The Dangers of Plagiarism and Why It's Not Worth It

Key takeaways

Plagiarism has real consequences, from failing grades and suspension to long-term damage to your academic reputation.
Students may plagiarize to maintain a high GPA, avoid disappointing others, manage insecurity about their writing skills, handle time constraints, or simply because they believe they won’t get caught. However, no excuse is ever the answer to stealing someone else’s ideas or work.
There are many ways one can plagiarize, from using someone else’s work to copying AI word-for-word, and understanding the risks is the first step to avoiding them.

Flickr user Jisc

When it comes to college, you can’t escape the inevitable papers, essays, and reports that will come your way. For years, teachers have emphasized the importance of writing—how to write an introduction, present and develop ideas, and sum everything up. And while teachers ensure that students have endless practice, many still end up copying and pasting other people’s work.

While it may seem harmless in the moment, the dangers of plagiarism in education have lasting consequences, including suspension and loss of your academic integrity. So, why do students plagiarize? Let’s dive into the dangers of plagiarism and why it’s just not worth it.

What is plagiarism?

Did you know the word plagiarism actually comes from the Latin word plagium, which means kidnapping? So essentially, plagiarism means stealing someone else’s words and passing them off as your own. In the United States, this is a prohibited practice. If you get caught plagiarizing, your teacher or professor may be required to put it in your academic record, which follows you through college and even future job opportunities.

How common is plagiarism?

While plagiarism might seem like something that used to happen, studies show that it is still happening today. One study found the following statistics on plagiarism:

86% of students admitted to cheating at some point.
97% of students said they were never caught.
76% copied someone’s work exactly.
Only 12% of students said they would never cheat.

These statistics show that plagiarism happens more often than you might expect, and how easy it is to slip under the radar. But even if others have gotten away with it, it doesn’t mean you will. Today, many professors are trained in plagiarism detection software and know how to spot inconsistencies quickly. This means it is all the more important to understand the dangers and how to avoid them.

Why do students plagiarize?

Even though students are aware of the consequences that come with plagiarizing, some still do it. So, the big question becomes, “Why?” Here are some of the main reasons students have given for plagiarizing:

They could feel the pressure to maintain a high GPA, so they sacrifice their integrity and values.
They are scared of letting other people’s expectations down, so they steal someone else’s words.
They don’t feel confident in their own writing skills, so they get someone else to do it for them.
They are overwhelmed with a full schedule and feel they don’t have the time.
They assume they won’t get caught.

Plagiarism isn’t always deliberate. It often stems from insecurity, stress, or desperation—not the desire to cheat. But while the short-term relief might seem understandable, the risks of plagiarizing are not worth it. It is always best to do your best and ask for help so that you protect your academic integrity and reputation.

How do students plagiarize?

When it comes to plagiarizing, there are a few common ways that students do it the most. In some cases, they may not even realize they’re plagiarizing, so it’s important to understand these methods. Here are a few ways:

Copy-and-pasting: This is taking another person’s words, copying them word-for-word, and then turning the work in and claiming it as your own.
Using someone else’s work: Having someone else write your paper or even buying a paper is considered plagiarism.
Copying word-for-word from AI: Using an AI generator to complete your work and using it word-for-word is plagiarism.
Patchwriting: This is when you take a quote from someone else and change one or two words without using quotation marks or correct paraphrasing.
Uncited paraphrasing: This is writing someone else’s idea or concept in your own words, but not giving the author or site credit.

Quick tips on avoiding plagiarism

To avoid plagiarizing, you will want to make sure you are doing two important things: proper paraphrasing and correctly citing sources.

To correctly cite a source, you need to include a direct quote and give credit to the source. This could be MLA or APA style, depending on the paper requirements. Fortunately, there are plenty of online citation tools, like MyBib or QuillBot, to help you do this accurately.
To correctly paraphrase a source, you need to completely rewrite the idea in your own words while still giving credit.

Why plagiarizing isn’t worth it

Plagiarizing not only hurts your reputation while in high school or college—it can follow you around for years. Depending on the size of the offense, plagiarism may even lead to legal repercussions. Copyright laws were created to protect original work. So, while it’s okay to look online for inspiration and inform yourself on a certain topic, you must always give proper credit to the sources.

Once you copy and paste someone’s words and make other people think you wrote them, you are getting into a dangerous zone. Plagiarizing carries ethical implications, can be seen as a criminal offense, and may result in failing a class, academic probation, or expulsion. It can even damage your credibility with your teachers and professors. At the end of the day, it is always better to respect the originality of others so that the work you submit is truly yours.

Famous plagiarism scandals in education

Plagiarism carries real, lasting consequences—and not just for students. Here are a few examples of plagiarism in education:

The Harvard president resigned after allegations of plagiarizing in 2023.
A professor at the University of Minnesota was found guilty of using her student’s work as her own, which in turn hurt the reputation of the entire school.
Jonah Lehrer is a science journalist and author who was accused of plagiarism in 2012. Although he did not lose his job, he faced heavy scrutiny and lost a lot of credibility as a writer.
In 2002, a plagiarism scandal at a high school in Kansas led to one teacher resigning after giving 28 students a zero for plagiarizing. Parents pressured the school board to lessen the punishment, which sparked state outrage, gained nationwide attention, and raised serious concerns about academic integrity.
When a Harvard student once submitted a paper they wrote for another class, they were found guilty of violating the honor code and received a suspension for one quarter, along with 40 hours of community service.

Plagiarism isn’t just something that has consequences for students. It can have serious implications for faculty and the educational institution as a whole.

How can schools prevent plagiarism?

As technology continues to evolve, schools are being more proactive in the steps they take to prevent plagiarism from happening. Many schools now equip their teachers with plagiarism detection software that allows them to quickly scan papers and then search the internet for any similarities in the work. Teachers may also use AI to help them verify if the work is original.

Aside from technology, some professors get creative with their assignments to avoid plagiarism. They might provide unique prompts that are harder to find online or offer class time to review drafts or ask questions so that students avoid plagiarizing. Ultimately, schools should be very clear about their regulations and the consequences that come from plagiarizing and be proactive about creating an environment that promotes academic integrity.

Originality is best

Before taking someone else’s words and putting them in your paper, think about the repercussions. Are you willing to damage your reputation permanently, lose your values and integrity, or maybe even get expelled? After you learn everything you can about a topic, close the internet browser, and then focus on only what you are writing—not what others wrote before you. If you think someone’s words are too amazing and must be in your paper, use them, but always give credit to whoever wrote them. Damaging your student and professional reputation by copying someone else is never worth it. Academic honesty is best.

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