Plagiarism Issues Brought by the Cybernation of Academic Life (Essay Sample)

Plagiarism Issues Brought about by the Cybernation of Academic Life
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Present Plagiarism Issues Brought by the Cybernation of Academic Life
In academic research writing, one major contradiction usually arises when it comes to the writing of research work. This is, despite the fact that a writer is expected and required to read and research as well as refer to professionals and authorities when writing an academic paper, he is also counted on to produce ‘first’ and genuine work. This has proved to be a challenge to most academicians since it defies the entire purpose of research writing. However, in the quest to get this research material, most students have been faced with the issue of plagiarism which has in recent times been a classroom headache to most academic institutions as well as students themselves. This paper is going to look into the various plagiarism disquiets that have cropped up as a result of increased cybernation of academic life in the 21st century.[BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Angelil-Carter, S. Understanding plagiarism differently. (Cape Town.: Silk Road, 2000), 27.]
The word plagiarism originates from a Latin phrase that stands for "kidnapping". The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers labels the term plagiarism as "giving the impression that you have written or thought something that the writer has in fact, borrowed from someone else." It involves the taking of another person's ideas or words, purposely or not, and presenting them as your own. Various forms of plagiarism have been identified depending on the amount of material ‘borrowed’, these include; Direct plagiarism, the mosaic.[BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Edwards, Linda N., and Matthew G. Schoengood. Avoiding and detecting plagiarism-A Guide for Graduate Students and Faculty. (New york: The City University of New York, 2005) 132-135.] [BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Weidenborner, Stephen. Writing Research Papers. (New York: St. Martin’s, 1982) 239-241.]
With the evolution of cybernation, plagiarism and copyright issues have equally increased. However, as the increase in these two has continued, so has the level of supervision when it comes to academics and other aspects of formal education. Some of the copyright issues which have arisen on account of cybernation include;
First, cybernation has increased access to easy to obtain academic material which most students duplicate and present as their own original work. This is contrary to generally acceptable ethical academic practices as it does not allow for the original author to receive the due credit. It also promotes a culture of laziness on the part of the student as he does not have to invest his mental ability when writing a particular paper.[BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Jude, Carroll, and Appleton Jon. Plagiarism-A Good Practice Guide. Oxford.: Oxford Brookes University, 2001.]
Secondly, as a result of this, if in the occasion that the student is found to have plagiarized his work, in most academic institutions, this usually leads to discipline and in some cases could result to complete expulsion of the student. This is especially a serious academic mistake, now that copyright issues have now been embedded in most countries legal structures and is considered a crime.
Thirdly, another serious concern that has arose as a result of cybernation, is that as the students opt to copy the works of others, they do not put much effort in their studious or class work subsequently resulting to less productive and constructive work. Even though this may seem easy and in the short run a cheap way of getting an academic grade, eventually it leads to a student who has poor or no grasp of the subject matter, and also a student who cannot practically apply the concepts and theories in real life situations.[Weidenborner, Writing Research Papers, 242-243.]