Essay on Plagiarism and Rephrasing

Plagiarism has been a topic of discussion especially in the field of academic. Plagiarism has been rampant especially in schools where students are required to carry out a lot of research during their studies. However, even with the existence of different types of plagiarism, there are various ways of avoiding plagiarism, paraphrasing being one of them (Jones, 2001). Students should focus on this techniques and way of paraphrasing to prevent the consequences that come with plagiarism. This consequence has a far-reaching impact on individual and students life.

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Types of plagiarism

The first category plagiarism is word-for-word plagiarism that occurs when you duplicate a phrase or great part of the source without attribution or use of quotation marks even though you have cited the source (Shafer,2014). For example, some students have been expelled while results of others have been canceled after getting involved in plagiarism (Levis, 2010). The proper way should be; some students have been expelled while results of others have been canceled after getting involved in plagiarism (Levis, 2010). The second type plagiarism is mosaic plagiarism which occurs when students use phrases from the original document without quotation mark or keeps same general sentence structure and the meaning while using synonyms (Adhikari,2010). For example, the crisis in Syria cannot be resolved unless the involved nations come together. The student writes, the calamity in Syria cannot be determined unless the concerned countries come together.

Another type of plagiarism is idea plagiarism where you represent someone else opinion without acknowledgment (Roig, 2011). For example, discrimination of blacks in the United States has been an issue for centuries; a lot need to be done to protect blacks. The student goes forward and writes, for centuries, discrimination of black in the United States has been a topic of concern, and more should be done to protect them. The source idea has been paraphrased, but if you leave it that way without citing the writer, it becomes plagiarism. Other people idea should not only be paraphrased to avoid quotation, but rather to express someone else important ideas into your word especially if the ideas are not presented in a manner that is useful to quote (Ponniah, 2011) directly.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is taking a set of ideas and facts and rewriting them in your words. While paraphrasing, it is always recommended to maintain the original meaning while presenting in a new form (Jackson, P. (2006). Paraphrasing is an important technique to use while doing assignments, writing research papers and essays but with the condition that you acknowledge the source or else it will be plagiarism. For instance, he annoyed me with inappropriate comments and disrespectfulness during lunch. This can be rephrased as; he made me angry when he was rude to lunch. There are various types of paraphrasing the first being change of speech where verbs and nouns are replaced with new parts of speech (McShane et al. 2008). For example, the athlete quickly ran across the finish line, winning gold. This can be paraphrased as; the quick athlete won gold when he ran across the finish line.

The writer can also change the structure of the sentence by maybe creating a passive voice from an active voice and the other way round (Vila et al., 2010). For instance, the Germany government has taken refugees; this can be paraphrased to; the refugees have been taken by the Germany government. Another type of paraphrasing is the reduction of clauses to reduce the number of clauses in a sentence (Bhagat & Hovy,2013). For example, even though I understand where you are coming from, you need to express yourself clearly like James. The sentence can be rewritten as, I understand where you are coming from, be like James and express yourself. The last type of rephrasing is the replacement of synonyms where you replace words with other similar ones. For example, older people were honored with individuals who served in the military. This can be paraphrased to; older individuals were honored by veterans (Hagaman et al. 2012).

Consequences of plagiarism

Plagiarism destroys student reputation as students can be suspended or expelled away from school. Sometimes students are allowed to redo the research paper, but the grading will be done differently as compared to others (Mangion, 2015). The student's academic record can also reflect the ethics offense and may even not be allowed to enter the college anymore. Plagiarism can also attract legal repercussions as some plagiarism are deemed as a criminal offense and can lead to a jail term (Bowyer & Hall, 2001). This can happen since the original author has a right to sue the plagiarist for using his or her material without citing or referencing. You should be aware that copyright laws do exist.

Plagiarism may also attract financial repercussions in the event where the author wants to be compensated by the plagiarist after a legal battle (Hall, 2011). Additionally, professional reputation is destroyed as the plagiarism damage follows you to the entire career. For instance, you may not only be fired from the position you are holding, but you may be limited from getting another respectable job as your reputation has been published (Kumar, 2012). The consequences of plagiarism are widely experienced in the world of academic. Once academicians are involved in plagiarism, their entire career is ruined. To lose the capability to write means that your whole academic career is over.

The essay has focused on various types of plagiarism with highlighted examples. The essay has also focused on the different way of paraphrasing to avoid plagiarism. Paraphrasing is one way of avoiding plagiarism abut as long as the source is cited correctly. The consequences of plagiarism have also been discussed to make students and writers to understand deeper. Individuals should try to rewrite the paper without focusing on the source while writing on your own. When most of what you want to write on come from a single source, you should introduce the borrowed idea by attributing them to the original author ( Kalani & Twinwal,2013).

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