Ethics in an Academic Environment - Plagiarism and the Internet

Ethics in an Academic Environment

Plagiarism and the Internet

The advance of technology has grown exponentially over the last several decades. It has touched almost everyone's life in one way or another. Many individuals are using online technology to perform online banking functions, engage in commerce or join social networking sites. The online world has not only increased the amount of information and misinformation that is shared, but has also increased the efficiency of completing work, both business and personal. With this efficiency has come the temptation to plagiarize information, ideas or another person's work. The word plagiarism comes from the Latin word "plagiarius" and is a synonym for "kidnapper" or "plunderer" and used in the sense of "literary thief" (APA, 2007). Plagiarism has grown tremendously throughout time via the web and has had an impact on all that are involved be it the student, instructors, or even those that the source originated from. There are many reasons, as well as concerns as to the sites that enable and/or encourage students to plagiarize weakening the educational system. As a teacher, or a student, it is important to know what to look for and where to find it in order to avoid the complications of plagiarism. Fortunately, there are now tools the Internet provides to detect or prevent plagiarism along with the support of some search engines. The purpose of this paper is to present how seriously plagiarism has undermined higher education, why people are taking risks to plagiarize and what teachers, students and society can do to fight against plagiarism.

Upon researching plagiarism statistics are staggering. "In an undergraduate survey conducted this academic year at a dozen colleges by Rutgers professor Donald McCabe, 67% of the 13,248 respondents admitted to having cheated at least once on a paper or test" (Rawe, 2007, p. 59). According to Embleton (2007), Donald McCabe's survey in 1999 showed 10 percent of students plagiarized off the Internet; then, by 2001, 41 percent had admitted to plagiarizing off