Plagiarism

The Web and the Internet is not only hurting students by offering an easy access of information, but it also provides easy ways for students to plagiarize. For example, students may not know much about what they're writing on, so they may choose just to copy and paste information and use it as if it were theirs. On the other hand, they may try to play it smart and switch around words or use synonyms to not be tracked. Many students are not aware of this, but this is also a type of plagiarism. In addition to this, students use the famous online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Most are not aware that this site is a compilation of information from other sources that Wikipedia cites at the bottom of every information page. Other students get confused when they want to use a source but there is no author specified. They use the information without citing anyone, which results in plagiarism. Both MLA and APA formats offer ways to cite sources with unknown authors.