Plagiarism and How You Can Avoid It

Plagiarism.org defines plagiarism as "an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward." Many people do not realize the seriousness that comes with plagiarism. It is an issue that should not be taken likely. There are many people who commit this offense on a daily basis. Some of the people do this intentionally due to lack of time or because they just want to hurry and get an assignment done. Many people plagiarize unintentionally. With so many documents and copyrighted files on the Internet, it is possible that two people have the same thought processes. Plagiarism is also very easy to avoid. The easiest way to avoid plagiarism would be to always cite your sources. Whether it be a book, picture, video, or song, it is always a necessity to note where it came from and give credit where credit is due. Another (less feasible) way to avoid plagiarism is to avoid using the work of another person all together. This is easy to do when writing for fun, but many teachers require a number of sources in many assignments. Plagiarism is serious, but avoiding it is simple. Always cite your sources!