Western culture places great important on intellectual property and academic integrity. All students are required to follow the academic integrity of their own universities to avoid plagiarism; otherwise, the universities will penalize them with a severe punishment. William B. Badke defined plagiarism as “using another writer’s words or unique ideas as if they were your own” (P. 97). Plagiarism is one of the serious issues that most academic institutions focus on, especially in western countries as it can be interpreted that students cannot use other people’s thoughts or ideas without citing the source or else the students will face the college penalties. For example, the George Mason University has its own honor code, which can emphasize their students the stronger senses of academic honesty. The Mason Honor Code (2013) expressed that “Student members of the George Mason University community pledge not to cheat, plagiarize, steal, or lie in matters related to academic work”. As an international student, it is necessary to understand how plagiarism occur in order to avoid the punishment.

Because of the distinction in culture, the notion about academic honesty of international students is different from Americans. Dawn Amsberry mentioned in the article that “In addition to cultural differences and linguistic barriers, international students may also find that their understanding of source use and textual borrowing practices differs from the expectations held at American universities” (P. 31). However, an accidental plagiarism is also possible when international students’ do not have enough language skills. I would say that an educational system in Thailand is not as strict about the academic honesty as the United States of America. We do not have honor code in our universities. Our professors are not that serious on our assignments or presentations, but they do strict on our examination. Every electronic devices and notes are not allowed in the examination room. Moreover, Thai institutions do not have take-home examination.

Plagiarism mostly occurs when someone use other people’s words without specifying a citation. Sometimes, the professors consider that students are plagiarized if the students do not do well enough on paraphrasing another authors’ text. There are various approaches, which the students should do to avoid plagiarism. First, they should present their writing by using in their own words, not copy it from another writer. Second, they must use quotation marks and cite those sources if they use another writer’s words in order to accredit those writers. Last, it is the fact that we do not have to cite general knowledge in our writing, but it is hard to define if that knowledge is commonly known by most people. Therefore, it will be better to cite the sources if the information is hard to decide whether it is general or not.

Plagiarism is an unethical issue, which all students need to be recognized and avoided. This research paper shows the importance of academic honesty and the difference in plagiarism concepts of western and non-western countries. It also highlights the significance of plagiarism, the causes and suggests the ways to evade them. It is easier to avoid plagiarism if the students realize how plagiarism works.

References

Amsberry, D. (2009) Deconstructing Plagiarism: International Students and Textual Borrowing Practices, The Reference Librarian, 51:1, 31-44, DOI: 10.1080/02763870903362183

Badke, W. B. (2003). Beyond the Answer Sheet: Academic success for International Students. San Bernardino, CA: iUniverse, Inc.

The Mason Honor Code. (2013). Retrieved March 26, 2016, from http://oai.gmu.edu/the-mason-honor-code-2/