Plagiarism in school or college is severely punished. Why is plagiarism a crime? Imagine intellectual property is violated, and teachers are misled into thinking that the plagiarist is the work's author. Stealing and cheating is always criminal violation of the Code of Academic Integrity.
If a student or pupil plagiarizes, the type of punishment depends on the policies of the particular institution. In most cases, cheating on an exam or test also equates to student plagiarism. The teacher and the academic committee have the right to:
- Deny a student their degree, and put them on academic probation;
- give a poor grade for an entire year;
- impose a disciplinary penalty or fine;
- prohibit participation in extracurricular activities;
- make a permanent record of the offense on the student's record;
- expel from the school or university.
In all cases, the plagiarist risks their reputation and career. If expelled, they may not be admitted to another college, nor will they be able to get employed. A person convicted of the plagiarism once will always be mistrusted.
Many institutions are interested in raising awareness among their students about plagiarism. Every school has databases listing all student papers and services to check for similarities. Teachers offer special courses on academic ethics to teach about proper citations and penalties for plagiarism.
It's not plagiarism when a student correctly cites and references other sources. The volume of citations mustn't exceed the student's work. Otherwise, a student doesn't contribute anything new to the discipline by paraphrasing something that is not his/her own.
