Investigate plagiarism at the undergraduate level Essay

Investigate plagiarism at the undergraduate level - Essay Example There is an uptick in the incidences of plagiarism. Therefore, there is a high need of action to eradicate this trend. An essential part of fighting against plagiarism is to teach students the skills to legally and ethically use the sources, so they do not unintentionally step into the plagiarism territory. One of the major excuses for escaping the accusation of plagiarism is that it was unintentional. Regardless if a student intentionally or unintentionally copied someone elses work, either way, it falls under the category of plagiarized work. When researchers refer to someone elses work it means that it was someone elses idea so merrily changing the words does not absolve students from this academic misconduct. It is vital to learn the background of plagiarism to comprehend the exact problem. Textual ownership refers to the thoughts and phrasings that are someone elses property and using them without attributing them back to the owner would be equivalent to committing an academic crime known as plagiarism. Many young students find it difficult to use information that belongs to others into their work (Diane, 2013). Paraphrasing, quoting, or any other form of incorporations such as through diagrams, figures and flowcharts, are some of the means through which students commit this crime intentionally and unintentionally. The studies on plagiarism and cheating have mostly been conducted through student questionnaire, which reveals that there is a strong moral base for students about friendship and good learning. It means that some punishable behavior might be regarded as justifiable, and some officially approved behavior is deemed dubious (Ashworth, Bannister, Thorne & Students, 2006). Studies also suggest that students are often unclear as to what constitutes as plagiarism and what the correct forms of paraphrasing are (Roig, 1997). The