Sample Coursework

(1) What is plagiarism?

Define plagiarism and explain reasons why students may
plagiarise.
Most academic institutions have definitions of plagiarism. Plagiarism is usually defined as the act of
using the words of another without giving the originator credit (Anderson, 1998, p.1).
Diderots Encyclopaedia defines a plagiarist as a man who, wanting at all costs to become an
author, and having neither the genius nor the talent necessary, copies not only sentences, but even
entire pages and passages of other authors (Quoted in Randall, 2001, p.17).Diderot thus
describes plagiarism as originating from the bad faith that informed that act. In this sense, plagiarism
is simply a deliberate usurpation of the property rights held by the author.
This definition holds true for the concept of plagiarism up to a point. First, it does not take into
account the possibility of unintentional plagiarism, which is perhaps not as reprehensible as
intentional plagiarism but is still defined as such (Northwestern University, 2013). Although this might
not be morally reprehensible, the error in this case would be not taking a proactive approach to avoid
the crime (Anderson, 1998). Plagiarism can therefore be defined partly by what it is not; any imitation
through improvement, enhancement, or extension of the original work is often not viewed as
plagiarism (Randall, 2001).
In many examples of these, the line between plagiarism and scholarship may be difficult to discern
(Katz, 2013). Limited direct borrowing from a passage where the mosaic of the original text is
presented may constitute plagiarism (Neville, 2010). Even where direct borrowing from the original
passage is limited, the reflection of the argument without modification or attribution may result in the
charge of plagiarism (Finch &Fafinski, 2013). The best protection against such mistakes is to cite
where possible, unless it can be assured that the ideas are original (Otit, 2007).
Students can plagiarise for a number of reasons. It may be accidental as the repeated reading of a text
may affect style, and thus this may be reflected in a students own work (Neville, 2010). It may be for
more prosaic reasons, where the student may run short of time and seek short-cuts to writing a good
essay. Sometimes students may not have received much practice in essay writing and with the spectre
of continuous assessment, may find themselves required to write a good essay without being afforded
the luxury of practice. The determination to succeed may quite easily spill over into cutting corners
through plagiarism.
However, there is a distinction between the deliberate theft of material and plagiarism because of a lack
of awareness of where the boundaries lie (Neville, 2010). In particular, given that definitions of where
these boundaries are can vary between institutions, many students may unwittingly plagiarise by
mistake (Otit, 2007) There is a distinct difference between plagiarism that involves the cutting and
pasting of material directly into an essay and plagiarism that constitutes a failure to cite material that
reflects anothers ideas. Students should be educated on plagiarism in order to avoid such mistakes
(Otit, 2007).
(2) Do free online essay examples encourage plagiarism?
Free online essay examples constitute material that is published on the Internet. To some extent, this
does not differ from other published material. If a textbook is published on Google Books, or a paper is
published on an online site, then this provides the student with information they can use in their own
work. All published material can constitute lines of argument that might be regurgitated as part of a
students work and thus form part of an essay (Otit, 2007). Plagiarism is, in such cases, an action by the
student to use the material without attributing its source. Therefore, any material can be used,
regardless of its origin (Smith, 2012).
Free online essay examples are, however, viewed with concern (Smith, 2012). They differ from much
material written on a specific subject by the fact that they often provide specific answers to the type of
question a student might encounter in a course (THE, 2007). Therefore, they are seen as assisting
students more than might be the case with a textbook or scholarly article (Smith, 2012). Example essays
refer to specific lines of argument related to a question. Essay questions are formulated to provoke a
discussion concerning a key line of argument in a subject. This may require a synthesis of the existing
material, or the critical analysis of more than one source, and few articles will simply do so in their
entirety.
Furthermore, the potential for free online essay examples to be plagiarised may be increased by the fact
that they are written in a style that befits a student (Neville, 2010). A textbook dealing with the same
subject will use a syntax that would be far more easily detectable when reading. The marker is likely to
be aware of the main contributions to the subject, otherwise they would be unable to assess the work
effectively. Therefore, when a student provides the gist of an argument advanced by a known expert in
the field, it is easy to spot. Free online example essays do not offer the possibility that the marker will
easily identify an incidence of plagiarism in passing (THE, 2007).
Despite these issues, it is difficult to see how free online example essays can support plagiarism. They
are free, and published online, and are thus available to all. There are easy solutions to suspicions of
plagiarism through online scanners and plagiarism checkers (Otit, 2007). It is far more difficult to identify
plagiarism if the essays are not published online, and therefore not identifiable through scanners such as
Turnitin (Otit, 2007).
Example essays are a manifestation of the ease with which material can be published online, and that
means it is not possible to absorb all the sources and thus spot plagiarism through a thorough
knowledge of the subjects. If publishing free online essays encourages plagiarism, then publishing
anything online holds the same potential. The ease with which this possibility can be countered through
plagiarism scanners means that this threat can be nullified relatively easily. No student would pass off
something as his or her own work, knowing how easy this might be found out.