Final answer:
Plagiarism is the act of using someone else's words or ideas without giving proper credit, essentially claiming their work as your own. It includes acts like submitting a paper written by another or copying text without citation. Ethical attribution is necessary to avoid plagiarism and its significant academic and professional consequences.
Step-by-step explanation:
What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is the act of presenting someone else's work, whether it is words, ideas, or findings, as your own without proper attribution. It is a form of intellectual theft that violates ethical standards in academia and other fields. Examples of plagiarism include submitting a paper written entirely or partially by someone else, copying text directly without providing citations, or not crediting an author for their contributions to your work. Even in cases where plagiarism is not deliberate, it is still problematic because it fails to give credit where it's due and can mislead readers about the sources of information.
Examples of Plagiarism
Putting one's name on a paper written by another person and submitting it.
Buying or downloading a paper from an Internet site and claiming it as one's original work.
Copying and pasting text from a source into a paper without citing the source.
It is essential for researchers and students to reference any borrowed material properly, regardless of whether it enhances their unique viewpoint or supports their research. Not all uses of external content constitute plagiarism; for example, commonly known facts or information found in multiple sources do not require citation. However, ethical attribution is crucial to avoid the serious consequences of plagiarism, which can include academic penalties and loss of credibility. Researchers are responsible for correctly citing their sources to acknowledge the original creators and to contribute to the body of knowledge in an honest and responsible way.