Plagiarism and Society: Examining Effects on Ethics and Integrity

This essay discusses the detrimental effects of plagiarism on society, defining it as the stealing of another's ideas and highlighting its presence across various sectors like education, music, journalism, movies, and literature. It emphasizes that plagiarism is not merely a copyright issue but a breach of ethics, leading to academic dishonesty and a loss of credibility. The essay also addresses different levels of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism and redundant publication, and their impact on research integrity. Real-world examples, such as the Neil Harman journalism scandal, are used to illustrate the far-reaching consequences of plagiarism, underscoring the importance of ethical conduct and the role of institutions in preventing and addressing plagiarism incidents. Desklib provides students access to similar essays and solved assignments.

Running head: PLAGIARISM AND ITS EFFECT ON SOCIETY
Plagiarism and its effect on Society
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1PLAGIARISM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY
Thesis Statement: Plagiarism has a bad influence on the Society
Plagiarism refers to the stealing of the language, thoughts and ideas of another author.
It occurs when an individual copies elements from the work of another author and passes it
off as his own. It is indicative of “wrongful appropriation” and is an act of academic
dishonesty. It leads to the breach of the ethics related to journalism. It is subjected to different
kinds of sanctions like penalty and suspension. The notion that the original is an ideal rose in
Europe in the 18th century with the dawning of the Romantic movement. Plagiarism is not a
crime in itself but it constitutes the issue of copyright infringement (Angélil-Carter 2014). It
is generally held that the idea of plagiarism and that of copyright infringement overlap
considerably. Plagiarism cannot be punished by the law but it is the educational institutions
that punish instances of plagiarism.
Minimum amount of plagiarism exists in the educational sector in which a person
commits plagiarism by the substitution of the synonyms. Falsification along with fabrication
also account for major offences besides that of plagiarism. Alteration of the research
materials and the result of the research not being reflected in the proper manner leads to
falsification. This has a bearing on the credibility of research. According to White (2013), act
relating to overt plagiarism is a failure in terms of personal integrity. It shows lack of the
element of professionalism. An experience at the geriatric fellowship has shown that problem
pertaining to plagiarism is more wide spread than it is recognized. It was found that three out
of the total of 26 applications was consisting of plagiarized portions from that of a single
website. It has been stated by Louw and Pieterse (2015) that this kind of incident of
documentation of plagiarism can help in raising awareness among that of the medical
educators. Some of the citizens do not recognize the fact that copying from sources verbatim
amounts to plagiarism.

2PLAGIARISM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY
According to Weber-Wulff (2014), plagiarism is not synonymous with the concept of
copyright infringement. They are indicative of different concepts. False claims in relation to
authorship constitute the issue of plagiarism irrespective of the factor whether the material
has been protected by copyright. The violation of the rights of the copyright holder is termed
as copyright infringement and in this case material of a person (restricted by virtue of
copyright) is used without his consent. Plagiarism on the other hand refers to the unearned
increment of plagiarizing of the reputation of an author. It refers to achieving false claim of
that of authorship and it is a moral offence to the audience of the plagiarist (Chien 2014). It
is also considered to be an offence for those who has provided the particular plagiarist with
the benefit. The publisher of the plagiarist is also committing an act of moral offense in this
kind of a case.
In the field of academia, plagiarism is held to be an act of academic dishonesty and
the offenders are subjected to expulsion. There are certain institutions that make use of
plagiarism detected software in order to uncover instances of potential plagiarism. According
to Stuhmcke, Booth and Wangmann (2016), plagiarism is not an innovative problem and
dependence on the factor of internet has increased the opportunities in relation to plagiarism.
The careless “cutting and pasting” poses problem for the unwary users of Internet. There are
a large number of websites in the present age that provides students with the opportunity to
download term papers free of cost. It has been argued by Appiah (2016) that they tend to
present themselves as “research assistance” but they offer possibilities relating to plagiarism.
They tend to provide guidance to the students who are under undue pressure. It is mentioned
over there that students should use the papers like models. It has been argued by Dalal (2015)
that the students in haste often end up using the material of the papers that amounts to
plagiarism. The author’s credentials should always be asked because a paper that is
anonymous can be indicative of another student.

