Education Essay Example: Plagiarism and Its Consequences

Plagiarism is defined as the act of emulating other peoples ideas and using them in a manner that depicts that they formerly belonged to you. Consequently, plagiarism may pose dire consequences to ones profession and social life. For instance, plagiarism may lead to a professional being sacked and even failing to secure another conducive job, because the act paints a lousy picture of the individual (Blum, 2011). Nonetheless, the social repercussions of plagiarism are closely linked to its watertight legal policies. The absolute copyright rules forbid the use of another authors materials without adequately capturing the references and citations. Failure to comply with these laws renders one a criminal and punishable by the court of law.

Plagiarism is perceived as either intentional or unintentional after considering factors like age, and the nature of the offence. First, due to the tender age of an individual, he or she might unknowingly plagiarize a concept because of lack of adequate research skills. In most cases, a plagiarist of a tender age may fail to rewrite or even cite his or her work properly. On the other hand, according to Blum (2011), a junior or senior who has carried out numerous assignments on research ought to have adequate knowledge about plagiarism, in such cases, excuses should not be condoned. Also, the nature of the offence committed plays a centre role in judging plagiarism as intentional or not, using some words without understanding how the author used them creates a different feeling from failing to include quotation marks on an authors words.

Building an excellent professional reputation and credibility at the workplace requires several years but only seconds to thwart as any act of plagiarism at the workplace significantly damages ones reputation since it is seen as stealing. Moreover, appropriation demands ones honesty, taking credits for an idea belonging to a colleague in the workplace does not only create rivalry but also pave the way for alienation by another colleague who feels threatened to work in such environment. In most cases, the sole motive of professionals putting their reputation and credibility on the line by plagiarizing other peoples ideas and work is to fulfil desires like getting a promotion and earning respect among peers in the workplace for having come up with a great idea.

According to Blum, (2011), accidental plagiarism primarily occurs as a result of the writer or student failing to understand the rubrics of proper citation, referencing and rewriting of sentences. However, it is challenging to convince someone that you plagiarized accidentally. One would argue that trying to explain plagiarism as accidental is like mentioning that you accidentally stole something. Therefore, accidental plagiarism can never be proven.

References

Blum, S. D. (2011). My word!: Plagiarism and college culture. Cornell University Press.