Google Searches and Plagiarism
Aug 1st, 2008 by Scott Hebert
Why someone thought the topic of searching on Google and plagiarism are relevant is beyond me. Nevertheless, enjoy.
The first entry listed in Google when searching for “double-entry accounting” is a Wikipedia page. Listed above the Wikipedia entry is a sponsored link. Sponsored links are advertising. A company, in this case Intuit, has paid Google to show their link above others when the keywords “double-entry accounting” are entered. Google’s policy is that all sponsored links must be relevant to the search entered (Google, 2008).
Janice VanAlstyne (2005) points out that the word plagiarism comes from the Latin word plagiarus meaning “kidnapper” (p. 172). Like a kidnapper, a plagiarizer takes something that belongs to someone else. Plagiarism includes not only directly copying someone else’s work, but also paraphrasing or adopting their ideas and presenting them as your own (VanAlstyne, 2005). Although it is acceptable to quote from another source, it is important to take care and cite that source properly. For guidelines on citing sources, refer to the Owl at Purdue (Purdue University, 2008).
Google. (2008). What is google adwords? Retrieved August 1, 2008.
Purdue University. (2008). APA formatting and style guide. Retrieved August 1, 2008.
VanAlstyne, J. S. (2005). Professional and technical writing strategies: Communicating in technology and science. Sixth ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson-Prentice Hall.