Plagiarism is often equated to terms such as “copying” and also to “borrowing”. To be more specific, plagiarism to most is just copying a classmate’s assignment or just borrowing the brilliant concept of an officemate. But plagiarism means more than that. “Copying” and “borrowing” are understatements of what plagiarism really is.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary states the meaning of “to plagiarize” as:

• to commit literary theft
• claiming other people’s ideas and words
• to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source
• using other people’s work without giving credit

Plagiarism is therefore intellectual dishonesty dressed up as “copying” and borrowing”. It is a means and a process or practice of deception. The big question now is on whether or not one can actually steal the works of others which are either in words or in concepts.
One has the sole right on his/her own ideas. In the same manner, any work and discovery of one is considered to be his/her property. This notion continues to be undoubted unless someone else takes the initiative to use those ideas and works as his/her own. Taking credit of something which is not yours is a form of stealing. So the answer to this is a big yes as well, based on the United States law.
Here are some actions that depict plagiarism:

• submitting the work of another and pretending it is yours
• using the concepts and words of others without recognizing them
• not enclosing the copied statements in quotation marks
• basically expressing the same thought without giving due credit to the source of the idea

Intellectual dishonesty is becoming rampant but plagiarism as such can be lessened and to some extent can be desisted. This can be done by recognizing and giving credit to the sources of our data and concepts and by not trying to imply owning the work of others. Furthermore, it is very relevant that one should cite appropriately the sources in a manner accessible to others. Go to the page on citation to learn more about citing sources.

Fraud
Apart from property concerns such as trademark and copyright, the plagiarist also commits fraud. The plagiarist is aware that he is not the real author of a text or document and still he uses it deliberately and even goes so far as putting his name to it.
Terms such as ‘academic misconduct’ used to describe plagiarism is simply an understatement because without doubt, plagiarism is the same as fraud. Fraud and plagiarism are two terms that just seem to go side by side.
When one commits fraud, one intentionally twists the truth to persuade and encourage one to believe that what is saying, stating or printing is actually the truth.
To which plagiarism is also similar it its meaning, wherein an individual tries to pass a piece of work, study, term paper or thesis to be owned as the individual who passed the work. This is fraudulent in nature as the person who does it intentionally creates a truth that does not really exist.
Keep in mind, plagiarism, is not a light matter. Not because you copy a part of a story, a paragraph or two to add to your work, the fact is, this is someone else’s work. Thoughts of someone else that you convey as your own, is a big deal, especially when this occurs in school, a university, or any place else.
One should remember both fraud and plagiarism is a serious crime. Don’t take it as a light offense, and take into account, the effect of what you ‘think’ is light, will continue on and ruin your reputation.

There are already many plagiarism instances in the past. Some of these plagiarism acts are done even by famous people. Some of the events are even famous because of the act itself. There are also events that are not famous but are still great example of plagiarism. What follows are list of plagiarism acts done over time.

