Avoiding unintentional plagiarism can perplex many students.
Plagiarism, the act of stealing another writer's words and ideas, raises many complex issues. An intentional plagiarist may "lift" an entire essay from an undisclosed source; an unintentional plagiarist, on the other hand, may unwittingly plagiarize passages within a paper because of carelessness, inaccurate in-text citations, insufficient paraphrasing (rewording) or simple omission of quotation marks. Depending upon the extent of the plagiarism and academic level, the consequences of unintentional plagiarism range from mild to severe.
Rewriting and Warning
To assist students unfamiliar with documenting research papers, some instructors may choose to turn an unintentionally plagiarized paper into a learning experience. For example, if a first draft has passages needing quotation marks, paraphrasing, and/or in-text citations, an instructor could explain the concepts and ask the student to apply this understanding to the final draft of a paper. Strayer University suggests a written warning for future papers and a required online class about techniques to avoid plagiarism. Students at more advanced levels, however, may face harsher consequences.
Failing Grades
As Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) indicates, not all instructors or administrators differentiate between unintentional and intentional plagiarism. As a result, excessive or continued unintentional plagiarism can lead to failing papers and grades. The University of Texas at Austin cautions that such actions also raise questions about the honesty of past assignments.
Suspension or Expulsion
Although colleges differ in their plagiarism policies, continued submission of plagiarized papers can lead to suspensions or expulsions. Purdue's OWL recommends that instructors post their honesty policies, clearly stating that any form of plagiarism can lead to failing grades, suspension or expulsion, depending upon the extent of the cheating.
Revocation of Degree
The University of Texas at Austin emphasizes the harsh consequences of any form of plagiarism, intentional or unintentional. It recounts a 2005 incident at Ohio University where officials reviewed more than 200 engineering theses for plagiarism. As a result, one person lost his master's degree, and 12 others had to rewrite their papers. Now the university uses plagiarism detection software to review all papers.
Professional Consequences
As the Ohio University example suggests, losing a degree after entering the workforce could have severe repercussions, possibly resulting in loss of a job. The University of Texas at Austin also cites the example of Kaavya Viswanathan, who insisted that only "unintentional" plagiarism occurred in her novel "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life." As a consequence, however, the author lost a future book contract with a publisher and a movie contract with Dreamworks.
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