Why Scholars Plagiarize: Top 5 Reasons Identified

Writing a research paper includes gathering suitable literature and providing evidence for making your research paper reliable and valid. Drawing upon previously established ideas is necessary while writing a research paper, but it needs to be done with caution without falling into the trap of plagiarism. Plagiarism, an unethical practice of using words or ideas of another author/ researcher or your own previous works without proper acknowledgment is considered as a serious offense. Plagiarism can result in disastrous consequences such as paper rejections and loss of reputation.

So, why do scholars plagiarize in the first place? There can be several reasons that lead to such unethical practice. Here we have made an attempt to put forward some of the common reasons:

  1. Lack of confidence

Of all of the reasons for committing plagiarism, this one seems to come up the most often. A student with intention to get a good grade but unsure of the writing ability/ idea is likely plagiarize the contents. Scholars feel that they will not be able to put together a good research paper without the intervention of other sources and hence, finds copy pasting an easier and safer option.

  1. Lack of time

Through poor time management, they might find themselves in a situation where they don’t have enough time to finish a task. Also, overloading scholars with tasks to the point that, even with perfect time management, there is no way that they can complete the task ethically. This is when the use of illegal methods is considered as a solution that helps them obtain a high grade

  1. Lack of knowledge about referencing and citations

Many a times scholars find the process of referencing and citation as a challenging task. Most of them do not even know the correct way of citing the sources and thereby skip this step resulting in plagiarized work. Also, due to inconsistency in citation guidelines among the different styles scholars often get confused thereby ending up with plagiarized content

  1. Lack of knowledge about english language with english as second language

Due to lack of knowledge about the vocabulary or sentence structure of english language or in a hurry to complete the research paper, ESL students may simply borrow content from journals, reports or other sources and directly include them in their academic paper.

  1. Lack of knowledge about plagiarism

Many scholars commit this crime unintentionally due to their lack of knowledge as to what plagiarism really is. Some students think that the information available on different sources can be implemented in their work, not realizing that using that information without proper referencing is plagiarism.

Both unintentional and intentional plagiarism is considered as a serious offense by the Universities. Hence it is better to avoid this unethical practice. Knowingly or unknowingly if you have committed this blunder, it is better to seek assistance from the professionals to proofread your research paper. https://www.chanakya-research.com/phd/thesis-editing-services/ is one such organisation which offers plagiarism removal service.

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