Plagiarism: Cultural Norms And Values Of The United States

Four items that are considered plagiarism as stated by the University of the People Handbook (2013) are:

1. Failing to properly identify direct quotations with both a proper citation and with quotation marks

2. Submitting a paper that was the result of someone else's efforts but it is represented as one's own work

3. Paraphrasing bodies of work without proper citation

4. Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work even while attempting to paraphrase and change the text (p. 84 )

The cultural norms and values of the United States encourage individual and critical thinking instead of collectivist thinking. The plagiarism policy written in the University of the People handbook outlines strict penalties

Additionally, when referencing other's work, the proper citation methods would be completed.

Deviant behaviors in this culture would be having someone else draft your papers and submitting them as your own, purchasing a written paper from a friend or the internet, or copying and pasting others' work without giving proper credit.

The plagiarism policy of UoPeople directly correlates to my native culture, residing in the United States. Providing proper credit is the expectation of people in educational studies, the arts, the professional work environment and so on. Plagiarism and its avoidance is taught at the middle school level and very much addressed at the high school level in preparation for the college bound students. With different types of art applications, ownership is very valued. Many pieces are copyrighted and cannot be copied at all without severe penalties. In the professional field, if a colleague has a unique idea and if I were to use that idea without properly giving credit, I would be considered unethical and most likely a thief out to get ahead by hurting

From my opinion, I can say that this policy suggest that the culture that wrote the policy values collectivist thinking, because I think that a person will never be able to accomplish a task with only his/her own ideas.

The behaviors that I would consider normal is the act of publishing someone's work without informing that person, because that person has worked hard for it, it's a way of showing someone respect and encouragement to his/her work.

The behaviors that I would consider deviant is the paraphrasing one, because different people can have the same ideas, but they show it in a different manner, because some situations may be similar to them, and through that situation they come to the same conclusion in a different