Because written work is so important to academics, they can get
nasty when people don't give them proper credit for all their
hard work and great ideas. Failure to give proper credit
is what we mean by plagiarism.
If Josh can imagine how angry he would feel if someone stole his
friend Caitlin's paycheck after she'd put worked Friday and Saturday
nights and missed the prom, he may be able to imagine how Professor
Hugh G. Ego feels when a colleague's writing is stolen by a gangly
freshman and Professor Ego has to spend an hour documenting the
offense for the colleges' disciplinary committee.
Academic penalties for plagiarism
Schools and colleges set their own penalties for classroom plagiarism.
The consequences of plagiarism range from a dressing-down from
the instructor to expulsion. Generally, the penalties get stiffer
as the student goes through the education system.
Colleges and universities post their policies on academic honesty.
They do not accept ignorance of proper source use as a defense.
Students are expected to find out how to comply with the policies.
A good English assignment for high school students is to research
the academic dishonesty policies of colleges they are considering
attending and write an essay on their findings.
Plagiarism makes the news
You can readily discover the immediate consequences of plagiarism
by searching the news archives of a major search engine.
For example, in the summer 2008, two students accused of plagiarism
(one a senior at Ohio University) were expelled from the University
of Virginia's Semester at Sea program and put ashore in Greece
while the rest of the class continued their voyage. The story
was carried by the Associated Press, NBC and CBS news, and ran
in the The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Such stories are not uncommon. The perpetrators are not just students,
either.
Politicians (or their speechwriters), college presidents, novelists
and network broadcasters have also been found guilty of plagiarism.
Long term effects of plagiarism
These days when colleges and employers routinely check out applicants
on Facebook and other web sources, the consequences of plagiarism
can have a far reaching impact.
A student who would steal an essay for a college class might well
steal company information, too. A student who is sloppy about giving
credit for ideas may be sloppy in keeping financial records.
At the very least, students ought to expect Professor Hugh G. Ego
to remember them as a plagiarist, which is probably not the way
they wish to be remembered.
