why do people plagiarize?
Understanding why people plagiarize in the first place is an important step in ultimately avoiding it.
As highlighted by the University of Alberta Libraries, common reasons for plagiarism include:
- Lack of research skills
- Problems with evaluating internet resources
- Confusion between plagiarism and paraphrasing
- Confusion about terminology
- Careless note taking
- Confusion about how to properly cite sources
- Misconception of plagiarism
- Misconception of intellectual property, copyright, and public domain
- Misconception of common knowledge
- Perception of online information as public knowledge
- Pressure from family, competition for scholarships and jobs
- Poor time management and organizational skills
- Culturally based attitudes towards plagiarism
It should be noted that while these are reasons for which people plagiarize, they are not by any means acceptable excuses for doing so. Plagiarism represents the worst form of academic cheating, and is dealt with accordingly.
