PLAGIARISM – A SERIOUS ISSUE

(Sadiah Saleem, )

Plagiarism is considered as a crime in all states of the world. Researchers add footnotes or reference for not going under plagiarism. Every institute allows a certain percentage of plagiarism but it never exceeds the twenty.

Several conferences are held in which hundreds of papers are presented. I questioned myself that how come is it possible to get so many topics without plagiarism and I got my answer which shocked me from head to toe. Cases are observed that the authors, who have right of copyright, are omitted or replaced with some other names. The most shocking news for me was that people utilize hundred percent slides and yet the organizers are unaware of plagiarism. The plagiarism is only detected if that very unfortunate author has participated in the event.
In 2018, 59 plagiarism cases were probed in Pakistan. This is an abhorrent value for us.

Plagiarism can be controlled by changing sentence formation or by adding references. The authorities should also read the submitted papers. There are several online plagiarism checking websites and applications that can be used.

Punishments are for teachers, researchers, staff and also for students. The major step is to dismiss from service or to expel the student from university. The moderate step is blacklisting, demotion to next lower grade, may be given failure grade or fined an amount deemed as appropriate. The minor step involves warning, freezing for all research grants or debarring from sponsorship of research funding. These all steps depend on the rate of plagiarism in a research paper.

I wondered why on earth the students or teachers plagiarize. Then I realized that the major fault is in our educational system in which a child is made to cram his essay and write what others are writing. If in examination, he forgets a single word he is well aware that the person in front of him is also writing the same then why shouldn’t I peek into his paper to search for that very word which my teacher told me. He then cheats and enters to the world of plagiarism. It becomes his habit to copy and to cheat but this habit is the worst gift given to our child who in result ends the ability of creativity and self confidence in him. It’s true that those who plagiarize are lazy and do not have enough confidence to belief in themselves. A single line, any fact or sentence formation change is a very difficult task yet creativity never puts you down. This will save them from guilt and will not trouble his future by his own hands.
 

Sadiah Saleem
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