Write an essay to incoming freshman about plagiarism

Write an to incoming freshman about plagiarism - Essay Example Deliberate plagiarism includes summarizing or paraphrasing another person’s ideas without indicating where they come from. Accidental plagiarism on the other hand occurs when one forgets or unknowingly omits quotation marks around a passage that was copied word for word. If other people’s words are used; the words must be put in quotation makes and a citation of the source made (Nelson and Stepchyshyn, 60). When one plagiarizes his/ her work, they cheat themselves as they will not know how to write out their thoughts in their own words and they will not receive specific feedback from their instructors geared to ones needs and skills. Plagiarism affects the value of one’s degree and can diminish the worth of a diploma. If students work is found to be plagiarized, the professor of the course gets to determine the penalty and one of the most severe will include getting a fail in the course in not an expulsion from school (Nelson and Stepchyshyn, 60). Plagiarism is considered to violate the code of academic conduct and it can lead to dismissal or suspension. Taking or using other people’s property (work) without giving them credit is considered as copyright violation which can lead to damages and draws hefty fines or punitive jail terms (University of California and