Plagiarism: What is it?

“The bees pillage the flowers here and there but they make honey of them which is all their own; it is no longer thyme or marjolaine: so the pieces borrowed from others he will transform and mix up into a work all his own.”

           - Michael Eyquen de Montaigne*

At one point in time, someone came to plant these flowers only hoping their yard would look more beautiful. The bees came to the flowers and made honey with what they found. The bees used other’s resources however made something completely their own with what they found. I vote that this is completely fair when referencing plagiarism. 

Plagiarism is taking someone else’s ideas, writing, art or anything else that can be determined as personally unique. Personally, meaning that only one person is able to name it as their own and unique, meaning that there is nothing identical to it. Plagiarism is a difficult topic to reason with because today the rules or guidelines of what is, are blurred beyond imagination. It is an issue that individuals of all ages are dealing with on a daily basis. Whether they’re in their freshman year of college or their tenth year at the law firm, the rules apply to everyone. It is a subject that causes a great deal of problems yet is necessary in order to preserve people’s creativity. It would be poor behavior if anyone were able to use a piece of work, no matter the content, and receive credit. It is just immoral and unethical hence the reason plagiarism came to be.

The more plagiarism is referenced, the stronger the argument becomes for heavier punishment. At this point in time there are a variety of different punishments depending on where the act takes place. Not to mention, the idea of how to prevent plagiarism from occurring becomes a larger discussion at school board meetings and executive board meetings around the country. It would be easy to say, “We should trust everyone not to plagiarize.” However, that may be the easiest solution but not a realistic one at that. A reasonable option would be to enforce the academic, legal and institutional punishments as mentioned on the Plagarism.org website. Plagiarism is often handled in a gentler manner than suggested by the written laws. It is understandable seeing as each case is different therefore no matter how the issue is dealt with today or tomorrow, in a few years the issue will have taken on a whole new set of rules.

Overall, plagiarism is something that will continue to cause problems within academic and occupational careers for many years to come. As far as today’s generation is concerned, we must follow the wise words of Michael Eyquen de Montaigne; find our own “flowers” and simply create our own “honey.” It is a matter of creating and crediting what is yours while the rest remains mystery. It is a matter of what is ethically correct.