What is Plagiarism ? Types, Prevention and Penalties | Binhacker

 Plagiarism

"Plagiarism is taken from the Latin word Plagiare, meaning to kidnap or abduct".

Plagiarism and its types

But in the field of Information Technology, plagiarism

means copying  the ideas, thoughts or creations of some other person and

using them by one's own name without the consent of actual author or

writer. Plagiarism is a kind of intellectual theft which can be intentional or sometimes

unintentional. 

Plagiarism and IT

With the increased use of information technology during the past few decades,

plagiarism has also increased very rapidly. Use of Internet and World Wide

Web (WWW) has made the information easily available to everyone. This

information can be easily downloaded and used for making various project

reports or for writing thesis by the students. Moreover, the information is used

without quoting the actual source or acknowledging the actual author which

leads to the plagiarism.

Types of Plagiarism

Plagiarism are of different types varying upon the degree of information copied and how that information is interpreted in different sources.

• Ghost Writing: Copying the complete work of some other author line by line without

quoting the name of original author  and uses it as one's own creation then such type of plagiarism

is considered as Ghost writing.

• Photocopying: Using a good amount of work from someone's else creation without making any changes in it is called Photocopying. 

• Potluck Paper: Copying information from various alternative sources and mixing them up to make a new creation is called Potluck Paper.

• Self Plagiarism: When a writer uses his own previous creations and present them in new way, then such type of plagiarism is called Self Plagiarism. 

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Plagiarism can be diminished and even eliminated by following certain conventions and methods while using information from any other source like :

•  Mention the Original Sources: If you want to use some information from a book or some website in your work, always mention the original source along with such information from where it is taken.

• Taking permission from the creator : If possible, take written permission from the creator of original work for using his contents in your work.

• Reframing the Information : Do not just copy the contents as it is from the source, try to reframe the information and represent it in your own style.

• Using Quotations : Put everything that comes from other sources within quotes. This is also one of the way through which plagiarism can be avoided. 

Penalties of Plagiarism 

The penalties of plagiarism depends upon the degree of information copied and the nature in which how it is copied. It can vary from suspension to loss of privileges or even expulsion from such services which leads to the loss of credibility.

Privacy

Privacy is concerned with the rights of an individual to keep his personal information secret from others and disclosing only the selective one. Today, with the immense use of Internet and Communications Technology most of the information is stored in digital forms, which the users can share with others in an instant. Thus it becomes vital to maintain the privacy of such information. 

Breach of privacy may happen in following forms :

• Data Privacy : The status between collection and sharing of data regarding one self.

• Personal Privacy : The information regarding individuals such as their location, health and financial informations.

• Online Privacy : The information stored in digital forms as emails, websites e-Banking transactions etc.

Software Piracy 

Software piracy is the unauthorized duplication or distribution of an original software for commercial gain without the consent of the rights of actual or legitimate owner.

Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual property rights are the legal rights over the mind creations that include academic, artistic or commercial creations.

Intellectual Property Rights can be categorized in the following categories :

• Industrial Property : Includes Patents, Trademarks or Symbols, Designs, Commercial Names, etc.

• Copyrights : Copyrights are the rights of a creator on his creative work or an artist on his artwork to protect them from its unauthorized recreation. Copyrights include films, musical creations, drawings or sculptures and architectural designs. They can also include technical works such as computer softwares or electronic data to protect them piracy or unwanted copying. Copyrights lasts upto 70 years even after the death of original creator.