Plagiarism Consequences: Playing with Fire

Anyone can be a plagiarist. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, authors, students, professors, and librarians are all potential plagiarists. With the popularity of plagiarism detection software rapidly rising, plagiarists are being caught at an ever-increasing rate. The consequences of plagiarism can be many, including but not limited to: legal, ethical, personal, and professional. Once accused of plagiarism, the guilty party will always be regarded with suspicion. Ignorance is not an excuse for any form of plagiarism, be it blatant or subtle. Inform yourself!


Read on to discover the negative effects of plagiarism in the following areas:

Reputation

For students, professionals, and academics alike, plagiarism can be an especially grave, career-destroying poison.

Students

Academic institutions treat plagiarism as an especially punishable offense. Suspension or even expulsion can result from alleged plagiarism. This ethical violation remains on a student’s permanent record, haunting them for the remainder of their academic career. Many colleges and higher learning institutions simply will not admit a student who has been accused of plagiarism.

Professionals

In the professional world, plagiarism is toxic in many ways. Oftentimes, a professional business person or politician may find their career completely destroyed due to plagiarism. If not fired outright, the plagiarist will be asked to step down from their current position, and surely face great difficulty finding another. If the plagiarist is a prominent member of society, their good name may be ruined forever, thus rendering any future prospects in the public eye hopeless.

Academics

The consequences of plagiarism are well known in the academic arena. As publishing is an integral part of the academic’s career, plagiarism obliterates any modicum of academic integrity that may have existed prior to the wrongdoing. Simply put, for the academic, plagiarism is career-ending.

Repercussions

Be they legal, monetary, or otherwise, repercussions resulting from plagiarism are unwelcome in any form.

Legal

An author is within their legal right to sue a plagiarist. Copyright laws are just that: laws. If you break the law, you pay a fine, or in some cases, go to prison. If you don’t want to be locked up, then don’t steal another person’s material without citation or reference. This holds especially true for those who write for a living, such as journalists and authors.

Monetary

When a person is sued for plagiarism, many times the compensation is monetary, meaning the plagiarist has to pay hard-earned money for stealing someone else’s idea.

Life Itself

Plagiarizing research is the lowest form of plagiarism. When dealing with medical research, plagiarism could potentially result in the loss of human life.

The consequences of plagiarism are not to be taken lightly. There is no excuse for it. Ignorance or prominence will not protect you from the consequences of plagiarism. Before you put pen to paper, inform yourself. Read to find out what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. The rules are straightforward and few. If you are still unclear, use an online plagiarism checker or plagiarism detection software to verify your writing before submission. Plagiarism can lead to a ruined reputation, a destroyed career, legal problems, and even loss of human life.