3PLAGIARISM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY
Level Three Plagiarism is considered to be a very serious form of plagiarism. It
occurs when the conduct of the student is dishonest and the plagiarism compromise the
process of assessment. This occurs when the work has been got from that of another person.
It happens when the work of the student is similar to that of the work of other student that is
inclusive of that of assignment of the previous years. Large sections are copied from that of
other source and it is presented in a manner as if it is his own work. The lack of necessary
citation also leads to academic misconduct. Plagiarism cannot be simply be termed as a
black-and-white issue. According to Amos (2014), boundary between that of plagiarism and
that of research is indistinct. On the event of the writer writing from the work of another
author leads to plagiarism. When the writer copies from that of different sources and retains
the original phrasing then it amounts to plagiarism. The retaining of the content of the source
but changing of key phrases paves the path for plagiarism. It is found that when the writer
borrows from his previous work then it also violates the policies relating to plagiarism. Self-
plagiarism can be defined in three manners within the relevant literature (Angélil-Carter
2014). It means the publishing of paper that overlaps with that of another paper and it is not
acknowledged properly. Dividing a large paper into that of smaller papers and then
publishing them on separate basis can be tantamount to that of plagiarism.
Scientific integrity is dependent on honesty along with that of transparency of method
that transfers knowledge. It has been argued by Bruton and Childers (2016) that re-
publishing the same results in different papers and multiple recalculations of that of the same
result can lead to errors in the process of research. Redundant publication takes place in case
of an overlap between the two papers. This includes the overlapping with that of another
author and their results. According to Risquez, O’Dwyer and Ledwith (2013), re-publishing
done in a deceptive manner cannot be accepted and it points forward to three problems. It can
be unethical, waste the resources and has bad impact on that of future research decision.

4PLAGIARISM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY
Redundant publication can mislead readers and reduce credibility in relation to the journal. It
can prove to be a hindrance in the area of attracting good papers. Duplicate publication waste
the resources and it wastes the time that should be allocated to that of other paper.
Plagiarism not only exists in the field of education but in different sectors like that
of music, journalism, movies and literature. Music Plagiarism refers to the imitation of the
music of another author and it exists in two contexts- musical idea or that of sampling. In the
arena of classical music, there is a software that can automatically generate music in style of
that of another composer. David Cope has written down software system by the name of
“Experiments in Musical Intelligence” (Yadav, Rawal and Baxi 2016). It can analyze from
that of existing music by human composer in order to generate new musical composition. In
the case of classical music, there are certain software that can generate music automatically in
another composer’s style by making use of the musical analysis of the works. According to
McGinnis (2013), sampling is an area of argument from the point of view of the legal. The
sampling artists of the earlier era made use of the recordings of other artists without asking
for their permission. Hip hop and other forms of music started to incorporate samples and
became rich. Original artists hence started to take legal action and claimed infringement of
copyright. In the present age, most of the artists obtain authorization before using the samples
which is termed as “clearing” (Lewis and Zhong 2013). They gain permission so that they
can use the sample by the payment of upfront fee.
Movies provide entertainment but plagiarism has pervaded this world of
entertainment. According to Lewis (2013), movies were initially meant to be original in terms
of concept and artistic however it has deviated a lot from its original purpose. Plagiarism has
affected world of movie making and the manner in which movies are played. In the world of
movies, one copies or acquires data from that of another movie and create a movie as if it is
one’s original. It is the duty of authorities releasing movie to check originality in terms of the

5PLAGIARISM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY
print. It is their responsibility to determine the extent of the plagiarism. There are definite
standard to which plagiarism can be allowed but beyond a certain point it can seriously injure
the business of the particular movie from which matter has been copied (Louw and Pieterse
2015). There are certain measures that should be adopted so that the movie-makers do not
indulge themselves in the negative act of plagiarism. In the present age, plagiarism has
reached the zenith and sound effect, back ground and technique is being copied from that of
another source.
In terms of journalism, plagiarism is the breach in relation to journalistic ethics.
Reporters who are caught in the act of plagiarizing have to withstand disciplinary measures
that can range from that of suspension to that of termination in relation to employment.
According to Groshek and Conway (2013), there are some individuals who tend to claim that
they have plagiarized unintentionally as they have failed to include the quotations. The
developing of the Internet in which articles appear in the form of electronic text has made the
process of copying many times easier. An incident that shook the world of journalism was the
author named Neil Harman who was a well-known tennis correspondent being accused of
plagiarism. He acted as the official Wimbledon Annual for the year 2013 which had been
written down by him ten years earlier. Harman was removed from task of writing down the
annual but his press access was not revoked (Groshek and Conway 2013). It was responsible
for creating a lot of controversy however the book continued to be sold for many months
within the gift shop. The public came to know about this issue in the year 2014 and Harman
resigned from that of the International Tennis Writer’s Association. London Times also
suspended him as the investigation was pending.
According to Lewis (2013), the fall of grace of a person of stature like Neil Harman
shook the world of journalism. This issue stood out owing to the fact of the role played by
Wimbledon that is a reputed organization in the field of Tennis. Harman failed in duties in

