IELTS Task 2 Essay: Plagiarism

Plagiarism in academics has become a pressing problem in many countries today.

What are the causes of this problem?

What are some possible solutions?

Analysis

1. Plagiarism has become a serious issue in academic circles in recent decades. 2. The main causes of this center around the dissemination of information to countries with varying attitudes to intellectual property rights and the solutions are strict censures of plagiarised works.

1. For your first sentence, just paraphrase what the whole topic is about – short and simple because it is not that important.
2. Now write your opinion – you don’t have to include your main ideas but if you do it will help your cohesion and coherence score.

1. In many countries, plagiarism is not considered an offence or treated very lightly. 2. For example, students in Vietnam grow up in an environment where copyright is largely just for show. 3. It is common practice for photocopy shops to print or copy entire books with no legal repercussions. 4. In school, many students are instructed to memorise and reproduce the works of others and prohibited from coming up with their own ideas. 5. The rise of Facebook, which hardly polices IP rights, has led to further lawlessness. 6. Altogether, theft is culturally permitted if not encouraged. 7. Countries around the world all have differing standards based on their history, culture, and legal frameworks.

1. Write a topic sentence with a clear main idea. This question asks for the reasonS, plural, so try to include two related reasons.
2. Begin your example right away – don’t waste any time.
3. Continue to develop the same example.
4. Try to pull out a second reason related to your example if you can.
5. Keep developing the same example.
6. The more specific, the better!
7. I conclude the paragraph by making it more general – this is good to do if you wrote a very specific example like I did. (7 sentences is a bit long – aim for about 5.)

1. The best solutions for plagiarism are to implement degrees of punishments. 2. Those who outright copy and paste works and pass them off as their own for commercial purposes should be subject to full criminal and civil prosecution. 3. This will limit the most extreme cases. 4. Sharing and posting materials on the internet is a thornier issue because the perpetrators do not always receive direct financial benefit and can be difficult to track down. 5. In these cases, it is the websites, such as Facebook, that must police members and initiate warnings and bans to repeat offenders.

1. Write a new, simple topic sentence with another main idea. This one also asks for more than 1 solution, so try to include a couple of related solutions.
2. Don’t waste time – write specifically about your first solution.
3. Develop it with at least one more sentence.
4. Switch over to another solution.
5. Develop that example as fully and specifically as possible.

1. In conclusion, the pertinent threat of plagiarism means both companies and countries must work in tandem to limit any potential damage. 2. In the future, this issue will only become more difficult to extricate so it is advisable that preventive measures be put in place now.

1. Repeat your solutions or the cause. This sentence isn’t that important.
2. Include an extra detail – this sentence is very important because some examiners will limit your task achievement score to band 7 without it!