Achievement 3: Content Etiquette

There was once a farmer who lived in a village. Though he was a good farmer with brilliant ideas, he was not very wealthy.
The farmer had great ideas on how to protect crops from destructive rodents. He had documented all these ideas in a little book which he intended, someday, to publish and perhaps, hopefully, make loads of money from it.

This farmer had a friend in whom he confided and told about his plans. He even showed the manuscript to his friend who agreed to take a look at it and help him find a publisher.

However, the farmer found out later that his little manuscript had been published and was doing quite well in the market, but it had his friend’s name as the author.

Well, the above is not a real life story, but it is just to illustrate what exactly plagiarism means.
Plagiarism is a cancer that is slowly but steadily spreading all over Nigeria, even among so called academics, intellectuals and creatives.

WHAT PLAGIARISM IS
Plagiarism, in the simplest of terms, is the act of stealing somebody else’s written work, in part or in whole, and passing it off as one’s original work. It is a type of “intellectual property theft” and a violation of copyright regulations, and in many countries of the world, it is considered a serious offence.

WHAT PLAGIARISM IS NOT
When writing an article or doing a research, it is allowed to cite previously published (or even unpublished) works, perhaps to lend credence to one’s theory or to buttress one’s point. This is NOT plagiarism, in so far as one makes it clear which part of the work is a quote, as well as include a reference to the work and the author that was quoted.

WHY PLAGIARISM IS BAD

1. Plagiarism is plain cheating, or simply put, theft
2. It encourages intellectual laziness.
3. It kills creativity.

WHY YOU MUST REFRAIN FROM PLAGIARISM

1. The golden rule – Do unto others what you would want done unto you.
2. Imagine the shame and disgrace you would face when you are found out to be a thief and a cheat.
3. There are lots of technologies these days that can detect plagiarism very fast and with ease.
4. Task your brain a little. We are all creatives in our own ways. You will be surprised at what you can do if you try.
5. Plagiarism can land you IN JAIL in some countries.

I have read and understood the steemit content etiquette and I will try to follow it.

See below an example of a non-plagiarized article:

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One of the essential requirements for human survival is food. Without food it will be difficult for people to live. Food serves so many purposes in the human body. It nourishes, energizes and vitalizes, to mention but few.

However, it is not just food, but good food. One that contains all the necessary components needed by the body to function well and healthy. No wonder people are willing to pay good money just to have good meal. With my years of experience as a caterer, I have come to realize that good food works wonders in keeping the human body disease-free and vibrant.

That said, not just anything that qualifies as food these days is healthy. There are lots of junks out there that one can grab at the snap of a finger. They are full of artificial sweeteners and stuff, and they actually cause more harm to the body than good.

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Ever wondered why life expectancy keeps falling in different parts of the world, in spite of major breakthroughs in medical science and technology? Have you given a thought to the fact that our grandparents lived longer and healthier than what is obtainable now? Could it be because the foods they ate were almost all organic foods drawn straight from the farm? There are lots of researches that support this hypothesis.

Every day we see fanciful adverts on the internet and social media trying to convince people to embrace fast foods, hotdogs, sodas, and the likes. What these adverts don’t tell the viewers is that fast foods and soda are responsible for the rising rate of obesity, cancers, diabetes and several other health conditions.

It is time to go back to eating organic foods in order to improve the health condition of the populace. Researches have shown that foods like fruits, vegetables, and nuts, are immensely beneficial to the health. This calls to mind the popular saying that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”.

Join me in this campaign as we SAY NO TO PROCESSED AND ARTIFICIAL FOODS. It’s time to EAT HEALTHY in order to LIVE LONGER.