Merritt Jomo Merritt Writing Assignment June 20, 2011

Outline

Merritt 1.0 Introduction

2.0

Definition of plagiarism

3.0

Why plagiarism is bad

4.0

Anti-plagiarism policy review in US and UK institution

5.0

Penalties imposed on students caught plagiarising

6.0

My opinion on the heavy plagiarism penalties

Merritt Penalties for plagiarism in US and UK academic institutions Plagiarism refers to the use of written works that belong to other authors as your own without getting consent from them or giving them credit for their efforts. When a writer fails to acknowledge the source of information through citation and effective

paraphrasing or deciding to write their own paper from scratch, it becomes illegal hence being referred to as plagiarism. In simple, plagiarism refers to taking credit to someones work. Plagiarism is a bad vice and should be discouraged at all levels. Plagiarism is a bad act because it leads to taking someone elses credit falsely. Plagiarism leads to students not developing their critical as well as objective organisation of ideas through research. Any student who is involved in plagiarism is actually cheating the examiners for they may not be actually gauging that students performance but rather the original authors work (Appleto 196). In the United States of America and the United Kingdom, educational institutions have taken the issue of plagiarism seriously by going an extra mile to put in place policies and laws that govern this vice in an attempt to wipe it out of the minds of learners. This is in sincere and lack of integrity in the learners who engage in cheating. It is also an act of disrespect to the owners of the original works whose efforts should be recognised as a way of thanking them for researching and coming up with their resourceful works. Through these rules, educational institutions have come up with ways of stumping out the practice and encourage the growth of sincerity amongst students who are expected to use ethically accepted ways of doing research for the assignments given to them (Joseph 21).

Merritt The institutions, through their policies have emphasized on the need to foster sound academic integrity by ensuring that the contribution brought about by other persons is acknowledged in a proper way especially for works that have been taken for publication or assessment (Clarke 91). Such citations should be done in accordance

with the standard referencing styles that have been established. This gives anyone who reads the work at a later stage, to make a follow-up to the referenced material hence the reason for insisting on proper citation as well as referencing. (Joseph 25). In an effort to ensure that the above is adhered to, the policies further emphasize that anyone caught breaching these rules faces severe punishment. The institutions also adhere to fraud policy and Data protection policy applicable in the country laws. They go an extra step to carefully analyse works submitted by students, with the intention of distinguishing between deliberate cheating and unintentional one before making a comprehensive decision on what to do next. The institutions constantly motivate their students on the importance of avoiding plagiarism at all costs in during their time in the institutions (Joseph 29) Several disciplinary measures have been developed in dealing with these cases since they have not been eliminated completely. This is done in an attempt to put in place anti-plagiarism culture in the respective institutions. Some of the measures include imposing fines on the culprits, expulsion from the institutions or even being demoted back several academic years. Furthermore, the institution may decide to withhold the degree being studied, cancel the degree completely and eventual expulsion, imposing heavy fines and loss of academic years by the students. The penalties are administered in several steps. Whenever the student commits the offense

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for the first time, the students parents or guardian is informed while that paper is scored for a zero grade leading the student to become ineligible for the coveted National Honour society (Appleto 199). When the student commits the offence for the second time, they can be suspended for three days where the guardians are called into the institution to conference the issues that are included in that specific offense as well as those in the past offence inclusively. The student may end up receiving a fail in the plagiarised paper or the entire course. In case the issue is very serious, the student is expelled from that institution. It is important to note that the penalties imposed on the offenders are administered after a careful review and consideration of the level of plagiarism in order for the penalty to be fair (Appleto 203) In my opinion, the heavy penalties imposed by the respective institutions are justified since i support the issue of originality and the need to acknowledge and appreciate other peoples efforts. When one presents plagiarised work with the aim of passing a particular course while other learners, it is unfair for it lowers the persons integrity as well as that of the institution. In conclusion, plagiarism is a dangerous vice that can lead to the end of ones academic career. It is therefore important to understand that every learner ought to develop the best research skills and have an appreciation of what other people have achieved before through extensive research and publication hence the need to acknowledge such efforts.

Merritt Works cited Appleto, Carroll and. Oxford Brookes University.Plagiarism: A Good practice Guide. Oxford: Information systems committee, 2001.

Clarke, Richard. "Plagiarism by academics: more complex than it seems." Journal of the association for information systems (2006): 91-121. Joseph, Gibaldi. MLA handbook For writers of Research papers. New york: The modern Language Association of America, 2003.