How Plagiarism Can Cost You (And Your Business Too!)
Plagiarism means taking credit for someone else’s work or ideas. It’s also defined as the wrongful appropriation of other’s ideas, thoughts, and expressions. It’s probably one of the most unethical things to do in the field of writing, website creation and business in general. It’s considered as stealing, and there are consequences should anyone be caught committing it.
Plagiarizing should always be avoided because it’s just not good for business. Here is how plagiarism can cost you and your business.
Negative effect on your reputation
Plagiarism can be considered as a career-ending, business-destroying act that can prove disastrous for your reputation. Once you have committed plagiarism, your reputation goes down with it. People will not forget what you have done, and this will resonate throughout the existence of your business. Once it’s recorded that you’ve plagiarized, the people’s trust in you and your business will drop. Business opportunities will go down, and eventually, this will result in a decline in sales and even bankruptcy. One of the worst things that could happen is that your business gets blacklisted and you won’t be able to find business partners willing to do business with you.
Legal issues
Plagiarism is not only a serious ethical offense, it’s a legal one too. Legal repercussions are to be expected once an offender is proven guilty of plagiarism. Without crediting or citing your source on an author, a plagiarist might end up with a prison sentence. That’s how serious it is. This is why hiring virtual assistants or a virtual secretary who has experience in writing is advisable as these professionals are aware of copyright laws and practices on how to avoid plagiarism.
Legal fines
Since an author has the right to sue a plagiarist, there can be monetary repercussions. These fines can do enormous financial damage for the plagiarist or the business. If your business has a website or a blog, ensure that your virtual assistants or writers do a routine check of the content that they produce or share. This can prevent your business from paying heavy fines from plagiarism issues that could have been easily avoided.
You can get fired
If you’re a politician or a business executive or if you work for a media outlet and you commit plagiarism, the label “plagiarist” will forever tarnish your name and follow you throughout your career. You can be asked to step down from your position or get fired from your work. And it would be difficult to find another similar and respectable job.
Prevention
Sometimes a person or business can commit unintentional plagiarism and later be accused of plagiarism. Unintentional or not, both instances will have adverse effects on you and your business. The good news is that there are steps to prevent unintentional plagiarism. Make it a habit to have your writers cite, paraphrase, quote and reference the sources of their content. A simple cross check or an online check can do wonders and prevent your business or blog from being accused of copying other’s work.
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