It’s time we understood what plagiarism is and avoided it

By Fiona Bhandari

Peter found some good information on Google for his report on diamonds. He highlighted the fact that diamonds are the hardest natural substance on earth.

Peter copied it and pasted it into his report. He changed the font, colour, and size so it matched the rest of the report and continued his research. OH NO! Peter had committed a crime which is known as plagiarism.

Hello, I am Fiona, a student of class 7. I am going to discuss one of the most common crimes we do every time we research.

Plagiarism is often taken lightly. But, what is plagiarism? The word plagiarism comes from a Latin word for kidnapping. Plagiarism ( /ˈpleɪdʒəˌrɪz(ə)m/ ) basically means copying others’ opinions and words without giving credit.

Now, there are reasons why people plagiarise: such as lack of understanding, external pressure to succeed, enabling them to cope with workload etc.

According to Jemmy Duns, “Ideas are people’s work. They are researched, developed and crafted”. So, just copying them is basically copying others’ hard work.

According to an article by Carol Duke, in a survey of 24,000 students at 70 academic institutions, 58% admitted to plagiarism.

Well, of course, have Google. But that doesn’t mean that we will not understand our own assignments and just copy them from others. Assignments are given to students to learn about a particular topic and to be able to explain the information.

“It’s not just about writing and researching – it’s about learning,” adds Duke.

But, of course, that doesn’t mean that you cannot take help from others’ opinions and words. You just have to give credit, and understand. You can give credit with citation and bracket texts. If you have copied someone’s opinion you can add the bracketed text- (Last name of the author, page number) and give links to the sources at the end.

Now, Peter knows about plagiarism (I hope you too do now) and promises himself never to do it again.

He carefully gives credits to his report work.

Remember, plagiarism is stealing and a crime.

(To reinforce the message of this article, please find below a few citations for references given in this article)

Citations for this article

 Duke, Carol. “Teaching Students about Plagiarism”. Think Fun, Carol Duke, 12 Dec 2019

 http://info.thinkfun.com/stem-education/teaching-students-about-plagiaris

KidsHealth Medical Experts. “What Is Plagiarism? ”. Kids Health, Nemours, 2021

http://info.thinkfun.com/stem-education/teaching-students-about-plagiarism

The University of Nottingham. “The importance of plagiarism and citation ”. 2020,

http://info.thinkfun.com/stem-education/teaching-students-about-plagiarism

Librarians, APUS. “What is plagiarism? How can I avoid it?”. Library, Richard, 9 Jan 2020,

http://info.thinkfun.com/stem-education/teaching-students-about-plagiarism