• During his 1988 nomination as a Democrat president, Senator Joseph Biden was asked to step down and revoke the nomination because he was found out to commit plagiarism which resulted to failed grades during his years in law school. People also found out that he copied most of his speeches from Senator Robert Kennedy and Niel Kinnock, British Labor leader.
• During the EuroVision Song Competition on 1973, an entry entitled Eres was found out to be a plagiarized work that was derived from ESC 1966. However, due to political reason, the song was not disqualified.
• After admitting that most of the passages from his novel “Roots” were derived from Harold Courlander’s The African, Alex Haley settled himself from court with $650,000.
• It was believed that the famous “I Have A Dream” speech of Martin Luther King, Jr. was plagiarized from the address of Archibald Carey to Republican National Convention in 1952. The Boston University investigation team also found out that one-third of his doctoral thesis is plagiarized.
• A known author of books and Psychology professor left Leiden university, where he is teaching, in 1997 after accusations of plagiarism. Proceeding against Prof. Rene Diekstra continued until 003.
• In music, George Harrison was sued of plagiarism when he used in his song “My Sweet Lord” the melody of Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine”.
• In June 2003, many high ranking officials resigned from New York Times after the information became known that Jayson Blair, a reporter, was faking some quotes and plagiarizing some articles that he submitted. Some of the stories are even high-profile stories.
• Magnavox accused Pong, a video game by Atari, as a copy of the tennis game by Odyssey.
• As a child, Helen Keller was accused of plagiarism. To prove her innocence, she had all her compositions after the incident be checked by her classmates before it can be submitted.
• United Kingdom was accused of copying some text from a post-graduate student of California State University Monterey Bay. The copying of text was for the security report of the government about Iraq.
• Marks Chabedi was found out to copy word-for-word the doctoral thesis of Kimberly Lanegram. When the latter found this out, she launched an investigation against Chabedi. When the investigation was proven, Chabedi was fired from University of Witwatersrand in South Africa as professor and his Ph.D. title was invalidated by New School where he graduated his doctoral degree.
• James Cameron was sued by Harlan Ellison and was defeated later after the latter claimed that Cameron’s film “The Terminator” is a plagiarized work from the two episodes of Ellison for “Demon With A Glass Hand” and “Soldier”.
• The widow of Bram Stoker sued the producers of the 1922 film “Nosferatu”. This is because the widow claimed that the movie is an unauthorized adaption of her husband’s novel “Dracula” Most copies of the film was destroyed yet some copies still exist.
• Blair Hornstine, a student of Moorestown Township, New Jersey, was not allowed to be admitted in Harvard University on June 2003 when she was found out to submit articles of famous people’s speeches like those of Bill Clinton to a local newspaper and claim it as her own.

There are even more instances that are related to plagiarism that are not mentioned in these list.

We should be proud of our ancestors for they have successfully turned the leaf of time from the Dark Ages when man was stagnant and unthinking. They managed to let out their scream for knowledge and the people of today have inherited this freedom to scour the world and turn it upside down in search for knowledge. But there is this trend that would possibly shake the foundations of the pillars of knowledge that the ancestors have laid out for the modern humans. This is considered as a smear in the continual struggle to achieve a higher level of thinking. This is plagiarism. Plagiarism is one of man’s acts that might be the cause of his downfall. This partly signifies man’s attitude toward knowledge: boredom and laziness. When these two set in, man and the world might just be in for a rewind trip to the Dark Ages. There are many causes of plagiarism. But one thing for sure is that if people keep on plagiarising the works of others, this will pull down the quality of knowledge shared around the world.

Ways Considered as Plagiarism
First and foremost, plagiarism is cheating. When you tell other people and when you make yourself believe that what you have done is purely your idea without help or clues from the ideas of other people, then you are cheating others and more so, yourself. This is one way of plagiarising too. When you stop being honest and be won over by the fame that you would be showered with and the pride that you would feel once you claim something as a product of your ingenuity, then the result would be an increased motivation to commit plagiarism. At an educational environment, plagiarism usually occurs during paper submissions. Failing to acknowledge source/s of your ideas is already plagiarism. Even the typical copying done by students during exams and homework submissions is considered plagiarism. A school which tolerates plagiarism would be like teaching the students that even if they would not be sweating out to accomplish a task, they would still succeed if they depended on someone else’s work. At a working environment, when you imitate what another business is doing especially if a certain strategy is already copyrighted, this would also be plagiarism. Plagiarism usually results from a person’s inability to patiently work his brains out for ideas that are originally his. It would also be used as a resort by those people who want to have an easy life. Truthfully, life is never easy, and they will only be making it all the more difficult for them if they try to get out as easily as they could.

Cause of the Spread of Plagiarism
Plagiarism could have been cut off by the educational institution the moment the teachers detected the symptoms of plagiarism in the students. Plagiarism is practically everywhere, especially now that we are dealing with information in this Information Age. In the movie industry, films seem to have the same storylines already. Names of business establishments are contested because they sound alike. People are more tempted now to get off the hook easily by plagiarising because there are freely accessible information resources through the Internet. Being such, plagiarism should be stopped immediately before it will spread and bring the powerful world of new knowledge to a halt.

