Integrity Violations and Intellectual Property

Question: Discuss about the Integrity Violations and Intellectual Property. Answer: Introduction: This study deals with what is plagiarism and how to avoid it. Plagiarism is defined as a distinct crime or a failure to give credit to a specific source. It is mainly using works or ideas of other people without acknowledgment. From the optimistic point of view, avoidance of plagiarism helps one in achieving the potential to be a successful writer and develop skills to apply principles learnt on ones writing without breach of copyright (Graham Starr, 2013). Plagiarism comes from Latin word for kidnapper (Pecorari, 2013). Academic community considers it as breaking rules of honesty. An effective and justifiable use of sources should be the aim for all. This reduces the risk of plagiarism largely. Avoidance of plagiarism is a necessity as it enhances viewpoints of the students and clarifies their concepts. Several types of plagiarism are seen. Direct copying involves exact word-to-word copying of ones work without attribution. Word-switching or mosaic plagiarism denotes taking others work and making few alteration in the words present in the work or changing fragments of sentences. Concealing sources is another form of plagiarism in which the writer does not attribute the sources from where the ideas have been taken or if repetitive usage of sources has been done it has been mentioned once (Rousseau, 2016). For students, previous work should not be reused or works of other students should also not be sed. Avoidance of plagiarism helps to maintain academic integrity. Plagiarism can be avoided by several means. Firstly, the writer should understand the topic to be written and a thorough research of the same should be done. A brief outline of the topic should also be done. The outline should not only contain ideas of other people but also ideas and understanding of the writer also (Graham Starr, 2013). Coming to writing, the most commonly used way to avoid plagiarism is paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is putting down the information read from a source in ones own words . While paraphrasing a sentence, the meaning of the sentence should remain intact. Next comes citing which is another means of avoiding plagiarism. Quotation is another means to avoid plagiarism. It should always be done authentically in order to stay away from the allegations of plagiarism. To cite a particular quote is another way of avoiding plagiarism if the information is taken from any website or blogs. One should also cite oneself if one is using previous material to evade from self-plagiarism. Another important means to keep away from plagiarism is referencing the pages with page numbers and all other necessary details from where the information has been taken (Rousseau, 2016). Plagiarism if caught results in penalties if caught. In universities, if students are caught doing plagiarism students may also be suspended. Students might not even get the credits for the plagiarized assignments and students then have to rework (Wiwanitkit, 2013). Professionals if caught with plagiarism may be subjected to legal acts. They might not get service in the same field of work. Reputation is hampered to the extreme extent. If citations are missed laws of copyrights are desecrated by the plagiarists, which may lead to monetary damages ((Pecorari, 2013). Plagiarism is a criminal offence, which, is evident from the above discussions. Students thus should avoid plagiarism for maintaining academic integrity. Professionals must also avoid it to remain loyal to the profession and maintain reputation. Thus, people should always remain concerned while writing to avoid plagiarism. References Graham-M , L., Starr, S. (2013). Is it cheatingor learning the craft of writing? Using Turnitin to help students avoid plagiarism.Research in learning technology,21. Pecorari, D. (2013).Teaching to avoid plagiarism: How to promote good source use. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Rousseau, J. (2016). Information Integrity Violations and Intellectual Property Theft Factors for Better Controlling Plagiarism Through Technological Regulators. Wiwanitkit, V. 2013). (How to avoid plagiarism.Annals of biomedical engineering,41(1), 3-3.