SfC Home > Education > Tricks for Good Grades >
Explanation of how Plagiarism Can Lower Your Grade by Ron Kurtus - Tricks for Good Grades: Strategies to Succeed in School. Also refer to copy and paste, references, resources, cite, cheating, guidelines, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions
Plagiarism Can Lower Your Grade
by Ron Kurtus (25 October 2011)
Suppose you wrote an essay for class and later found out that someone had copied several paragraphs of your work word-for-word and taken credit for it. I'm sure that would get you angry that the other student plagiarized your work. Likewise, authors of written works in books and on the Internet don't like it either.
Plagiarism is copying someone's material without giving credit to the author. Since it is now so easy to copy and paste material from the Internet, many students shortcut the homework process with plagiarism. Although sometimes you can get away with plagiarizing someone else's work, an alert teacher can detect it and will lower your grade because of the practice. At higher levels in school, plagiarism is considered cheating and is punished accordingly.
There are rules concerning copying the work of others in your assignments. If something is copied word-for-word, credit should be given as to the source.
Questions you may have include:
- What are some reasons for plagiarism?
- How can teachers spot plagiarism?
- What are some guidelines to use?
This lesson will answer those questions.
Reasons to plagiarize
One big reason for plagiarism these days is that it is so easy to simply copy and paste useful information from another website into your own document. Many students don't realize that copying material implies that it is something they created. If material is copied word-for-word, credit must be given to the source. Often the material should be in quotation marks.
When you do give credit for others' material that you put in a paper, it is showing that you have done research. This will be points in your favor, as opposed to simply putting down information that obviously must have come from someplace else.
Another reason for plagiarism is that it can be very time-consuming to do research and then write something out in your own words. Students with many assignments and under pressure to quickly finish a paper may justify copying, simply to get the work done on time.
Finally, many students didn't know it was illegal to copy things out of books or from the Internet and put those words into their essays.
Teachers can spot plagiarism
Teachers can often tell if you have plagiarized some material in your class assignment.
Typically, teachers have given the same assignment many times before and are familiar with the common resources for the topic, such that they can identify material that they have seen before. Also, if several students have copied material from the same website, that fact will stand out as plagiarism.
Another clue is if the grammatical structure and difficulty level of the words is different in certain paragraphs or sentences, as compared with the typical language used by the student. It is easy for the teacher to tell if the writing style is the same as the student usually uses.
Also, at the college level, the professor may use an online plagiarism detector service that can search the Internet for similar sentences or paragraphs. This is primarily used in papers that may be submitted for peer review.
Thus, don't assume the teacher will not notice that you have used resource material without giving credit. Plagiarizing will often result in getting a lower grade.
Note: Students aren't the only ones who plagiarize. I've found several school websites where teachers have copied pages of material from our School for Champions website with no reference to the site.
In your own words or give credit
When you write an essay, using resource material, you should try to write things in your own words and give credit to material that is in someone else's words.
Difficult to do
It is sometimes difficult to put material in your own words, when it seems that the source has done such a good job. However, it is better to be able to put thoughts into your own words and write them down. You certainly don't repeat someone else's words when you are talking.
However the whole learning process is to read a concept, understand it, and be able to explain it to someone else.
Guidelines
Your teacher should give you guidelines on what to do and what to avoid doing, concerning plagiarism.
Your teacher will probably indicate how you should cite or list your sources or references. At the higher levels in school, citations an references are required within the document. At lower levels, you might only need to list resources at the end, if at all. It depends on what your teacher requires.
Summary
Plagiarism is copying someone's material without giving credit to the author. One reason students plagiarize is that it is so easy to copy and paste from the Internet. However, teacher can readily spot work that is in the words of another source, such as an authority in a field. Although difficult, it is better to put material into your own words. Teachers can give guidelines on how to cite your resources.
Plagiarizing can result in lower grades. Showing you have done research can result in high grades.
Give credit for good work done
Resources and references
The following resources provide information on this subject:
Websites
Plagiarism Overview - Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It - Indiana University Writing Tutorial Services
What is Plagiarism? - Kid's Health - for younger students
Plagiarism - Wikipedia - types and history of plagiarism
Books
What do you think?
Do you have any questions, comments, or opinions on this subject? If so, send an email with your feedback. I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
Share link
Click on a button to share the link for this page:
Or use our form to send this link to yourself or a friend.
Students and researchers
The Web address of this page is:
www.school-for-champions.com/grades/plagiarism_can_lower_your_grade.htm
Please include it as a link on your website or as a reference in your report, document, or thesis.
Where are you now?
Plagiarism Can Lower Your Grade