Transcription
We need to have a serious conversation. This issue is getting way out of hand, and if anything, it's getting easier and more common to, well, how do I say this, plagiarize. As a teacher, I see this issue every year, but it's definitely increased with distance learning and with education becoming more digitized. We have to stop this now. So, do yourself and humanity a favor and watch this video.
And to be honest, I watched a lot of videos and read a ton of articles when preparing for this video, and I'm shocked at what's not talked about when it comes to plagiarism. And just so you know, I'm using some of the ideas for my research in this video, so I've linked it down below to give them credit. Imagine if I plagiarized on my video, talked about why plagiarism is wrong. That'd be awkward. I'm going to cover everything, so hopefully, this is the last video you have to watch on plagiarism. Let's get started.
Plagiarism is to steal, pass off ideas or words of another as one's own. Oh, and I think I probably have to tell you, I got this definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary because I think giving credit's important. Notice it says words and ideas. This is an important point of confusion that we'll cover in this video. Pretty much whenever you use someone's words or ideas, you have to cite it, which means that you basically just give credit and tell them where you learned it. Like, don't get me wrong, it's okay to use someone's words or ideas, you just have to cite it.
Here's a caveat: if somebody's common knowledge, you don't need to cite it. For example, if I asked you, "Who is the current president of the United States?" I bet you could tell me, and you wouldn't need to cite your sources because, well, it's common knowledge. But did you know Joe Biden, who right now is the current president of the United States, loves ice cream? In fact, while running for president in April 2020, his campaign team spent over $10,000 on ice cream. Kind of crazy, and to be honest, that's big and healthy. But here's the point: something like that isn't common knowledge, and you have to cite your sources of where you learned it. And I read that on the article on biography.com. So, basically, unless it's common knowledge, you have to tell the reader where you learned that information.
Now, here's what no one is talking about when talking about why to avoid plagiarism. People rush to talk about the consequences, but here's what I think are the top three reasons to avoid plagiarism. The number one reason to avoid plagiarism: just because it's wrong. Think about it. It's not wrong to steal or murder because you get in trouble. It's wrong because you have to respect their things and their own life. I get it that no one really enjoys writing essays on their weekend, and you want to finish quickly, but it's just wrong to benefit from someone else's work and claim it as your own.
Number two: it's just dangerous to do so. And here's why. One of the biggest reasons we cite our sources is so that other people can fact-check us. And in a world where fake news is more prevalent than ever, we need to check people's sources to know where they got their information from and whether it's true or not. And if you just plagiarize something and do not give credit, your reader has no idea where you got the information from and cannot fact-check you, and that's super dangerous.
Number three: like I said before, I doubt many of you like spending your weekends or late nights writing essays, and a lot of us just want to take the easy way out. But I think there's something to be said about sticking to something and working hard on something that you don't want to do. I think it builds character and just makes you a better person because in life, you don't always get to do what you want, but that's not a reason to slack off and just not give it your all. Your goal as a human being should be to benefit and help other people as much as possible, and you do not do that by plagiarizing. You're not helping people if you take their hard work and benefit from it yourself, and you don't allow people to fact-check your work.
But if that doesn't convince you, although it should, depending on your school policy, you can fail the assignment or class, have to take an academic dishonesty course, or if you get suspended or expelled. And in the workplace, if you plagiarize, you can lose your job and credibility. But with all that being said, avoid plagiarism because it's just the right thing to do. Now, if you can think of more reasons to avoid plagiarism, smash that like button and throw it in the comments down below.
Now, I found that there's two types of students that plagiarize. Number one: those who don't realize what plagiarism is, and so they don't realize what they're doing and just need to be taught. And the second type is, well, they know what they're doing is wrong, but they just do it anyways. So, I hope you're the first type. Now, I'm going to walk you through every type of plagiarism I've seen and how to avoid it. Towards the end of the video, I'm going to reveal the most common form of plagiarism I see as a teacher. I'm also going to give you the best analogy and explanation I have to explain what plagiarism is. So, let's jump into it.
What if I copy and paste something and put it directly in my essay? Yes, that is plagiarism. Don't do it. You can use a quote, you just need to cite it, which means you give credit to the author. If you don't know how to cite quotes, check out the video above.
Let's say I copy a quote but then change a couple words. Still not your idea. You need to cite it.
What if I take different ideas from different articles and videos, put them together to make my own sentence? That is plagiarism. You're still taking someone's idea and building off of it, so give them credit.
Okay, so what if my friend owes me? I take their homework and I put my name on it. Really? That's clearly not kosher.
What if I pay someone? Yeah, that is plagiarism.
What if I were using old assignments for my new class? You actually can't do that. It's called self-plagiarism. You can't take an old assignment and turn it into a different class. And if you want to take an idea from a previous essay, you have to cite yourself, which I guess is pretty cool because it makes you sound smart.
Do I have to cite Google? Okay, this happens way too often, so pretty please, let's stop it. In their essays, students will cite Google. And here's the issue with that. Have you ever Googled something like, "How far away is the moon from the Earth?" Google pops up tons of information. Here's the thing: the information did not come from Google. It's just really good at finding information for you. If you look at those questions right there when it gives you the answer, it's not coming from Google. It came from the link right below it.
Okay, I think I get it now. What if I take a sentence, change the entire thing in my own words so that's mine? Do I cite it? Remember the definition? It said words and ideas. So, this is the most common form of plagiarism that I see today. Even though you paraphrase, which means you took it and put it in your own words, the idea is still theirs. You need to cite it.
Here is the best analogy that I can give you. Imagine I steal your car, take it home, and give it brand new tires and a fresh paint job. Whose car is it? You may say it's yours, but then I would say, "Different." "Hey, I changed it." But in reality, just because I changed the outside of the car doesn't make it my car. It's still yours. It's the same thing with paraphrasing. Just because you took an idea and put it in your own words does not make it your idea. You need to tell us where you learned that information and give the author credit.
Now, let's talk about a couple key ways to avoid plagiarism. One of the trickiest parts when researching for an essay is you're reading tons of different websites and articles, and it's tough to keep track of where you learned different bits of information. What I tell students to do is whenever you like an idea, whenever you learn something, keep track of it. Open up a Google Doc, copy-paste a link to that source. That way, when you actually start writing your essay or your assignments, you actually remember where you learned the information from. I provide this template down in the video description below.
Next, just give the person credit. Whether you're taking a quote directly or paraphrasing it, you have to give them credit, so cite your sources.
To wrap all this up, basically, cite your sources and give the person credit. Our goal should be to help and benefit as many people as possible, and you do not do that by cutting corners, being lazy, and stealing other people's work and claiming it as your own. You don't give people an opportunity to fact-check your work and to know whether it's true or not. Like I said before, if you want to know where I learned some of this information or you want to fact-check me, check out the video description down below. Hopefully, this is the last video you need to watch on plagiarism. Now go forth and don't plagiarize. Smash like button, hit subscribe. Adios.