What is Plagiarism? According to Black’s Law Dictionary plagiarism is “The act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind” (Black & Nolan, 1990, p. 1150). Stated another way, plagiarism is the pilfering of another’s hard work, while taking the credit for oneself. ‘The word ‘plagiarism’ comes from the Latin word plagiarius, which means ‘kidnapper.’ Writers commit plagiarism when they ‘kidnap’ someone else's work without acknowledging the source” (Hooker, 2006).
First of all there are countless explanations for why a student may plagiarize, in some cases students are just plain lazy and don’t want to go through the creative process, exerting the meticulous hard work that good writing requires. There are students that suffer from poor time management skills failing to realize the amount of study and research required to deliver a genuine analysis. Likewise there are those that persist in poor note taking habits, leaving out important bits of information here and there causing confusion when it’s time to put it all together. Additionally there are students who are unaware of proper citation technique (What is Plagiarism?, n.d.).
Meanwhile, plagiarism falls into one of two categories, one is intentional plagiarism, and the other is unintentional plagiarism. In the case of intentional plagiarism the writer or student knowingly uses the work of someone else, without citing the source or giving credit to the original author, to include internet paper mills, and commonly take place in the case of the lazy student or when the student has poor time management habits (College Board, 2012). This type of plagiarism becomes even more attractive through the massive amount of information offered on the internet. Unintentional plagiarism happens when the writer or student uses the work of someone else, and fails to give credit to the original author because of inaccurate citing, quoting, and poor paraphrasing technique, and the omission of important information in the situation of poor note taking habits (What is Plagiarism?).
With this in mind the importance of citation cannot be stressed enough in the avoidance, and controversy of plagiarism. Citing accurately gives credit to the source, in addition to providing a means for readers to review and evaluate the diligence put forth by the student (Sue, 2008). Furthermore, citation offers credence to the work by providing “outside support” (What is Plagiarism?). The following is an example of on improper citation. In writing, we draw upon others’ words and ideas and the intellectual heritage underlying human progress. Scholarship entails researching, understanding, and building upon the work of others, but also requires that proper credit be given for any “borrowed” material. This may be a very good example of the need to cite properly, the problem is that this plagiarized; it came from an outside source, and should have been cited as follows. “In writing, we draw upon others’ words and ideas and the intellectual heritage underlying human progress. Scholarship entails researching, understanding, and building upon the work of others, but also requires that proper credit be given for any ‘borrowed’ material” (Avoiding PLAGIARISM. 2006).
To clarify citing is the process of giving proper credit to the originator of an idea, thought process, discussion, literary work, or any other form of outside influence on the work of the student. There are ample ways for a student to achieve the desired outcome; one would be to use a direct quote, as discussed previously. It is essential that a writer know how and when to use direct quoting, this skill will develop over time with practice (Sue). Similarly a student can use paraphrasing to insure that proper credit is given when warranted, though caution must be used paraphrasing is the art of expressing someone else’s ideas in a new and different way. Paraphrasing is not simply coping and pasting the work of another and changing some of, or moving the words around. This requires some actual intellectual input from the writer, it is very important that the student express their own tangible ideas based on the information they have gathered, studied, and thoroughly researched (College Board). The encyclopedia of dog breeds “Contrary to its reputation the Rottweiler breed is biddable and loyal treated well and handled firmly” (Cunliffe, 1999, p. 284). The following are examples of improper and proper paraphrasing of the previous quote. When treated correctly the Rottweiler breed is compliant and devoted despite its reputation (Cunliffe, 1999, p. 284). With proper training the Rottweiler is an obedient and devoted companion (Cunliffe, 1999, p. 284).
Equally important is common knowledge, knowing what is and what is not common knowledge is in some cases are very easy for instance; The President of the United States is currently Barack Obama. There quite a few areas where it’s not as simple, there is contention amongst “plagiarism experts” on what is considered common knowledge (Sue). Most measure common knowledge, by how many places it can be found, and if it is known by a lot of people, even still they cannot agree on the number of places it must be found (Sue). Common knowledge can also be unique to a profession, discipline, or region, for example if a student in the military, and is in a class with military and non-military students the student cannot use military terms in writing without citing the source. Likewise, if all the students in the class and the instructor are in the military or have an extensive knowledge of the military the writer can generally assume that military terms are common knowledge in this situation (Sue). In any case it is the student’s responsibility to decide when it is necessary to cite a source, if there is any question at all cite, cite, cite! Better to over cite than not attribute credit properly (Avoiding PLAGIARISM. 2006).
In summary, plagiarism is the pilfering of another's hard work, while taking the credit for oneself this is unacceptable. Through hard work, research, and proper note taking in addition to instruction, and practice in the proper use of direct quotation, paraphrasing, and common knowledge, citing sources and giving credit where credit is due should be easy.

References
Avoiding PLAGIARISM. (2006). Mastering the art of scholarship. Retrieved January 25, 2012 from http://sja.ucdavis.edu/files/plagiarism.pdf
Black, H. C., & Nolan, J. R. (1990). Black's law dictionary, definitions of the terms and phrases of american and english jurisprudence, ancient and modern. (6th ed.). St Paul, MN: West Publishing Co.
College Board, C. B. (2012). How to avoid plagiarism. Retrieved January 20, 2012 from http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/10314.html
Cunliffe, J. (1999). The encyclopedia of dog breeds New York, NY: Barnes & Noble.
Hooker, F. (2006). Tips for avoiding plagiarism. Retrieved January 21, 2012 from http://www.webster.edu/students/plagiarism/
Sue , T. (2008). Plagiarism prevention for students. Retrieved January 20, 2012 from http://library.csusm.edu/plagiarism/whatis/
What is Plagiarism?. (n.d.). Types of plagiarism. Retrieved January 21, 2012 from http://www.plagiarism.org