What comes to one’s mind when we think about plagiarism, according to Webster-Merriams’ dictionary, is “the act stealing and passing off (the ideas and words of others) as one’s own” (Webster-Merriam). Webster seems to have left a little something out; plagiarism is not just the act of stealing one’s work. It is also the result of ethical deterioration of academic integrity. In discussion of plagiarism, a controversial issue is whether plagiarism is taken serious enough and what the severity of the outcomes are for plagiarizing. Many people assume the obvious that the consequences of plagiarism result in a letter grade deduction on a paper or a complete zero on the assignment. Moreover, the real consequence to plagiarizing is the deterioration of academic integrity and degeneration of ethics it follows then the consequences are not taken seriously and the severity is not even considered.

Focusing on the effects on the plagiarizer, we can start by thinking academically. As the competition between candidates for projects or jobs that require special qualifications is at a high rate, plagiarism is one of the major concerns for falling behind in this race. Using someone else’s work for a report or a project prevents us from gaining new knowledge. By working on a subject of our own, we acquire new skills. And sometimes, our work might not be completely correct. However, failing and making mistakes is good way to learn, because we know what we did wrong. The experience coming from our own mistakes is simply better than high scores.

Second, it is a crime you commit against yourself. If you study at an educational institution, there are certain tasks you are given in order to ensure that you learn something. When you resort to plagiarism, you undo all these efforts for, instead of actually doing something and understanding it in the process, you use someone else’s work and the certain amount of experience that you were supposed to get just misses you.

In closing, cheating on work is just cheating yourself. If you chose to plagiarize, in the end, you will be hurt in your academic success. And also, if you’re caught, your character will be questioned. Plagiarizing is just a lazy way to finish work without learning and nothing is truly accomplished. Next time you’re faced with a tough deadline or stress, make the right choice and chose to do your own work instead of cheating.