Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Advice to potential plagiarists

First of all, don't do it. Plagiarism is theft, lying, and evidence of academic laziness (if not moral turpitude), and it can be deleterious to your precious gpa.

But you've already heard that and yet you insist on plagiarizing, and you can't understand why you keep getting caught. Plagiarism indicates a devotion to cutting corners, while avoiding detection requires careful attention to details--two mutually exclusive skill sets. But if you think you can slip your plagiarized paper past your canny professors' watchful eyes, here are some hints:

If you must copy a document off the Internet, you really ought to take the time to remove the little url address printed at the top of the page as well as the hyperlinks scattered throughout the paper.

If you must turn in a paper you wrote for another class, think about changing the heading on the first page--you know, the place where you put the name of the class, the name of the professor, and the date of submission. And while you're at it, take a look at the documentation style: if the class is using MLA style and you turn in a paper full of APA citations, the professor will suspect foul play.

Finally, if you must turn in a paper written by another student on the same campus, you ought to take a few moments to find out for which class the paper was written. If you hand me a paper identical to one I received from another student last year, I can guarantee that I'll recognize it. I'm not senile yet: I can still recognize examples I've read before, and I can still detect vast changes in your writing style from one week to the next. It may take me a little time to track down the source, but I'll find it eventually, and you will not enjoy the outcome. Trust me.

And then after you're caught, the question is: how can I ever trust you?

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