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Citation and Plagiarism

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Plagiarism in an academic field is very unethical. There is no difference between stealing academic work that is not one’s own and going into a store to steal merchandise. The consequences for both offences are often harsh and life altering. One can lose credibility, lose a hard-earned reputation, be charged criminally, kicked out of school or be financially ruined by any judicial proceedings against them. The cost of saving a few hours of academic study is not worth it in the big picture of life of any student. Plagiarism is also a major problem for academic facilities as well. The schools could lose there accreditation if it was discovered the work of their students was not original but merely recycled work of other students or …show more content…

Otherwise, you will be hiding someone’s ideas and suggesting it were yours (Fastfacts: Plagiarism and Academic Integrity, 2005, p.4).
It is important to identify the difference between the information and idea from the source and your own. According to the “When to Document” paragraph 2, Avoiding Plagiarism (2006), common knowledge information does not require documentation. It defines common knowledge as “widely known information about current events, famous people, geographical facts, or familiar history” (When to Document, paragraph 2, Avoiding Plagiarism, 2006). Common knowledge may vary from person to person. It is a common knowledge to you but may not be for me. Generally, knowledge that could be found in a general reference book is common knowledge.
With a lot of information in mind, some students start writing the paper with their own words and may not be aware that they have already implied someone’s information or ideas in their writing. As per Fastfacts: Plagiarism and Academic Integrity, 2005, p.10, golden rules of avoiding plagiarism, re-phrasing the information or ideas into your own words does not eliminate the need of citation. You must give credit in a citation reference page to the source of information even though you phrased them in your words. According to the articles “Seven Rules”, paragraph 2, Avoiding Plagiarism

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