Plagiarism has become a serious problem in colleges, especially in recent years. According to Dictionary.com, "Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or faithful imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and their representation as one's own original work." There are different ways to trick someone into plagiarizing, sometimes without even knowing it. However, this is not an excuse. When doing any type of work that requires citations or cited sources, it is important to know the work you are citing so as not to plagiarize. Today, students have the ability to go online and steal someone else's work, either because they are too lazy or because they face procrastination. However, plagiarism is a serious academic offense. Plagiarism is easy to detect, but there are ways to prevent cases. Plagiarism is constantly increasing. This is a serious offense that occurs at the University. Palm Beach Atlantic University's view and position is very strong against plagiarism. According to Dr. Wainer's Introductory Mass Media program, "academic integrity" is a factor in "Palm Beach Atlantic University's Five Core Community Values." For a University student, it is crucial that plagiarism is well defined and understood, especially before entering higher level courses. Often, students don't even know they have plagiarized material. This is due to the different types and levels of plagiarism. According to duplichecker.com, there are three levels of plagiarism intensity. These are known as “minimal, substantial and complete” plagiarism. Minimal is when one uses text substitution for one's work, which is usually found at the university level. Substantial plagiarism occurs when the style is...... middle of paper ......chronicle: Bulletin of the La Salle University Library; “Detect and prevent plagiarism via the Web”; Fall 1998; Hall, Shane. "Effects of Plagiarism on Education | EHow.com." EComment | How to do just about everything! | How to make videos and articles. March 15, 2010. The web. March 2, 2011. “How to avoid plagiarism”. Free online plagiarism checker software for plagiarism detection. 2008. Internet. March 2, 2011. "Plagiarism | Define plagiarism at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Free online dictionary for English definitions. Internet. March 2, 2011. “Types of plagiarism.” Free online plagiarism checker software for plagiarism detection. 2008. Internet. March 2. 2011. .