Description: Plagiarism Challenges Morality But Defines Motives for Success
Few students are caught plagiarizing, thus contributing to motives that discount learning for the sake of learning while compromising academic integrity.
Most students caught plagiarizing an essay or research paper are not concerned with the morality of their actions. They are even willing to accept a failing grade on the assignment. What students are concerned about is the reporting mechanism: none of them want a documented charge affecting academic integrity in their records. Although some colleges and universities have highly stringent policies regarding academic integrity that could cause expulsion from the institution, many do not. In too many cases, students are unaware of reporting mechanisms and consequences, even though they are published in student handbooks and codes of academic ethics.
The Temptation to Plagiarize is Abetted by Faculty Many instructors refuse to utilize internet services that detect plagiarism, even if their institutions are paying for the technology. Instructors too often see such technologies as added burdens to their responsibilities. Others refuse to adapt. A handful of instructors prefer to avoid confrontations with accused students and inevitable hearings with deans or ethics committees.
Susan D. Blum, writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Commentary,” Volume 55, Issue 24, February 20, 2009) states that, “If students pursued education for its own sake…they would try to produce academic work that increases learning…But many students don’t especially value the process of classroom learning…” Instructors that have become accustomed to such student behaviors frequently ignore student lack of subject interest, and fail to address the motives of students sitting in their classes.
Giving in to the Internet Oxford University professor Alan Grafen, responding to allegations of rampant plagiarism at his venerable institution, told Guardian journalist Alexandra Smith that, “a practice is encouraged of submitting work in class that is more or less cobbled together from the internet.” (“Plagiarism ‘rife’ at Oxford,” Guardian, March 15, 2006). In the current academic climate, few students use books or scholarly journals in research; most essays and papers rely completely on internet sources. This increases the temptation to “copy and paste” parts of questionable sources.
In a 2008 article in the Atlantic, Nicholas Carr argues that internet use is changing how we think and process information. (“Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to Our Brains,” July/August 2008) Carr writes that, “We can expect as well that the circuits woven by our use of the Net will be different from those woven by our reading of books and other printed works.” This may explain why students have difficulty using print sources, let alone a required text. According to Carr, “The Internet promises to have particularly far-reaching effects on cognition.”
Such behaviors are learned long before students enroll in freshmen level survey courses. Professor Donald L. McCabe concluded that, “High school students who are growing up with the Internet…are developing an attitude that anything on the Internet is public domain, and they’re not seeing copying as cheating.” (Alex P. Kellogg, “Students Plagiarize Online Less Than Many Think, a New Study Finds,” Chronicle of Higher Education, Information Technology, p. A44, February 15, 2002)
Even if students are taught that Internet sources fall under the same guidelines as print sources, behaviors are seldom changed. In academics, “the end justifies the means.” In a July 23, 2002 article by Greg Toppo (“Students’ Work Often Not Their Own, Educators Say,” NSTA), 95% of students that admitted to plagiarism were never caught. The odds are in favor of student cheating.
Reinforcing Integrity and Ethics The bottom line, as Susan Blum points out, is integrity: “That means teaching students what academic integrity involves, why professors value it, and how exactly to carry it out.” Preventing plagiarism begins with a sound, published institutional policy, and must include full participation by all staff in implementation. On the student side, plagiarism should be an ongoing topic beginning at freshman orientation and continued in every class requiring written assessments. If the motives for plagiarism are neutralized, few students will engage in the practice.