Plagiarism and the Internet :: Cheating School Education Essays

Plagiarism and the Internet Herman Melville once stated, But it is better to drop in originality than to succeed in imitation. (http//koti.mbnet.fi/neptunia/creativity/origin1.htm 5). Thousands of Americans would assert that Melville was a very wise author, and even more would attest that they too believe that cheating is rail at why is it then that over a century after his death, our society has pass even more intent on plagiarizing the works of others? Frankly, as succession has gone on, it has just become incredibly easy for people to plagiarize, especially now when ideas are so easily accessible on the internet. In swan to truly understand this unauthorized use of others hard work, it is important to explore the idea of plagiarism, laws concerning plagiarism, and this new overwhelming abundance of information on the web. Foremost, plagiary is the use of some other person or organization ideas, words, or creations without giving credit where it is d ue. Not only is plagiarism wrong, it is also on the rise. According to a study make in the Free Press in 1996, 58 percent of high school students admitted to having let another person copy their work in 1969, duration twenty years later, 98 percent let someone else copy their work (http//www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism_stats.html 4). There is very likely a direct correlation amidst this outrageous increase and the increase in the availability of information on the web. Many students may even be plagiarists without knowing it It is extremely easy to become lazy and forget to give credit where it is due by using citations in papers. Very often, students may also feel that they cannot word what an author has already said as well as it was said in the first place therefore, they choose to just use the original author words without quoting correctly, sometimes without giving the author any credit at all (http//www.umf.maine.edu/library/plagiarism/what_is.html 4). Plagiarism is j ust as huge of a problem in schools as it is in the real world. Not only is the act of plagiary ethically wrong it is also considered a very serious academic crime. Everyone knows that it is wrong to take away something from another person, but oftentimes people just don seem to want to lump plagiarism in the same category with other venomous acts.