Self Plagiarism.

This is when an individual submits his

previous piece of work or combines
parts of his previous works for credit
in another assignment without
permission from the professor who
received the work. It also applies to
when a student submits the same piece
of work for projects given by different
persons without their permission to do
so. In the academic world, it is
assumed that once you submit a work,
you no longer own it.
“Just because you wrote a paper doesn’t mean you can use it
again. This is also called “recycling.” Once you have turned in a
paper to one professor or teacher, you are not allowed to use it
for another class or the next year. By not coming up with new
ideas, this is cheating. You can take the same work or idea (after
discussing it with your professor), but you must do more
research and write the paper over and include new ideas or
expand an old one”.

Study Skills and Training Centre. University of Oxford. 2017.

Accidental Plagiarism.
This occurs when an individual
forgets or neglects to quote his source
of information, misquote his source or
unintentionally paraphrases the work
of another by using similar words
without giving any form of credit to
the owner of the work. It is more
obvious if you cited all along, but have
one or two items that you did not cite.
The fact that it is accidental does not
exempt the offender from plagiarism
consequences and is taken seriously as
other types of plagiarism.
WHAT ARE THE
CAUSES
OF
PLAGIARISM?
THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is considered an extremely serious academic offence,
(academic dishonesty or fraud) therefore, the penalties, which
vary according to institutions, include:
Getting a zero or failing an assignment or getting a low grade.
Not being promoted to the next academic standard or level.
Making the offender to be on Academic Probation.
Suspension or expulsion from an educational institution especially
if the offender has been caught before. The offender may not be
able to get a university degree afterwards as universities or colleges
may not want to admit a person with a record of such offence.
Legal punishment such as suing the offender.
Imprisonment in some cases; one year or more.
Penalizing the offender by making him compensate for the
loss of profit of the original writer ranging from $100 and
$50,000
Termination of employment if it’s in the professional
world.
Loss of credibility and perceived integrity.
To avoid plagiarism intentionally or otherwise, you must do the following:
Summarise and paraphrase(putting it in your own word and in your own
understanding) resource materials appropriately.
Use quotation marks correctly by giving credit to the concerned writer or
the source of information.
Give proper documentation both in-text and on the reference page by using
the APA style. For example:
The article, “It’s So Not Cool” reports that even though some churches argue
bottled water should not be sold, “no amount of righteous talk is about to wean
people away”.(Kingston, 2007, p. 38)
Kingston, A. (2007, May 14). It’s Not So Cool. Maclean’s 120(18)
Increase awareness about the consequences of plagiarism as some people
are still taking this offence for granted. This will help people to become
responsible and help them abide by intellectual integrity.
Research and read different sources so that the ideas of experts
can help you gain an in depth understanding of a subject matter
or a topic. That way, you will write freely from your
understanding, using your own words.

Appropriate penalties need to be served to offenders, and the

penalties can be increased to let people know it’s a serious offence

On the whole, Plagiarism is a serious academic crime which the

consequences far out weigh the advantages. Therefore, do not let a
little moment of “unintentional” irresponsibility or carelessness
rob you of your entire academic, and promising professional career.

Note: Most academic institutions usually use “Plagiarism Detection

Software” so as to deter students from plagiarism.