Research and plagiarism are two very different activities. But it is often hard to find the apparent cut between these two. There are times when researchers get to the point of a detour from a real study to mere plagiarism either unintentionally or not. Moreover, some forms of plagiarism occur in a very confusing manner. Thus, it is fitting for us to be aware of how plagiarism may take place to prevent all forms of it.
I. No references mentioned

1. “The Potluck Paper”A range of sources are used where sentences are taken from but these statements are then altered for personal interest of owning the certain concept. Altered statements are coherently organized to one great idea.
2. “The Ghost Writer”One presents someone else’s work which is completely copied and not modified and owning it.
3. “The Labor of Laziness”
   One exerts effort in plagiarizing as he or she paraphrase the original statements of others and coherently put into his or her paper, presenting it as his or her own.
4. 4. “The Photocopy”
   The researcher uses relevant points and words from an original text without tweaking it.
5. “The Poor Disguise”
   This is just like paraphrasing. Some words are altered but the main ideas of other authors are still obviously and intentionally copied.
6. “The Self-Stealer”
   The researcher uses again some ideas from his or her earlier work that may violate terms or conditions in the submission of that preceding paper.

II. References are mentioned but still involves plagiarism

1. “The Too-Perfect Paraphrase”
   One disregards to apply quotation marks on statements directly taken from other authors and contents which are copied completely from a source though there is proper citation found in the paper. This would lead to misinterpretation that you own those ideas.
2. “The Forgotten Footnote”
   The researcher forgets or neglects to include a source in the section for references and sources though he or she has mentioned the author in the body of the paper along with the copied ideas.
3. “The Perfect Crime”
   The researcher includes the proper citation of the ideas copied from others but neglects to also include the sources other arguments which are seemingly copied too. Thus, plagiarism still takes place for owning some ideas which are not yours though you have cited the references of other ideas found in your paper.
4. “The Resourceful Citer”
   The researcher has proper citations of all sources he or she used in the paper but the problem of plagiarism occurs also when almost everything that your work contains are taken from others’ concepts. Thus, the paper may appear to be not yours but of others especially when you have used so many sources and have utilized various concepts to present.
5. “The Misinformer”
   There is no accurate citation which misleads readers and the teacher. This may confuse the readers in tracing the sources.

Now we go to every student’s favorite mistake, cutting and pasting. With the internet over flowing with information and research, student’s get tempted or down right think it is easier to just cut and paste sentences and paragraphs that they think will go together. A lot of them do not understand that they should be the one to make their own concept and ideas, and in the process learn. What they do is look for specific information and just mixed them together. Fortunately it is easy to detect these kinds of plagiarism with the same tool they used to plagiarize, the internet. The internet has websites that offer plagiarism detection.
So the main difference between intentional and unintentional is that, unintentional plagiarism happens when there is no proper documentation occurred. The other kind is just plain and simple trying to finish the paper work the easy way.
So what are the reasons why students plagiarized? Read the following statements by some students caught plagiarizing.
“I have a lot of school work; I do not have much time” or “it was good enough for my former school”
Some kids in school just do not think that they can do a good job. What they tend to do is just to finish the assigned task and ignore that the reason why the task was given is for them to learn. They think that having a good article wherever it was from is good enough for the teacher, but the real purpose of a paper work is for them to learn to write and express their ideas. It is not about having a good article that has been copied from someone else. It is about learning.
Now that everything is clear, students should avoid intentional plagiarism, they should actually not plagiarize, do not purchase works from the internet, they should stop the copy and paste technique. School works is about learning, not stealing or cheating. Avoid unintentional plagiarism by doing proper documentation and citation.

