The Use of Ethics in Writing

Writing is the fundamental and universal tool that helps the world communicate. It affects our everyday lives, whether it be writing a paper for an English class, sending a text message, or reading a piece of writing posted in a public place. Because writing is such a prevalent part of our society, it needs to be protected as a piece of valuable work.

For instance, if I spend forty to fifty hours working on a research paper for one of my college classes--researching, citing, comparing, drafting, re-writing, revising again and again, losing sleep over--and it turns out to be flawless, I'm going to be very proud of that piece of work. Let's say the due-date comes, and I'm about to turn my paper in, when suddenly one of my classmates jumps up, grabs my paper, crosses my name out and scribbles theirs in its place, then turns it in, leaving me with no recognition for my hard work and effort! This would be a horrible scenario wouldn't it? Thank goodness something like that would never REALLY happen. My point, however, is this: it's important for someone to be recognized for their writing and to have a claim on their ideas. If this were not the case, none of the great writers that we know today (Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Anne Rant, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc.) would be rightly attributed to their masterpieces.

So, why is this so important? Who really cares if someone copies an idea? Well, the person from whom the idea originally came from definitely would. No one wants to be discredited for their original ideas. So, the solution is simple--just avoid plagiarism to begin with. No problems are created and everyone stays happy.

So, the take-home message is to always keep strong ethics while writing and follow the rules of good conduct. This includes always correctly citing sources, never plagiarizing, and doing research for our own work. By doing this, a piece of writing, particularly a scholarly paper, will retain its credibility and, in turn, become its own masterpiece.