Blog #3: Plagiarism

Plagiarism is one of the easiest things to do in a student's educational career, and is also the easiest act to be caught doing. That is why there are websites out there called Turnitin.com where they pinpoint and find every piece of information that may be plagiarized. It is harmful for somebody's career as well as for the reputation of any school you are in, whether it's middle school, high school, or college. In all honesty, it is a very stupid thing to do and to be aware that you are doing it makes the whole situation even worse because you WILL be caught one way or another. I'd like to focus on the section in the handbook that talks about paraphrasing. It is not an easy thing to do and can sometimes look like a person plagiarized when they had no intention of doing so. It is important to know how to paraphrase correctly in a way that will not look as if you are plagiarizing. Don't get me wrong, it has happened to me before and probably all of you, but taking notes on an article or essay and putting things into your own words is the best way to paraphrase. All in all, do not plagiarize. Even if you get away with it for a while, somebody will eventually figure it out and it will jeopardize your future, especially if you are in college.