Intentional Plagiarism: What It Means and How to Avoid It

Everybody knows how dangerous the act of plagiarism can get. There are two kinds which include the worst one— intentional plagiarism.

Plagiarism doesn’t only apply on academic or technical writing. In any kind of writing, a writer must avoid any type of dishonesty. It doesn’t only hurt a writer’s reputation, but can endanger their life due to severe legal consequences.

Stealing someone’s intellectual property is the same as taking someone else’s possession. It isn’t easy to brainstorm unique ideas, which is why it’s unlawful to duplicate someone else’s text without proper citation. Writing requires you to be honest at all times.

By reading this article, you will learn about intentional plagiarism.

What Is Plagiarism?

We have all heard the word “plagiarism” at one time or another. It has, in some way, been discussed in a school, a lecture hall, or a seminar. We usually have a vague understanding of what it means. However, not all of us know exactly what is meant by plagiarizing.

Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s work or reproducing their thoughts, ideas, or words without proper consent or giving credit to them. Plagiarism is illegal, and convicted plagiarizers may face serious consequences when dealt with.

It’s when someone copies some or all of the work, words, or ideas another writer has created, without giving credit. It’s severely unethical due to the fact that the owner might have spent months writing that work of their own— only to be stolen.

Technically speaking, plagiarism is the act of stealing and passing off someone else’s work as your own. It’s defined as “fabrication, or the act of making up information or ideas someone else has made” by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Also, “to present (as an idea, product description, etc.) as new and original when it is not” (Niles et al., n.d.).

What Is Intentional Plagiarism?

It means intentionally presenting someone else’s ideas, research, or words as your own.

This kind of plagiarism is committed when someone ignores plagiarism in their work and intentionally copy the work of another writer.

It’s the act of plagiarism when an author sets aside the ethical implications of writing to use another individual’s content for their own.

Only changing a few words or phrases from the original source without proper citation is an example of plagiarizing with intent. So is only rearranging sentences and word order from the original source without proper citation.

It includes not providing credit or citations to someone else’s ideas.

To Wrap Up

Plagiarism, in general, takes two forms, one is plagiarism that is intentional and the other is plagiarism that is unintentional. Intentional plagiarism can be defined as deliberately submitting someone else’s work as one’s own without proper citation.