Plagiarism is when you copy an idea or a concept and you present it as your own; that is how it is defined by most dictionaries. Plagiarism is a crime which most people, especially students commit.
Yes, believe it or not plagiarism is a very serious offense. It is very common and sometimes people do not even realize that they are committing a crime. Some people just do not know how to give credit and acknowledgement to the real writers which leads to accidental plagiarism. But, the other kind of this offense happens with the full knowledge of the plagiarizer.
The objectives of this section is to

1. Define and understand plagiarism
2. Learn the difference between accidental and intentional plagiarism and
3. Identify the reasons why some people plagiarize

One definition of plagiarism has already been stated above, another definition is stealing another person’s work, anything that you copy, or take without consent can be considered as plagiarism.
When is plagiarism accidental?
Accidental Plagiarism happens when a student or someone uses resources without proper acknowledgement, citation or documentation. Again, there is documentation but it has not been done properly, when that is the case it falls on the category of accidental plagiarism.
Look at the following examples.
Articles and papers that have been from another source, without citing where it has been taken from, the name of the person who wrote it and is not in the bibliography is considered as a plagiarized work. If you quote anything give the name of the person where you have got the quote from.
Papers and articles that have mentions of the references but are not mentioned in the bibliography are considered plagiarized. As a writer and someone who used some body’s work you are obligated to give full bibliographic reference.
Also paper works that has a bibliographic citation but has no reference to the original source is not acceptable. It has to be clear where your have got your information, and so proper documentation is important, so people that are interested can check out the original piece or article.
Let us now try to understand intentional plagiarism.
“Borrowing” is one type of intentional plagiarism. In this case people take an article, add and change a few stuff but most of the write ups are the same. This usually happens with the original writer’s knowledge or permission, hence “borrowing”.
Another type of intentional plagiarism is when you buy a ready to pass paper (like in clothing RTW, ready to wear) over the internet. A lot of student gets into trouble because of this king of plagiarism. It is common for students since you only need to pay and download. However it is easy for a teacher to know when it is generated by the internet.

Stealing someone’s uploaded pictures and reposting it with a different owner is also becoming rampant. Though it is being done, detecting who does it is now made easier. There are already some tools that you can seek to detect who makes use of your photos for their own good.
In fact, there are already new search tools that can let you look for the copy of your images. However, this search tool is quite expensive and is usually for the benefit of companies that can afford the services. Moreover, there is no search tool yet that can look through the entirety of the World Wide Web.

One available tool in the market is one that uses invisible marks. Once your photo is used by someone else, the photo can now be tracked. With this, looking up for the copy of your images will not be a lot of trouble. However, this tool is quite expensive with around $500 yearly fee. With its price, it is usually for company’s use.
Even though this tool is not yet accessible for amateur photographers and other tools are not yet set for free use, it should always be your initiative to take the necessary precautions in marking your photos. Also, you can still rely on fans that reports misuse.
When it comes to plagiarism with audio and video files, it is not as pervasive as what happens to text and images. The hosting of mostly audio and video contents is quite expensive. Also, the use of editing devices is also quite hard to achieve and manipulate. But still, because of video sharing websites like YouTube, this kind of plagiarism is still happening.

Though there are already some tools that detect repetition of audio and video files, they are not yet for ordinary users. Usually, these tools are geared towards company use. Example of this tool is Gracenote which is very good in working on this kind of task but are just used by large corporations because of its amount.
The best solution for lay users to prevent the uploaded videos and audios in detecting who misuses it is to trace the tags attached to the file. To date, this is the best solution to check whether your audio and video is used by other people. Also, one can make use of server logs but tagging the clips is still an easy and better option.
Though plagiarizing a person’s work published in the Internet is becoming widespread, there are already many devices and tools that enables a person to stop the abusive use of one’s work. It just needs some knowledge about these tools and how to use these for one’s benefit to get rid of plagiarists.

The tools that are used in identifying plagiarists are not only for the sole purpose of identifying those that steals your blog entries or repost your photos, and podcast. It can be used for all other information that fall as intellectual property and personal information. This just means that even if an individual does not have interest about plagiarism, these tools can still be used for other reasons.
Detecting who uses one’s work for personal benefit is not just an obligation to be fulfilled. Personally, it creates a self-fulfillment and some sort of justice. Moreover, by checking out on who uses someone else’s work can teach those spammers and plagiarists the importance and value of intellectual property and somehow teaching them their lesson. Making use of these tools are great advantages that one should grab.

