Plagiarism is essentially copying another person’s work and claiming it as your own. Many people have plagiarized without realizing they have done so. It is actually easy to do. You may read material for research and when writing your work, you may inadvertently pass off your work as original. This happens every day all around the world.

Many public officials have faced plagiarism scandals and in the past few years, numerous journalists have been caught in scandals. The problem seems to be growing among journalist. Many of them resigned from jobs at prestigious newspapers.

Getting caught plagiarizing can sometimes end a career in journalism. This is not necessarily the case for public officials. One man that was involved in a plagiarism scandal is now Vice President of the United States. For journalist the penalty for such an offense is immediate dismissal and an end to a promising career. Although, there are some journalists that did recover from their plagiarism scandal. It does, however, take years of hard work to regain the status of a reputable journalist.

Plagiarism on the Internet is so common that anti-plagiarism software has been developed. There are numerous plagiarism checkers that can quickly search the Internet for possible violations. Journalists know this and yet they still risk their careers and plagiarize an article.

To avoid plagiarism, you simply have to give credit to the person whose work you are using to write your article. Journalists have a difficult time coming up with a valid excuse. Many journalists may take the risk hoping they will not be caught. Journalists are competitive and the dream of every journalist is to get that one big story that will catapult their career.

If you are dedicated to your profession, the big story will come. Plagiarizing will only destroy a career.