6PLAGIARISM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY
relation to the author and simultaneously tennis club also failed to deliver its duty as an
employer. It failed in detecting plagiarism in the work of Harman but also did not remove the
book quickly that compelled the issue to come to surface. Employers along with editors have
to play an important role in relation to plagiarism especially when the issue of plagiarism has
been detected. Wimbledon thus failed to fulfil its duty. Journalism does great service in
delivering news to the public and this is a medium that is greatly relied upon by the common
people (Tandoc and Jenkins 2017). Incidents like this shake the faith of the public in
journalistic figures and tarnish the image of the sector of journalism. It is the duty of
journalism to expose incidents of crime and other aberrations from that of the normal course.
The public will think twice before believing in the world of the media from next time
onwards. This incidents related to plagiarism has an extremely negative impact on the society
and moral consciousness on the part of the people can help in avoiding theses kind of
incidents.
Literature is another arena in which acts of plagiarism is rampant. Literary theft
occurs when language and thought process of that of another author is imitated without
crediting name of original author. According to Katz et al. (2016), the unauthorized use can
put into jeopardy the original writer and hurt immensely the reputation of the author who is
involved in the act of plagiarism. The iconic fashion designer called Vivienne Westwood had
been accused of plagiarism in relation to her memoir. Paul Gorman who is an author of “The
Look: Adventures in Rock and Pop Fashion” had been responsible for the allegations. It was
claimed by him that there were 40 pages that bore similarity to his books. Later on, he shifted
the blame from that of Westwood to the co-author of the book called Ian Kelly.
Westwood is a big name in the world of fashion. The memoir was able to sell
extremely well because of her unique position within the industry. A memoir is supposed to
be a personal work that reflects the thought of author in a very intimate manner. It has been

7PLAGIARISM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY
argued by Angélil-Carter (2014), that it is supposed to mirror the life of the author and the
allegation of plagiarism had grave impact on the name of Westwood. The popularity of the
book was greatly shaken owing to this incident and it completely tarnished the credibility of
the memoir. It could have been a jewel in the career of Westwood but this act of plagiarism
completely destroyed her public image. The memoir is a personal work and it should have
been ensured that it is devoid of any kind of plagiarism. The editor along with that of the
publisher had failed to serve their duty.
Plagiarism can shroud in darkness the professional career of an individual. The
plagiarism can be asked to leave the job and he can also be fired. It becomes difficult for the
individual to search for employment within the same field. Public figures have to face severe
consequences and it destroys the reputation of the individual in front of the public. The
individual reading the plagiarized material may be unaware that the work has been copied
from that of another work. It is thus a blow for the element of credibility of an individual. The
public becomes gullible since they are unaware that the work has been copied from another
source. Plagiarism is an old problem that still persists in the society and the spread of internet
has increased the cases of plagiarism. Cutting along with pasting that is done carelessly adds
to the problem of plagiarism. There are many websites that allow the students with
opportunity to download paper. This also adds to the problem of plagiarism and level three
plagiarism occurs owing to academic misconduct. Self-plagiarism occurs when one paper is
published that overlaps with that of another paper without proper acknowledgement. Division
of a large paper into many small papers can also cause plagiarism. Plagiarism not only occurs
in education but also in music, literature and journalism. Journalism is supposed to reveal true
incidents and the act of Neil Harman has destroyed the image attributed to the media before
the public. It has a bad impact on the society and destroys the credibility of the journalism.
The accusation of plagiarism against fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has been a blow

8PLAGIARISM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY
to the literary career of the writer. Memoir should mirror the actual facts and should be a
portrayal of the real life of an individual.

9PLAGIARISM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY
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