The document “What is Plagiarism,” has improved my understanding of the plagiarism issue, and has also introduced me to different types of plagiarism. While I did understand it is not ethical to simply copy paste from the web, I was surprised to learn people sometimes unknowingly engage in plagiarism. The article explained it is not sufficient to simply write down the information in own words; one should also cite the source from which the information came from. But citing the source may still not excuse one from plagiarism if the paraphrased information closely matches the words used in the original source.
I was hoping the article might also have addressed the circumstances that involve one using own ideas or borrowing information from one’s previous work. I sought this information because I have observed projects done in one course may also be relevant to other courses. My current understanding is that one cannot resubmit an assignment or project in a different course because it would be considered plagiarism. This confuses me because resubmitting an assignment or a project doesn’t mean the author has changed. A person who resubmits an assignment may also be the one who did the assignment in the first place for another course.

I am also confused whether plagiarism is a legal or a moral issue. Colleges have been known to expel the students for plagiarism. I wonder about the potential implications of plagiarism at workplaces. For example, if someone presents someone else’s work as his own, is the worst case outcome merely a loss of job or the offender could be arrested as well?

The article does a good job of describing different types of plagiarism, and also introduces the readers to the different types of punishment schools impose on the offenders of plagiarism. But there was no information regarding the potential implications of plagiarism outside academic life. But the article did teach me plagiarism is a serious offense, and should be avoided at all costs.