Most of us may have committed crimes without knowing it. Illegally downloading pirated movies and songs is one of those, but the worst and heinous is plagiarism. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defined plagiarism as "the act of using another person's words or ideas without giving credit to that person." Yet, people see this act as the same as "borrowing" or "copying" someone's ideas. They fail to see that this is also an act of stealing.
Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional, but it is still considered the same. Intentional plagiarism occurs when writers or researchers know full well they are passing off someone else's words or ideas as their own, while unintentional plagiarism occurs when writers and researchers use the words or ideas of others but fail to quote or give credit, perhaps because they don't know how. Some students may fail to understand how to quote accurately or paraphrase effectively. It is possible for students to plagiarism without realizing they are doing so. Under the regulations for examinations, intentional or reckless plagiarism is a disciplinary offence.
As a student, I admit that at some times I found myself "copy-pasting" some work from the internet and turning it as my own work, for the sake of immediately finishing the assigned task. I thought that it was impossible that the original author won't press any chargers against me, and I also I'm still underage to be arrested. The act of plagiarism is still forbidden by the law. Republic Act No. 8293 or the Intellectual Property of Code of the Philippines protect patents, trademarks, and other forms of intellectual property. The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Although plagiarism can be avoided by citing your sources and references. Also, simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source is usually enough to prevent plagiarism.
There are many ways of avoiding plagiarism. Using our minds and morals is the most effective and preventive way of evading this offensive crime. We should understand the whole concept of plagiarism so that we will not be ignorant regarding this issue. We must take responsibility of our actions and determine if what we are doing is whether wrong or right.
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Sources and references:
http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/
http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Plagiarism
http://www.northwestern.edu/provost/policies/academic-integrity/how-to-avoid-plagiarism.html
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