Plagiarism

This week in one of my classes, we discussed how to avoid the dangers of the internet in violating copyright on images. While we did not discuss text, the same thing goes for that, too.

In my working life, I’ve run into plenty of people, of all different ages, who believe that writing consists of finding information on the internet, copying it and pasting it into a Word document. Furthermore, they’ll accept any source of information as valid, presumably because it’s posted on the internet (but don’t get me started on that).

The copy-and-paste method of writing is called plagiarism.

It’s fine if you have to look up some information in order to write something. It’s fine if you use that information, even some of it word for word, as long as you cite your sources. If you only paraphrase someone else’s ideas, you should cite that source too.

Don’t let the internet mesmerize you into the idea that everything that’s out there belongs to everyone. You might be able to access it for free, but you can’t take credit for it.

You must significantly change a piece of writing (or an image) in order to call it your own. But while you’re at it, why don’t you just create a whole new piece that truly is all your own?

If you know of any links to informative sites on this subject, please post them in the comments section (with credit given where it’s due, of course!).