Why Is Plagiarism Illegal? The detailed answer to a difficult question

Plagiarism always leads to serious negative consequences. Ph.D. holders may lose their degree and students may be suspended if the paper is not unique. What is the reason for such a serious attitude? Why does every course start with a lecture about the uniqueness of research? Is it possible that there are as many fresh ideas as students in colleges all over the globe?

why is plagiarism illegal

Is plagiarism a crime?

We all understand from the beginning of any course at college why is plagiarism illegal and why every essay, paper, presentation, book review or book report must be unique. Only, do we?

Note: Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else’s work or idea and passing them off as one’s own. It is illegal not to mention an author when using his/her work, being it a text (including just an idea expressed in that text), visual element (from graphs and tables to photos and videos), or an audio recording.

The definition supposes students doing it consciously. They are reading research on an academic website, copy and paste parts of a text that contain important ideas without citing the source. What if you come to a certain conclusion by spending days or weeks in a library, note it in your paper but later it appears that the idea had been already stated by another researcher? In this case, your paper is no other than plagiarized. How about hours or days spent by research? Is copying illegal in such a case?

Bigger picture

Let’s think for a moment about plagiarism consequences in the world. News services report every week about another examples of plagiarism cases. It can be a song, a logo, a text, a software, a concept and everything that is protected by copyright. For example, in 2015 Rolling Stone magazine reported that Robin Thicke paid 7,3 million dollars to Marvin Gaye for using music patterns of the song “Got to Give It Up” in the pop song “Blurred Lines”. That is illegal not only in a music world. Plagiarism laws are severe in a real world. It is the reason to avoid copyright abuse from school years.

Find out more: Quick plagiarism check online for college students

Detect plagiarism in your paper

What are the consequences of plagiarism?

Every student must realize that it is illegal and a serious offense, which leads to serious consequences. In an academic world, they vary from college to college. You may receive F for your paper if it’s not written from scratch, or you will be suspended or dismissed from an academic course or college for a while. The worst thing that can happen you will be expelled. The only advice here is to be attentive and always check the uniqueness of your paper. There are plenty of websites, which check the texts. Unfortunately, not all of them are good enough. Some of them may appear illegal and still your work.

How to avoid the consequences?

First of all, you have to always write unique papers from scratch. It is a number one rule for every pupil and student. If you are not sure whether your paper unique or not, it is reasonable to consult a specialist and learn how to prove you didn't plagiarize. Edubirdie.com is the right choice. The proofreading team is ready to proof and correct any type of assignment and conclude whether it is unique enough to be applied to your educational institution. In spite of free online sources, which may appear illegal, we use the powerful tools that check every paper very precisely before concluding a result. With a professional consultation, no plagiarism is possible.

What precautions should you understand?

To avoid the stress of imaging the worst consequences that can happen, you as a student have to understand the assignment and expectations. The second thing to note is your audience. Social sciences, nursing and business papers prefer APA style, while liberal arts, fine arts, humanities prefer MLA formatting. It is always better to ask your professor. There is less hurt from asking than from non-unique results.

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