Plagiarism is a big, heavy, and tricky word. Merriam-Webster defines “plagiarism” as “an act of committing literary theft: to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.” In other words, plagiarism means that one steals other peoples’ ideas and their intellectual creations. Plagiarism may take different formats and it may be caused by different reasons.

Sometimes, people may not realize that what they do is plagiarism and are not aware of the consequences plagiarism may bring.

Laziness can also be blamed for plagiarism in some cases. One just simply does not want to do the work and make the effort. Plagiarizing someone else’s ideas and copying the answer may sound like an easy way out.

Getting ahead of others and claiming fame in today’s competitive world may cause plagiarism. One may assume that nobody will find out where the original ideas and discovery came from. One can earn credit, get promoted or even win an award.

Plagiarism can also cause a sensational lawsuit, such as Dan Brown’s "Da Vinci Code case." Two writers, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, sued the publisher, Random House. Both men wrote a nonfiction book called “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail." The theory that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child and the bloodline survives today was elaborated in both books. Baigent and Leigh claimed that Brown copied their idea and “central theme."

However, the judge ruled that “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail” did not have a central theme in the way its authors argued. Although Brown used Baigent and Leigh’s book as reference to write certain parts of his book, he did not copy their work in a substantial way. Brown eventually won the case and the movie “Da Vinci Code” was released.

There are many ways to train researchers and students to be aware of plagiarism and prevent from its happening. For example, my Asian American literature teacher, Steve Rayburn, taught us how to properly paraphrase, quote, and cite in MLA format for our research paper homework. I found that meeting MLA format requirements can be quite tedious. But those who go through this process can learn how to do research papers properly by citing sources correctly and become accustomed to using the format. This is something we may not have done before and need a new mindset to master.

Plagiarism is not an easy concept to comprehend. Therefore, we must become aware of it, understand it, and learn how to respect other’s intellectual property. More importantly, we must learn how to build upon other people’s intellectual work appropriately, professionally, and ethically so we can develop our own.