Role Of Moral Disengagement And Peer Influence On Academic Cheating

Numerous later thinks about showing that academic dishonesty is more visit in higher instruction, beneath the frame literary theft, cheating on exams, and replicating assignments from other understudies. A few reports claim that 74% of tall school understudies and 95% of college understudies are conceding to at slightest one frequency of cheating. Academic dishonesty might moreover be considered a frame of academic maladjustment. Inquire about on scholarly dishonesty has centered on the person (age, sexual orientation, identity, inspiration and scholarly engagement) and relevant variables (scholastic honor codes, punishments, in case of location) related to unscrupulous behaviors.

Academic integrity is one of the elemental values of higher instruction. And however cheating on tests and other shapes of academic dishonesty are wild, with McCabe (1993) concluding that “student cheating is pervasive” and others claiming that it is “reaching plague proportions” (Desruisseaux, 1999, p. A45). At to begin with look, it shows up that the rate of understudies who report locks in in a few sort of cheating behavior shifts broadly over ponders. For case, in a survey by Whitley (1998), predominance rates of scholarly dishonesty extend from 9% to 95%. And Jendrek (1992) summarized that the rate of understudies who have self-reported locks in in a few shape of scholastic untruthfulness has extended from 40% to 90%. A closer see, in any case, uncovers steady gauges of cheating of well over 50% at both the tall school and college level.

Academic cheating is amazingly common in instructive educate. Cheating undermines the utilize of appraisal information as both markers of understudy learning and as sources of input to instructors for directions arranging. In spite of the fact that cheating shows up to extend as understudies move through the K-12 school framework, no age gather is excluded from acts of scholarly dishonesty. For illustration, inquire about shows that cheating happens among rudimentary school children (Kanfer & Duerfeldt, 1968), in center and tall school by youths (Anderman, Griessinger, & Westerfield, 1998; Murdock, Solidness, & Weber, 2001), and as late as college (Newstead, Franklyn-Stokes, & Armstead, 1996) and indeed graduate school (Baldwin, Daugherty, Rowley, & Schwarz, 1996). In spite of the fact that most people relate cheating with understudies, inquire about shows that teachers may too ended up included in shapes of cheating, in arrange to reinforce their students’ scores in high-stakes evaluation frameworks (Kane & Staiger, 2002).

Academic cheating can be seen from a number of disciplinary and hypothetical viewpoints. In fact, it has been considered from the spaces of instruction (Cizek, 1999), human science (Dark, 1962), logic (Green, 2004), and financial matters (Kerkvliet, 1994). Though each of these vantages offers something in terms of understanding how and why cheating happens, within the last investigation, when people lock in in any sort of cheating behavior, they are making the choice to lock in in that behavior. This choice which happens inside the intellect of the person is inherQiitly mental in nature.

WHAT IS ACADEMIC CHEATING?

Creating a conceptual definition of scholarly cheating may be a to begin with step in distinguishing how understudies deceive. Evans and Craig (1990) found that individuals do not continuously concur on what constitutes scholarly cheating, and, as such, creating a definition is prickly. Let us start with a word reference definition. Cheating is ‘to act insincerely or unjustifiably in arrange to win a few benefit or advantage’ (Ehrlich, Flexner, Carruth, & Hawkins, 1980, p. 141). Concurring to this definition, possibly dishonest actions are satisfactory as long as there’s no aim to pick up from the act. This point of see would likely permit intelligent people to promptly protect scholastic untruthfulness.

Indeed so, others promptly portrayed the borrowing of words as plagiarism (Bartlett, 2005). Cizek (2003) gives a less restricting definition. He states that cheating behaviors drop into three categories: (1) ‘Giving, taking, or getting information’ (2) ‘Utilizing any disallowed materials’ (3) ‘Capitalizing on the shortcomings of people, strategies, or forms to pick up an advantage’ on academic work.

Though wide, this definition is more likely to ensure the soul of academic honesty approaches more successfully than the word reference definition. College academic genuineness arrangements or honor codes are other great assets to be considered when defining a great working definition of cheating. In spite of the fact that these arrangements and codes shift broadly, numerous incorporate cheating on reviewed work, copyright infringement, and misrepresentation as major cheating behaviors (e.g., Georgetown College, 2004). Two criteria for judging academic honesty are noticeable in college honor codes. To begin with, dishonesty includes the utilize of unauthorized help. It is vital to recognize that the help is unauthorized since numerous complex assignments and issues require the utilize of assets, such as scholarly writing, graphing calculators, the Web, and computer program, among numerous others. Learning targets regularly center on a student’s capacity to utilize fitting assets to unravel true issues. In this manner, examining the degree to which assets are passable is an critical issue in deciding academic dishonesty. The moment measure is whether the work is reviewed. By and large, academic dishonesty is judged to happen when results are related with the work. After looking into earlier investigate and college arrangements, we characterized cheating for the display chapter as the utilize or arrangement of any unauthorized materials or help in scholarly work and/or exercises that compromise the evaluation prepare (Athanasou & Olasehinde, 2002).