With the advent of the Internet, it is now possible to write about almost anything and post it in the Web. This leads to the phenomenon of blogging and all its other forms. With the rise of this activity, there are also some people that make money out it. The sad part though is that there are some people that steal someone else’s work and post it as their own and earn from that act. This is one form of plagiarism and it is becoming rampant in the World Wide Web.
Especially with sites that can easily be hacked by spammers, there is a great chance that spammers get access to someone’s blog and repost it as someone else’s work. Detecting if this happens to one of your blogs is an intimidating challenge. Knowing how big the virtual world is together with its continuous growth everyday, identifying which sites make use of your work can be a hard work to do. It might even require too much of your time. But this is not much of a problem nowadays. This is because as plagiarism becomes widespread in the Internet, there are also some ways that are developed to detect it. To be able to do this, one just needs to know about these ways and how to use these properly.
Plagiarism in Text
The most widespread form of plagiarism in the internet is those that make use of text. Since it is made of words, it can easily be copied and reposted. Also, even if you make use of some javascript techniques or hide it with images, these can still be in vain and stealing is still possible to happen.
Though this might be the most rampant, it is also the one that can easily be resolved. There are already many tools to use to check who use your intellectual property. The basic action that anyone can do to detect plagiarists is to search a specific phrase in search engines. With this, you can find other websites that make use of the same phrase and might even lead you to plagiarists. Also, you can opt for Google Alert if you want to be updated of new websites that may use the exact phrase. With this, it will not be difficult to keep updated and informed about possible thief.
There are also other tools that can be used to detect plagiarists. Among these tools are Copyscape, PlagiarismChecker, and Article Checker. These websites offer refined searches on possible websites that are using your articles. However, there are some limitations that these websites have. As for WordPress users, you can use a special tool called Maxpower’s Digital Fingerprint Plugin. This enables you to insert a fingerprint and make use of this to activate a Google Alert.
Plagiarism in Images
Though not as rampant as the plagiarism in text, there are still some cases of photo plagiarism. Good thing about photos is that it cannot be easily stolen. In fact, it can be guarded. However, with the presence of photo sharing sites, plagiarism in photos are also made possible.
When photos that are found in some photo sharing sites are stolen, it will be hard to locate it. Unlike text, photos cannot be easily seen even if one depends on highly advanced search tools. The best solution to track down other people that use your pictures is to give your file a unique name and search for that filename later. Also, you can depend on server logs by checking on it more often.
These are just some of the ideas and tips that you can use when identifying plagiarists in the Internet.

Using quotes or excerpts means borrowing the exact words, phrases, and sentences from the original, setting them off with quotation marks and putting or informing the source of the quotation.
Here is a part of Adam Goldberg’s article “Healthy or Not, We All Love to Sleep,” from the Time Magazine, volume 220, issue 8 on February 3 ,2003.
Men are fond of sleeping regardless of the time and day. People often wonder if it is a healthy habit or not but it seems that it is something that we just cannot do without.
Below would be an example of a plagiarized work:

Example 1:
Men are fond of sleeping regardless of the time and day. People often wonder if it is a healthy habit or not but it seems that it is something that we just cannot do without.

Explanation why this example is considered plagiarized work:
In this example, the author deliberately used the original writer’s words without even acknowledging him. Even if you would acknowledge through the bibliography, this is insufficient as you need to make sure you indicate the specific book and page number. Here, the author, Goldberg, becomes a victim of plagiarism.

Now we look on to what are “acceptable.”

Example 2:
From Adam Goldberg (2003) book, “Men are fond of sleeping regardless of the time and day” (p. 11).

Explanation why this example is OK:
The APA style used to show that the original writer was acknowledged, by mentioning “From Adam Goldberg (2003) book” as well as indicating the number 11, which is the page number from where it was derived.

Example 3:
“Men are fond of sleeping regardless of the time and day” (Goldberg, 11).

Explanation why this example is OK:
Using MLA or Modern Language Association style, you will basically indicate the original author and the page number at the end of the quote.

You will see that in every example, Goldberg’s words were quoted by the writer exactly like it was really the same sentence from the book. When you want to quote or use someone else’s work, you have to write them exactly as they appear in the book and you should quote and acknowledge the source.