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Effects of Plagiarism

Introduction

Hall (1) defines Plagiarism as a form of scholarly deceit where a person duplicates the work of others and hand it in as his or her own. This academic vive can take various forms that include: failure to correctly quote other person’s work used as a source in academic writing i.e. lack of quotation marks, failure to correctly reference the sources of paraphrased academic work and lastly, plagiarism constitute direct copying and/or changing the order of words in sentences even if the work is correctly referenced. Plagiarism is caused by a number of factors and key among them is loop holes in schools’ and colleges’ systems. Some have no strict rules to curb this vice hence encouraging the students to copy the assignments. This paper is going to asses the effects of plagiarism on students, graduates, learning environment, effects of plagiarism later in life and lastly effects on other professionals.

Effects on students

Learning institutions discourage plagiarism by their students. Students found guilty of committing this academic dishonesty or rather fraud and punished. The severity of the punishment ranges from an academic warning to being failed the course for which they plagiarized suspension and finally they can be kicked out of school or college (Munger, 2)

Effects on graduates

Factiodz.com (1) adds that plagiarism may lead to withdrawal of certificates of guilty graduates to by schools and colleges. This is the case with faculty members in colleges and other learning institutions found to have committed plagiarism. For example, lecturers may loose their job and dignity accorded to them as professionals. Lastly in relation to the above, schools, colleges and other learning institution whose students and staff commits plagiarism are prone to lose their good reputation in the eyes of the public.

Effects on the learning environment

Plagiarism has negative effect on the learning process by students in schools. Various punishments to students guilty of plagiarism damage the good relationship between students and their tutors. This results from a situation where by lecturers are forced to assume the role of a police in investigating and bringing students who commit plagiarism to book. This kind of relationship between the teachers and students is not conducive for learning as distrust replaces academic inquisitiveness and confidence. Besides the student- teacher relationship, student to student relationship that is also very important in a learning environment is also compromised (Hall, 2)

Effects on the lives of students

Additionally, Munger (3) asserts that plagiarism kills the students’ and other scholars’ ability to think creatively and critically. Creativity and critical thinking are two processes that are very vital for academic success. These are also very important for survival in the long run. Plagiarism therefore has a negative effect on the creativity of students and this is prone to haunt and hurt them later in their lives. This is because students who plagiarize fails to develop into responsible citizens and may also lack adequate knowledge required for them to work in their respective professions (Factiodz.com, 2)

Effects on other professionals

Munger (4) says plagiarism has negative impact on the lives of other professionals. First, journalists who plagiarize their work may be sued and charged among other disciplinary measures if found guilty of plagiarism in their work. They also stand to loose their certificate of practice. Plagiarism may amount to copyright infringement; this two are closely related and they are both punishable if one is found guilty. In the UK and the United States of America, any writing should not comprise up to a quarter of another persons work. Professors and other scholars found to have done plagiarism in course of their work are liable to loss of tenure and probably loss of employment. They may also be striped the professorship.

Conclusion

Plagiarism is an academic crime that involves direct copying and presenting of other people’s work as our own. It is commonly committed by students in various learning institutions in the course of writing class assignments. Plagiarism is usually punishable depending on its extent and as a result, it may affect the victim in a number of ways. These include being failed in a course and being kicked out of school or college rendering one a “drop out”. Plagiarism also negatively affects people in different professions e.g. journalists. Journalists among other professionals are liable to legal punishment if found guilty of plagiarism. This may include a legal fine and loss of certificate of practice.

Work Cited

Hall, Shane. “Effects of Plagiarism on Education.” 18 Feb. 2011. Web. < http://www.ehow.com/list_6075742_effects-plagiarism-education.html>

Munger, Dave. “The effect of plagiarism on the plagiarist” 18 Feb. 2011. Web. < http://wordmunger.com/?p=136 >

Factiodz.com.” Plagiarism What It is Its Effects and What the Law Has to Say about It.” 18 Feb. 2011. Web. < http://factoidz.com/plagiarism-what-it-is-its-effects-and-what-the-law-has-to-say-about-it/>