Plagiarism is a crime that can have you expelled from a school. This is the knowledge that most people attain when entering high school. They are then forced to write a research paper while not understanding the full breadth of plagiarism and what all it encompasses. Some do not even know how to insert proper citation and bibliography. This leads many children into unknowingly committing plagiarism every year. Students do not understand what the act of plagiarism is and how it impacts not only them, but other students as well.
Plagiarism is “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own, to use (another's production) without crediting the source, to commit literary theft, or to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.”( http:plagiarism.org / What is Plagiarism?) Students think it’s just copying or borrowing, but it’s much more serious. The doubt may come into mind of whether words or ideas can really be stolen. The U. S. Government says that in accordance with copyright laws these words and ideas are “intellectual property” (http:plagiarism.org / What is Plagiarism?) and are protected under these laws. Almost anything where it can be questioned if it’s ok to do is plagiarism. “Turning in someone else’s work, copying words from someone without giving credit, failing to put a quotation in quotation marks, giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation, changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit, copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not,”( http:plagiarism.org / What is Plagiarism?) all of this is plagiarism.
Because plagiarism is such a broad umbrella of offenses, students think it is hard to make sure they don’t do it, but it is really easy to remedy by simply citing your sources.
Students don’t realize that plagiarism not only affects them, but others as well. By plagiarizing you have just stolen from someone. It’s like selling bootlegged movies. You are taking what is not yours and gaining a grade for it without giving them anything. They don’t get credit, royalties, money. You are giving them nothing and they get no recognition for their work. Now you don’t get any either because you will get caught. Professors are totally negative toward plagiarism for this reason. You’re stealing, not learning anything, and losing your academic profession.
There are ways to avoid plagiarism. You have to learn the difference between searching and researching. Searching is interpreting and analyzing what you find, whereas searching is just finding and using (http:plagiarism.org /Types of Plagiarism) . Lots of students are under pressure to get the grade and harsh times constraints make it easier to give yourself slack.
There are several different types of plagiarism. An article called “Types of Plagiarism” gives a thorough explanation of all the different types of plagiarisms in this list: “Sources Not Cited
1. "The Ghost Writer"
The writer turns in another's work, word-for-word, as his or her own.
2. "The Photocopy"
The writer copies significant portions of text straight from a single source, without alteration.
3. "The Potluck Paper"
The writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different sources, tweaking the sentences to make them fit together while retaining most of the original phrasing.
4. "The Poor Disguise"
Although the writer has retained the essential content of the source, he or she has altered the paper's appearance slightly by changing key words and phrases.
5. "The Labor of Laziness"
The writer takes the time to paraphrase most of the paper from other sources and make it all fit together, instead of spending the same effort on original work.
6. "The Self-Stealer"
The writer "borrows" generously from his or her previous work, violating policies concerning the expectation of originality adopted by most academic institutions.
Sources Cited (But Still Plagiarized)
1. "The Forgotten Footnote"
The writer mentions an author's name for a source, but neglects to include specific information on the location of the material referenced. This often masks other forms of plagiarism by obscuring source locations.
2. "The Misinformer"
The writer provides inaccurate information regarding the sources, making it impossible to find them.
3. "The Too-Perfect Paraphrase"
The writer properly cites a source, but neglects to put in quotation marks text that has been copied word-for-word, or close to it. Although attributing the basic ideas to the source, the writer is falsely claiming original presentation and interpretation of the information.
4. "The Resourceful Citer"
The writer properly cites all sources, paraphrasing and using quotations appropriately. The catch? The paper contains almost no original work! It is sometimes difficult to spot this form of plagiarism because it looks like any other well-researched document.
5. "The Perfect Crime"
Well, we all know it doesn't exist. In this case, the writer properly quotes and cites sources in some places, but goes on to paraphrase other arguments from those sources without citation. This way, the writer tries to pass off the paraphrased material as his or her own analysis of the cited material.” (http:plagiarism.org / Types of Plagiarism)

Intellectual property attorneys’ say that plagiarism is like stealing from another writer, author or intellectual. It is punishable by law, but it is nowhere near the punishment of the crime they say is so horrible. It is made to be so horrible but it is not punished with the same importance.
A lot of students have a challenging time writing paper because it is hard to “develop a topic based on what has already been said and written, but write something new and original, rely on expert opinions, but improve it.( http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/) These are just a few of the challenges that students face when writing papers. It is so difficult to control whether or not you plagiarize for students.
Copyright is “legally exclusive rights that are granted to the author or creator of a creative work. Among these rights are the rights to copy, distribute, adapt, and amend the work. The right to copy, under copyright laws, is often applied in terms of the right to control the copying of copyrighted works, which means it prevents others from copying the work without permission.( http://copyright.laws.com/copyright-law- 10 copyright laws you have to know- article)” The works that are most frequently plagiarized are literary works and books. To make sure you are not plagiarizing or infringing on a works copyright laws, you have to know what copyright infringement is and the fair use policy that goes with it. “Copyright infringement refers to the unauthorized use of copyrighted works. The unauthorized use of copyrighted works is done in such a way that it violates copyright laws and the exclusive rights of the creator or owner as granted by law.” (http://copyright.laws.com/copyright-law-, 10 copyright laws you have to know.) Fair use determines how and whether it is ok to use the document.
“The Fair Use Doctrine was established in the Copyright Act of 1976 and relates to the allowed copying of copyrighted works in accordance with copyright laws. There are certain situations in which a copyrighted work can be copied without the proper authorization of the creator or owner. Though it is not explicitly stated in the copyright laws, four factors are considered as fair use:
• The purpose for copying the work and overall intended use of the work
• The nature or material content of the copyrighted work
• How much of the copyrighted work is to be copied
• How copying such work can impact the market value of the copyrighted work.”

