Source

What is plagiarism?

"Plagiarism is the representation of another author's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work." Source

If you've been a victim of plagiarism, you'd really understand why it isn't a good practice. One would say, "why should I do all the work when I can easily get it done by someone else and then use it to profit myself?" But then one refuses to ask how he or she would feel if they created an idea, thought or anything with emotions and then someone stole it to profit themselves.

It's hurtful when you fall victim of plagiarism. Let me tell you how I was once hurt because I was plagiarized.
When I was in Secondary School I wrote letters to my female friends once in a while, my girlfriend inclusive. I used to save the drafts of every letter I wrote in a notebook, and whenever I received replies to my letter, I attached them next to the draft in my notebook.
I wrote most of the letters with love, especially the ones sent to my girlfriend and so I loved going through my notebook with the letters. My mates knew I was a good writer and would once in a while ask to read my precious notebook. I didn't mind because I thought it wouldn't cause any problems.
One time a friend asked like they always do, and then I let him have it. A few moments later... I saw him writing on a piece of paper while reading my notebook. I felt uneasy. I wanted to give him the benefit of a doubt so I said to myself, "he's just reading to create something from my thoughts." So I let him be.
Later on he returned my notebook and then I asked to see what he had put down on paper. I had a look at it and I was broken. He had written the exact same thing I had written to my girlfriend in one of my letters. I was badly hurt because I really wrote them from within and he was sending those words to another. I couldn't tell him not to use it too because I didn't expect him to do that. He had plagiarized my work.

Plagiarism is in different forms. We have direct, self, mosaic and accidental plagiarism. I wouldn't want you to get tired of reading so you can click here to read about them.

It's important to note that you can use one's work(Idea/thought) the right way. To do that you have to know what citation is and how to cite one's work.

A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the works of others to the topic of discussion at the spot where the citation appears. Source

Learn more about citation and how to cite from here

@njaywan thanks for the encouragement and support

I have read and understood the Steemit Etiquette on Steemit Community and will do my best to embrace them
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