In recent news, The New York Daily News took a stand against plagiarism by firing one of their editors, Shaun King.
King was fired after it was discovered that over the course of the past couple of months he had been deleting attributions which made it appear that passages from his columns were his own.
King has been accused of plagiarism on more than one occasion from other publications as well, however he stands by his innocent plea, taking to Twitter to state that “by in large, if you think I plagiarized a damn thing, you can kiss my ass. Feel free to quote that. Those are my own words.”
Plagiarism is usually described as the act or attempt to steal and pass off the ideas or work of another person as your own without giving them credit by citing your sources. Students are usually introduced to the idea of plagiarism during their junior high English courses as they being to prepare for high school courses. The idea continues on even through college and students are taught not to plagiarize in almost every course that they take in which they are required to write an essay or turn in original work.
For most college students the idea of plagiarizing someone’s work doesn’t cross their mind simply because they will fail the course and more than likely be expelled from the university.
Being an English major, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the words “cite your work” or been reminded that if I do not state where I pulled a quote or a piece of information then I am guilty of plagiarism.
While citing or making a works cited page can sometimes be a tedious job, keep in mind the consequences of not doing so. While some believe that the ideas we are taught in school are meant to stay in school, the act of plagiarism and the teachings that come from it are not. As we can so easily see from Shaun King and his recent unemployment, plagiarism is not something to toy with even after school.
Always cite your work.