Nutrition And Health Research Guide: Consequences of Plagiarism Charge

What could happen if I plagiarize?  

Students who unintentionally plagiarize often (but not always) have a meeting with their teacher, who usually goes over the issue with the student and explains how to avoid it in the future. Many teachers understand that citation practices are complex and can be difficult for beginners to learn, and therefore treat one instance of accidental plagiarism as a learning opportunity.  

However, this is not always the case. Program or department policy may force teachers to begin disciplinary proceedings about plagiarism immediately; you should always be aware that this issue is serious and not to be brushed off or ignored. The best defense against disciplinary proceedings is knowledge — fully understanding citation practices and employing them in your writing so that you don’t plagiarize is always going to be your best option. You can find our extensive citation resources here.

The corporate world and universities in particular have very strict guidelines for those accused of plagiarism. It is important to familiarize yourself with your university policy, because the consequences can be serious, which includes: 

• Automatic failure of the paper 
• Automatic failure of the class 
• A report to the Dean of Students 
• Some universities make it their policy for it to appear on your Official Transcript, which are usually needed when applying for jobs or graduate school  
• Some programs will dismiss you; for example, the English department at your university may tell you to apply to a different area of study 
• The university may dismiss you completely  
• In the corporate world, you may face litigation depending on who the victim is 
• Your job may fire you in order to avoid the company being associated with a plagiarist

Some of these consequences may seem harsh or extreme, but they are meant to stop students from plagiarizing. This is a crime and it is also an ethical dilemma. You are in school to learn and produce original work; you are doing yourself a disservice by paying someone else to write your work or reuse an old paper.  

If you find yourself in a situation when you are out of time to work on a research project, which is usually one of the common reasons why well-meaning students plagiarize, it is always better to have an open communication with your professor before you turn to plagiarism. Professors are there and want to help students, but they cannot help you if they do not know you need it.  

The above is from:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/plagiarism_faq.html