When writing copyright infringement is plagiarism. This is a serious crime resulting in lawsuits in the outside world. In the academics world punishment is much more lenient.
Now that I have researched this subject and learned more about it I feel that plagiarism is a heinous crime. It is morally wrong. You are not only hurting yourself, you are hurting others. The person you take from is now being used and getting no credit for all the hard work they put in. Plagiarism is, at its core, stealing. I don’t want to be a thief. I cannot and will not be labeled as such. Legally I would be just as bad as the felons in prison for stealing by purposely plagiarizing.
Legally plagiarizing is a dumb crime. You are bound to get caught because there is no such thing as “’The Perfect Crime’” (http://plagiarism.org- Types of Plagiarism) . Sure you could do things like have someone write your paper, or copy and paste or even neglect to do your bibliography. But you will get in trouble for it. What happens when you have someone write your paper and they write way better than you? You will eventually forget and write the next paper yourself. You teacher notices a distinct change in the writing style and you get caught, put through the ringer and eventually expelled for plagiarism. If you copy and paste all they have to do is put it through one of the many online checkers that are out there to determine it and being lazy and not citing your sources won’t save you time it will only cause you more trouble. Plagiarism is dumb and only causes you more trouble in the end.
Plagiarizing is a crime that can have profound consequences on your life and honestly is a pain in the neck in the long run. Teachers don’t forget a student who plagiarizes same as they do a model student. Plagiarism not only changes your grade and possibly gets you expelled, it also causes your teachers to lose trust in you. And it never is just one teacher, because the teacher who finds it doesn’t usually just keep it to themselves. They tell other teachers to keep an eye on you as well. When this happens you have to work twice as hard and keep an eye on yourself so that you don’t make even the tiniest mistake in citation of source. In the long run it changes your whole collegiate experience.
From this incident I have learned that plagiarism is dumb and though I did not purposely do it, I still feel bad about it. I have learned that academic dishonesty is not for me. I am not the type of person who can cold heartedly steal someone’s idea. It has consequences that are unfathomably worse than this. I do not wish to suffer any of these. I prefer to be a model student. I want to be remembered as one of the best student a teacher has had, not a dirty plagiarizer who doesn’t care about his work or grades.
From this research I have learned that plagiarism has profoundly life changing consequences. It is an act that is uncaring to others and to ones ‘self. You become nothing more than a statistic. A person who committed a crime and doesn’t care about it or their success. I know from this research that by plagiarizing I am not a person who can commit this crime knowingly and hope to never again commit it unknowingly.
Plagiarism is stealing. It is a crime that no student should knowingly commit. Although accidents happen, remedying the situation as soon as possible is important to make your college career as painless and successful as possible. I hope that a fiasco such as this never happens to me again. I am not a student who can purposely plagiarize a work and I am sincerely regretful that this incident ever happened in the first place. I am glad I had the opportunity to write this paper because it is has only reinforced my opinion about plagiarism and its stupidity and cruelty.

Works Cited
What is Plagiarism? (n.d.) Retrieved March 20, 2012, from http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/what_is_plagiarism.html
Types of Plagiarism (n.d.) Retrieved March 20, 2012, from http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/types_of_plagiarism.html
Educational Tips on Plagiarism Prevention (n.d.) Retrieved March 20, 2012 http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/educational_tips_on_plagiarism_prevention.html
How Do I Cite Sources? (n.d.) Retrieved March 20, 2012 http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/how_do_i_cite_sources.html
How to cite this site(n.d.) Retrieved March 20, 2012 http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/how_to_cite_this_site.html
Plagiarism: Overview and Contradictions (n.d.) Retrieved March 20, 2012 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/
Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices(n.d.) Retrieved March 20, 2012 www.wadsworth.com/english_d/special_features/plagiarism/WPAplagiarism.pdf
How to Recognize Plagiarism(n.d.) Retrieved March 20, 2012 https://www.indiana.edu/~istd/definition.html
Part II, Student Responsibilities, Academic Misconduct (April 12, 2005) Retrieved March 20, 2012
Plagiarism(n.d.) Retrieved March 20, 2012 http://www.grossmont.edu/library/libraryinstruction/flyers&handouts/plagiarism.pdf\

Copyright and Plagiarism (n.d.) Retrieved March 20, 2012 http://www.grossmont.edu/copyrightandplagiarism/copyrightdefinitions.asp

10 Copyright Laws You Have To Know (n.d.) Retrieved March 20, 2012
http://copyright.laws.com/copyright-law