What is Plagiarism? Modern society has a basic understanding of plagiarism as the act of copying someone else’s words or ideas. In reality, this is literary theft, in which the work of another person is stolen and credit is taken for it. Furthermore, plagiarism is considered an act of fraud since original ideas are intellectual property and protected by copyright laws. It is not enough to paraphrase someone else’s ideas and words; to avoid plagiarism, writers should properly cite and make references to the sources used. Penalties for Plagiarism Most schools encourage and promote academic honesty among their disciples. Plagiarism is a crime that will not be tolerated, and its consequences and penalties vary from institution to institution. The Wharton County Junior College plagiarism policy states that their students are expected to submit their original work, and plagiarism is prohibited. Some of the consequences of such dishonesty that the students may face include failing the exam or the course and even being suspended. Bowdoin College urges its students to value academic honesty and the reputation of the College. Sanctions can be imposed, such as failure of an assignment, grade reduction as well as expulsion. The Boston University considers plagiarism a violation of the Academic Conduct Code, and possible penalties may include reprimand, disciplinary actions up to revocation of degree. Essay Mills and Detection Services Nowadays, various online companies or individuals offer students paid academic assignments. Those services claim that they assist students in dealing with their academic tasks that seem too difficult or time-consuming. Essay Mills is an online company with professional essay writers who offer their services in a variety of academic fields, such as arts, accounting, business, finance, and management. They assure their works are plagiarism-free since everything is research-based and written from scratch. They also offer reasonable prices and helpful customer support. EssayShark is another online enterprise that has been offering academic assistance for over a decade. They are highly sophisticated and up-to-date, accept payments via Apple Pay, and provide instant communication in a chat. These paper mills are accessible to students with a simple internet search or promoted by word of mouth on campus. Honesty and academic integrity are highly valued in schools, and submitting someone else’s work as their own is contract cheating and plagiarism. Teachers use many strategies to detect plagiarized academic work; being aware of the specific student’s writing style, their academic capabilities, and the level of knowledge of the given topic may be enough. However, basic online plagiarism detection services will not expose an original essay bought by a student. Turnitin is an internet-based plagiarism detection tool that, in addition to detecting plagiarism, also recognizes contract cheating through their similarity reports. The service checks the students’ work against their database and reports any similarities found. Although there are many tips and tricks out there on the internet for cheating the system, Turnitin assures those tactics are taken int