5 Reasons Plagiarism Is Harmful For Students Papers

You must have heard about it for a long time now…that plagiarism is an academic sin. But why is plagiarism so bad? In almost all the instructions for assignments, you must have seen your professor warn you about plagiarism. In fact, this is a warning written somewhere in the code of ethics and your course syllabus. This means that academic institutions don’t tolerate plagiarism.
What could happen to you if you’re caught plagiarizing your assignments?
In this article, we’re going to talk about why plagiarism is harmful to students.
But before that, let’s understand a few things

What Is Plagiarism?

In simple terms, plagiarism is when John copies Moses’ copy word-by-word or some phrases without crediting Moses.
Plagiarism can come in many instances though. The two most common forms o plagiarism are:

Accidental plagiarism: As the name suggests, accidental plagiarism happens without knowing. For instance, a student could fail to cite a source properly or forget to add quotation marks on words or phrases they take from an external source.

Intentional plagiarism: This is one of the most committed forms of plagiarism today but professors can do a plagiarism check and find out if you have copied other scholar’s work. Intentional plagiarism is the opposite of accidental plagiarism. In this case, a student copes content, pieces of writing, or some words from another source directly into their work.
That said, here are the reasons why plagiarism is bad:

It Can Ruin Your Reputation

The one element students want to preserve while learning is their reputation. Many students have ended up ruining their reputation in colleges hence living miserable lives.
When faced with plagiarism allegations, you can either be suspended or expelled. If your professor is fair you will get some minor penalties and get a warning never to do it again. With a ruined reputation, you might get barred from joining another college.

It Can Hurt Your Professional Reputation

Depending on your professional career (for instance, assuming you want to be a lawyer, business person, or politician), plagiarism allegations can follow you throughout your entire career. Plagiarism can make you get fired from your current job or forced to step down from your current position. It can also prevent you from getting another job in your profession.

It Can Make You Face Legal Consequences

Plagiarism has serious legal consequences. Copyright laws prohibit any professional from using another person’s material without providing citations and references.
If you’re found using another person’s material, the original author can sue you. You can even get a prison sentence.

Why is Plagiarism Bad?

There are many reasons why you’re prone to face the consequences of plagiarism as discussed above.
Here are just a few reasons why you need to avoid plagiarism:

Plagiarism isn’t different from stealing: Plagiarism is just another form of theft. It is not as severe as theft of physical property but it can lead to severe penalties.

Plagiarism is a form of academic cheating: By submitting a plagiarized paper, you’re simply cheating your professor and the entire learning institution. The work isn’t your own and doesn’t deserve any credit.
The reason why teachers assign work to students is to help them learn and grow. It also helps them to assess the students’ learning abilities. If you’re given high scores for work you have stolen, the purpose of the assignment isn’t achieved.
Plagiarism is bad and has serious consequences so students must avoid it.