Why Is Plagiarism an Important Issue in the Workplace?

Reputation

Businesses thrive on reputation, and plagiarism can hurt a business's reputation. Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that businesses cannot tolerate or afford. Just as the information for writing is available online, so are business credentials and information that a business plagiarized the work of others. Professional organizations may reduce the standing or status of an infringer, and business may decrease as a result of negative publicity.

Publicized plagiarism lawsuits are most common in the news industry, but writers in all genres may be subject to the strong arm of the law. Under federal law, statutory penalties can be as high as actual damages or $150,000. The court can consider the profits of the infringer as well as the actual damages suffered as a result of the copyright violation. The court can award attorney's fees and costs for the infringement as well.

If you plagiarize content in the workplace, you may lose your job or be passed over for promotion. Workplaces cannot condone criminal activity, and copyright infringement can be a criminal offense if the infringement is willful and for commercial advantage or personal gain. If the business published the infringing material, a temporary or permanent injunction is one of the remedies. An injunction may cause the business to miss deadlines or lose significant business. For example, a plagiarized legal brief or memorandum of law could result in loss of the case or even sanctions for the attorney. In a small business, a significant fine can force the business to close.

Numerous software programs and websites have developed programs to help schools and companies detect plagiarism. These programs provide full-text analysis, and some are specialized for certain works, such as ET Blast for biomedical literature. Workplaces can avoid plagiarism with training and documentation of sources. The Writing Program Administrators group encourages shared responsibility and best practices to avoid plagiarism. Purdue University maintains an online writing lab with instructions for paraphrasing, summarizing and quoting along with other ideas for workplace and university writing.