Ethical or Unethical Use

Term Papers

Ethical or Unethical Use

The internet is a resource used the world over to gather research and contact people the world over. According to Gibbins (2011), the internet concept began in 1958. Today that concept has blossomed into something that is vital to the majority of people. Work is done via the internet, school, trade is done and so much more. The Internet Turns 20 (2013) calls the internet exchange of ideas and information over distances. That exchange of information and ideas has evoked several ethical discussions. One such discussion circles the information that is shared and bought by students. This paper will focus on the ethical debate revolving around term papers.

In the student culture, today Individuals can buy their papers, find papers that other have written in the past, and more. It is this that has sparked the debate about whether such actions or not. According to Hartman, DesJardins, and MacDonald (2014) ethics can be defined as the values, norms, beliefs, and expectations that determine how people within a culture act and live. Ethics reflects on the stands by which people should live (Hartman, DesJardins, and MacDonald, 2014). Per the business dictionary ethical behavior (2017) is defined as acting in ways consistent with what society and individuals typically think are good values.

Based on the definitions of ethics and ethical behavior this writer maintains that copy and or paying for term papers would be unethical behavior. This author maintains this because it is considered plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined as the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own according to Webster’s dictionary (2017). While it is not technically a crime plagiarism is considered copyright infringement as well as academic dishonesty. Given this society as a group does not hold that plagiarism is an acceptable practice. Thus the practice of plagiarism is unethical.

There are several arguments that in defense of using term papers. The first argument being that the papers posted on the internet are to assist in research in the same manner as other resources posted on the web and should simply be cited if used. In this writer's opinion that argument is correct to a certain extent. If a writer is using the information development by another student, it should be cited, and the citation should be done by the rules. At no point should the other individual's work be copied completely nor should their ideas be taken. Like with the use of other resources used the data should only be used if it supports the argument the writer is making.

The second argument that is made is that the papers posted are done as a method of encouragement for faculty to get them to change up assignments made. In this writer’s opinion, the argument isn’t constructive in the least. Education is in this writer’s opinion 90% what someone puts into it, so even if the faculty is utilizing the same argument over and over as long as it is working, then it is still valid. As well posting such information gives students the means to cheat and devalues the education that the students are receiving.

The third argument is nonsense to this writer as it states that because the student didn’t have time to complete the paper and since they’ve paid for the course