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A recent article in Times Higher Education discusses a.ariff that academics in the UK are proposing that can lay out a system of penalties for college students that plagiarize. The Tarriff proposal, that is posted in full on PlagiarismAdvice.org, states that the current penalties for plagiarism vary too much from to college around the world.

"Studies in this field have found high levels of inconsistency in the penalties universities use to penalize students who are found guilty of copying, with wide variations between, as well as within, institutions." The result of this system within the academic universe brings up the plausibility of a similar universal system of punishment for plagiarism within other sectors, such as publishing and research.

Exactly like with other kinds of theft, the legal penalties for the crime vary depending on the severity. Going into a store and stealing a bunch of gum is a danger compared with stealing a vehicle. Most cases of plagiarism are considered misdemeanors, punishable by penalties at anywhere between $100 and $50, 000 - and up to one year in jail. Plagiarism may be considered a felony under federal and state legislation. If a plagiarist duplicates and earns over $2, 500 from copyrighted material, she or he could encounter to $250, 000 in fines and up to ten years in jail. Although the legal ramifications of plagiarism are spelled out, the true outcome of cases of plagiarism within industries like publishing and research are not always so obvious.

Many recent cases of newspaper plagiarism finish with the offender'resigning from their position at the company. For the publisher, it's usually best to make the story go to prevent the reputation of the company from being harmed. What if a universal system of penalties was created within these industries? The system may spell out punishment - even determining which crimes would be.ushed toward criminal prosecution. Though this seems like a sound concept, the effectiveness of the approach - bring penalty to the forefront of the plagiarism issue - is debatable. The situation falls within the realm of punishment vs. Prevention.

Instead of spending resources to push penalties and punishments within these industries, the resources can be allocated towards preventing plagiarism from happening all together. Plagiarism prevention may occur two ways: education and technology. The first step to preventing plagiarism would be to educate folks about what plagiarism is, and why it's wrong and how to properly cite sources. The second step to prevent plagiarism would be to utilize detection software that may correctly weed out cases of copy content prior to distribution. This effectively prevents any harm from being done because the plagiarized content never gets beyond a provider's walls. A two-fold approach will be best: going towards a more universal system of plagiarism penalties within industries while doubling up the attempt by preventing plagiarism before it happens by education and technology. Attwood, Rebecca "Plagiarism tariff: let the punishment fit the demerit points" TLS Education Ltd. 17 June 2010.

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