional or unintentional activity. But plagiarism is punishable both the ways. It is against the reputation of the university if the students submit their assignments which are plagiarized. The university has the right to penalize those students. Plagiarism makes the students lazy and decreases their level of creativity and analysis. This is why they are unable express their own thoughts and ideas and hence copy others' work and thoughts. The universities find it difficult to improve its level of education just because of plagiarism. Many modern universities use plagiarism detecting software to find out if the student has presented his own ideas or not. If the software detects the material is plagiarized then the students are penalized or asked re-submit the work again.

Plagiarism does not mean that one should not refer to other sources at all. One can refer to other sources but he should mention the reference from where it was sourced and whose idea or thought it was. If there is proper reference given for a quote or a paraphrase then it is not an act of plagiarism. For instance, a student is weak in his academic activities and he was given an assignment to be submitted in his own words. Since he was poor in his curriculum he used various sources to finish his project. He failed to mention any of the references he used in his assignment and submitted it. This is an act of plagiarism because