One of the worst things a creative person can do is to copy another person's work. Yet plagiarism is very common. When a person plagiarizes, he or she is using another person's work without crediting the author. In other words, the person is claiming someone else's work as his or her own. This is fraud. Sadly, too many people believe they can get away with cheating. Many students plagiarize papers by copying material from the Internet or other sources. In doing this, they are not learning anything. Also, some famous writers have even copied other people's works. American historian Doris Kearns Goodwin was one such person. Although she claimed to be innocent, one of her books was found to have many instances of plagiarism. Naturally, her reputation suffered. In short, anyone can copy another person's work. But this should be avoided at all costs because, simply, it is wrong.
