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Academic integrity, the commitment of honesty, truth, fairness, respect and responsibility, is one of the most important aspects of a student’s academic life. Being honest about your work and giving credit to the rightful owners of the information you use in your work, is considered good practice. Plagiarizing someone’s work and presenting it as your own work is not only disrespectful but is also a black spot on your academic integrity.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines plagiarism as “The practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.” It means copying someone else’s work and presenting it as your own without giving them credit. Plagiarism is considered a violation of academic integrity. It is not in itself a crime but is like a counterfeit that should be avoided at all costs.

Sometimes we are too lazy to write things on our own and end up copying everything from the Internet without realizing that it is an offence. I’m not saying you cannot research or look upon others’ work for inspiration or reference, but copying them word-to-word without giving them credit is academic dishonesty. It might be difficult to be original and express your own thoughts. You may want to use the Internet to search for the right wordings and the correct way to express what you want to. But copying other people’s work, claiming it as your own and avoiding giving them the credit they deserve is not acceptable. It is unethical and you should avoid it.

The educational sectors take plagiarism very seriously. Plagiarism is considered a disciplinary offence in a student’s life. Plagiarizing someone’s work without proper citation or credit is strictly unacceptable. A student should always be honest about their work. If found plagiarizing, there can be serious consequences such as failing on that particular exam or assignment, suspension or even expulsion from the educational institution.

To avoid plagiarism, one should always give credit to the original writer/owner of the piece of information they are incorporating into their writing. This can be done either by paraphrasing the information, quoting it or by citing the source from where the information is taken. Acknowledging the owner of the original work is very important and respectful of the time, effort and dedication they have put into their work.