After 10 years of tertiary-level education, something that still confuses me is plagiarism. The definition of plagiarism seems clear, “plagiarize” means to “steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own”, “use (another's production) without crediting the source”, “to commit literary theft”, “present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source” (Merriam-Webster online dictionary).
Throughout our school and work career we have been threatened by the consequences of plagiarism:
These consequences are relatively easy to enforce if they happen internally within an institution or you have a lot of money. There still lies challenges in the quantification of plagiarism. What percentage of stealing, use or theft needs to occur before someone deserves to face the consequences of their actions?
The focus of this blog post is a review on the types of plagiarisms, different free plagiarism tools, a comparison of two masters thesis and concludes with an open question of is it plagiarism or not?
Throughout our school and work career we have been threatened by the consequences of plagiarism:
- Expelled from your course
- Your work being discredited
- Expulsion from your academic institution
- Legal consequences
These consequences are relatively easy to enforce if they happen internally within an institution or you have a lot of money. There still lies challenges in the quantification of plagiarism. What percentage of stealing, use or theft needs to occur before someone deserves to face the consequences of their actions?
The focus of this blog post is a review on the types of plagiarisms, different free plagiarism tools, a comparison of two masters thesis and concludes with an open question of is it plagiarism or not?