Many students and professionals commit a criminal act when writing papers by plagiarizing. Plagiarism comes in various forms, ranging from writing to singing, and people are often aware that they are plagiarizing through these exercises. Merriam-Webster defines plagiarism as “to use the words or ideas of another person as if they were your own words or ideas.” Some instances of plagiarism are unintentional, or accidental; for instance, people plagiarize because they do not know how to properly cite a source or are unaware that they must do so. On the contrary, some plagiarism is intentional, or malicious; malicious plagiarism is often the result of a writer looking for the easiest and quickest way to complete a task or assignment and resorting
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In “Student Identification Of Academic Cheating Typology And The Link To Shoplifting Motivation,” Shanahan and company reference “Plagiarism is the act of wrongfully taking, or stealing, information belonging to others, comparable to shoplifting and stealing goods that belong to someone else (Singhal and Johnson 1983)” (Shanahan, et al. 164). Studies such as this have revealed the robust link between plagiarism, as well as other forms of cheating, and criminal behavior, including evidence concluding from the psychological similarities of the two. The researchers compare the possible motivations of both, finding that they are similar in many aspects. The approach of bringing more originality to assignments from instructors would teach students to think for themselves, thus reducing the rate of spontaneous crimes, such as theft. While theft is defined as the stealing of another’s physical property, plagiarism is defined as stealing the thoughts or ideas of someone else (Merriam-Webster). If students are forced to find and develop their own original ideas because of unique assignments given by instructors, rather than easily being able to use someone else’s ideas and research, they would be more apt to finding their own products and means of production as opposed to stealing products from someone else. Just as teaching a student proper citation methods does not prevent him or her from using ideas found on the internet with no credit, teaching a citizen that theft is morally wrong and illegal will not prevent everyone from shoplifting. As the results depicted in the study at Rutgers University revealed, many students are aware of the fact that they are plagiarizing, and that the act is wrong, both morally and, in some cases, legally, meaning that they are doing so intentionally. Students are being taught proper citation techniques,
In “Student Identification Of Academic Cheating Typology And The Link To Shoplifting Motivation,” Shanahan and company reference “Plagiarism is the act of wrongfully taking, or stealing, information belonging to others, comparable to shoplifting and stealing goods that belong to someone else (Singhal and Johnson 1983)” (Shanahan, et al. 164). Studies such as this have revealed the robust link between plagiarism, as well as other forms of cheating, and criminal behavior, including evidence concluding from the psychological similarities of the two. The researchers compare the possible motivations of both, finding that they are similar in many aspects. The approach of bringing more originality to assignments from instructors would teach students to think for themselves, thus reducing the rate of spontaneous crimes, such as theft. While theft is defined as the stealing of another’s physical property, plagiarism is defined as stealing the thoughts or ideas of someone else (Merriam-Webster). If students are forced to find and develop their own original ideas because of unique assignments given by instructors, rather than easily being able to use someone else’s ideas and research, they would be more apt to finding their own products and means of production as opposed to stealing products from someone else. Just as teaching a student proper citation methods does not prevent him or her from using ideas found on the internet with no credit, teaching a citizen that theft is morally wrong and illegal will not prevent everyone from shoplifting. As the results depicted in the study at Rutgers University revealed, many students are aware of the fact that they are plagiarizing, and that the act is wrong, both morally and, in some cases, legally, meaning that they are doing so intentionally. Students are being taught proper citation techniques,