How is Fraud related to Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the act of stealing someone else’s work, copying it, and passing it off as your own. On the other hand, fraud is “an act of deception intended to cheat someone.” How is fraud related to plagiarism?

Read on to find out.

Plagiarism vs. Fraud

Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of another person’s ideas, creative work, or expression. It is the “wrongful use of and taking credit for the work of another.”

Simply changing a few words and phrases without properly citing the source is plagiarism! Plagiarism is an unethical and deceptive act.

The act of plagiarism is defined as “the use of the ideas, words, expressions, or forms of a literary work without acknowledgment.” Plagiarism deprives the author of the opportunity of being recognized and appreciated. This act is punishable by law.

On the other hand, fraud is considered a deceptive practice carried out to obtain money or property from a person. It is the intentional perversion of truth to induce another party to act. Fraud is the deliberate misrepresentation of facts – usually for personal gain. Such misrepresentations include deception, falsehood, and lies.

Both the plagiarist and the fraudster have the same purpose – to steal. And both are punished per the severity of the actions.

How is Fraud related to Plagiarism?

When students commit plagiarism, they steal someone else’s ideas and make them their own. A student commits fraud when they purposefully mislead someone and steal from them.

An intentional plagiarist aims to deceive people into believing someone’s work is their original. It is both wrongful and deceptive and intended for personal gain. This isn’t different from fraud.

Plagiarism and fraud are both forms of deception. The plagiarist takes an idea from someone else and passes it off as their own – puts forward a lie as the truth. While the fraudster misleads others into thinking something is true when it is not.

Fraud and plagiarism are similar in the following ways:

• Plagiarism, just like fraud, is a deceptive and unethical practice.
• Plagiarism and fraud involve stealing. The property stolen in the case of plagiarism is the intellectual property of the original author. The stolen item in fraud can be money or physical property.
• Fraud and plagiarism are deliberate acts. In both cases, the fraudulent persons intentionally take another’s property for personal benefits.
• A fraudster intentionally tells a lie and persuades another into believing it is true. A plagiarist also portrays a lie as the truth by presenting someone else’s work as theirs.
• Both fraud and plagiarism have legal consequences.
• Fraud and plagiarism are forms of deceit because the perpetrators take from others without giving anything in return.

To Wrap Up

Plagiarism is a form of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else’s work and lying about it afterward.

Just like fraud, the plagiarist is deceptive and creates truth that does not exist — that the piece of work is theirs. As with fraud, plagiarism will often have consequences, ranging from embarrassment and a negative reputation to legal problems.