RESEARCH PLAGIARISM

SAMPLE Paragraphs on Plagiarism

Below you will find sample paragraphs that I crafted with my previous semester classes on the topic of plagiarism. This is not a complete essay. Instead, I give you samples of what could be possible introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs.

These sample paragraphs address the rhetorical question: What are the causes of plagiarism?

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My understanding is that plagiarism occurs when a person presents another’s work as their own that is not accessible in the Public Domain or fails to give the originator of the work proper credit for having used it in a publication without their expressed permission either through a Fair Use Policy or by purchasing a limited copyright authority. This definition came from my summary of the quizzes I took in my University of Houston-Downtown English 1301 class, where my professor was teaching a unit on plagiarism. In general, the UHD Academic Policy states that a student can be penalized for plagiarism even if the text they plagiarize is their own. The policy is fairly rigid. For example, if a student submits work that they produced from another class, that’s considered plagiarism because their written work belonged to the original class. I remember one of my classmates earned an ‘F’ on his paper because he submitted a paper for an assignment that he crafted the semester before. I was shocked because it was his own work. I now understand why he got the ‘F”. It was because a work is only original in the context in which it was presented. That’s why musical artists cannot produce the same song with multiple labels. Only one label can own that song at one time. Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Def of plagiarism Comment by Bridges, Dawn: (2) Introduction paragraphs Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Citation of definition Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Application of def of plagiarism Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Claim about the UHD plagiarism policy Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Proof of the claim Comment by Bridges, Dawn: I have a direct example and an indirect example

The UHD anti-plagiarism policy is contextualized in the larger national anti-plagiarism, and anti-copyright infringement laws. Specifically, plagiarism is illegal in the United States because it is a capitalistic country that believes that intellectual capital should be protected and used at the discretion of the originator. The bottom line is in the US to violate someone’s copyright privileges is against the law. So why does it still happen? Specifically, turnitin.com, a tool that analyzes student essays for plagiarism, provides statistics that show the frequency of plagiaristic behaviors among students. This is just one small indication that plagiarism is prevalent in our academic institutions, the place where antiplagiarism was born. Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Inductive reasoning Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Paraphrased statement simplifying and clarifying the meaning of the previous sentence. Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Rhetorical question Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Legitimizing the argument

According to Pena (Students Cheating), plagiarism occurs in colleges and universities for several reasons. Pena discovered these reasons by analyzing the data that came from several surveys conducted by researchers on the topic. Pena reports that the Roberts and Wasieleski survey found that online tools caused students to copy their peers work more frequently. (Continue to describe and report your data and break up your data into multiple meaningful paragraphs. Just anlayzing Pena’s article can produce multiple paragraphs. Also, when you start analyzing the Turnitin Chart, you’ll have multiple paragraphs too .) Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Citation Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Beginning to answer the rhetorical question Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Body Paragraphs Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Body paragraphs Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Describe the instrument or document from where you are getting your data, then write about author’s findings Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Describing and Reporting the data from your sources

Out of the reasons that were presented by Pena, I think that people plagiarize because they believe that other people’s work is better than their own. Similar to the comments made by professors who Pena interviewed, the lack of self-confidence can lead to instances of plagiarism especially for students who are required to turn in assignments and who are competing for a high grade on those assignments. When I surveyed my college peers about this question, the results showed that 90% of the students chose that fear of getting a bad grade was one reason they would plagiarize. For that same question, 6% said that fear was not a factor and 3% said that they didn’t have an emotional reason for plagiarizing. For that same question, 1% said that they felt that their work was adequate to turn in. The results of this question mean that fear of not getting a high mark on an assignment is a compelling reason for students plagiarizing. The problem is that if students continue to use lack of confidence of submitting their own work as a reason for stealing other people’s work, they can eventually get themselves into a predicament if they need to prove that they can duplicate the original work or apply the contents of the original work across situations in the future. The plagiarist, therefore, will eventually be exposed when they cannot reproduce the tenants of the original work. Being exposed as a plagiarist can lead to not trusting the plagiarist. Lack of trust can lead to isolation which can produce more feelings of low confidence, which in turn increases the probability that the plagiarist will plagiarize again and again. Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Transitioning the argument to the rhetor by synthesizing. That’s YOU! This is your turn to tell your audience what you think and can prove. Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Report your own evidence Comment by Bridges, Dawn: My analysis

I also think that people plagiarize because… Comment by Bridges, Dawn: This is the next body paragraph on the next claim

Plagiarism can happen for so many reasons, none of which are good enough to justify doing it, especially at the college and university level when academic honesty policies are posted on the campus website and in teachers’ course syllabi. I think that students who plagiarize undermine their own brilliance and should consider whether their brilliance could be better expressed in other places for intellectual advancement other than in academia. There is a varied multiplex in the world outside of college and universities that is begging for people to join and showcase their unique expressions of themselves that doesn’t require essays and tests. I don’t believe high school students should immediately go to college after graduation if they cheat to get there or to stay there. Maybe it’s a waiting game and students need to wait to go to college until they develop a personal academic policy for themselves that tells them it’s okay to admit their learning curve and to take the time to overcome it by taking advantage of the support offered on campus such as writing labs, tutoring centers, and peer reviews. There also is online help students can get such as Grammarly. With these support options available there is no excuse for cheating and students should do everything they can to uphold academic integrity in the colleges and universities they attend. Comment by Bridges, Dawn: Compelling conclusion where I introduce my argument