DEFINITIONS: WHAT CONSTITUTES ‘ACADEMIC CHEATING’?

There are over 100 experimental considers of academic cheating (for comprehensive surveys, see Bushway & Nash, 1977; Whitley, 1998). As it were a modest bunch of these considers (e.g., Barnett & Dalton, 1981; Livosky & Tauber, 1994; Newstead, Franklyn-Stokes, & Armstead, 1996; Stephens, 2004a) have explored students’ convictions concerning which behaviors constitute ‘academic cheating.’ More vitally for our purposes, none of these considers has investigated the relations between accomplishment objectives and definitions of acadmic cheating. Be that as it may, students’ conceptions of cheating may change depending on their individual objective introductions or discernments of the classroom objective structure. For case, maybe replicating homework or inquiring somebody for answers amid an exam isn’t respected as ‘academic cheating’ among understudies who are fundamentally concerned with getting tall grades and/or dodging examining fabric that they are not particularly inquisitive about learning.

Academic cheating could be a frame of scholarly extortion which habitually happens among understudies. Academic cheating generally happened amid exam, composed task, and in plagiarism (Jensen et al., 2002). Academic cheating may be a shape of irregular behavior that abuses social standard (Moeck, 2002).Academic cheating too considered as a shape of behavior that ruins profound quality, standards and astuteness in scholarly setting. Academic cheating is additionally within the news, earning uncommon portions on major arrange news programs clarifying the expound plans and mechanical helps utilized by cheaters. With the entry of David Callahan’s (2004) book The Cheating Culture, talk of a ethical compass and a cheating society has developed over the nation from the classroom to the meeting room.

Academic cheating can be considered an plague concurring to numerous insights accessible on the predominance of cheating behaviors; one-third of elementary-age understudies concede to cheating (Cizek, 1999), and around 60 percent of center school understudies cite cheating as a major issue in schools (Evans & Craig, 1990). Seventy-four percent of high school understudies concede to cheating on tests (McCabe, 2001), and among college understudies cheating rates are as high as 95 percent (McCabe & Trevino, 1997). Cheating rates show up to be expanding since these numbers are considerably higher than those in prior considers; be that as it may, it may well be that understudies are fair more willing to confess to cheating these days, maybe owing to changes in social norms.

Academic Dishonesty And Integrity

Scholastic unscrupulousness is characterized as an understudy’s utilization of unapproved help with goal to mislead an educator or other such individual who might be appointed to assess the understudy’s work in meeting course and degree necessities as indicated by the college of Colorado (no date). All through the advancement time, their learning weight and classmate’s opposition are dynamically extended. To fulfill gatekeepers and instructors and outstand in the resistance, grades mean the world for them. Endeavoring to win a higher review, understudies copy other understudies’ answers in the midst of the exams and counterfeit other’s work as their very own in papers. This has been an issue in schools seeing that schools have existed, anyway the headway of the Internet gives understudies essentially more ways to deal with cheat. This paper will show the ascent of scholastic deceptive nature and for what reason would understudies fall back on it, and in addition, conceivable approaches to counteract it.

It has been demonstrated that relatively 90% of understudies worldwide submitted some kind of bamboozling. Explores express that bamboozling is expanding in any capacity. About 68% of understudies confessed to duping as per a review of 71,300students by the worldwide focus of scholarly respectability (2015) and expanding considerably more onwards.

”They cheat sufficiently only to keep up a self-idea as fair individuals. They make their conduct an exemption to a general guideline” Dr. David Rettinger (2018) said. Rettinger seen that despite the fact that understudies are bamboozling regardless they see themselves as fair individuals giving reasons which they believe are genuine. As indicated by this exploration, understudies cheat under strain of not full-filling the desires for educators and gatekeepers. As Rettinger expressed, as a rule those understudies are every one of the An understudies stressed over disillusioning instructors while getting a lower check. One of the components for scholarly deceptive nature and copying is apathy. On the off chance that an understudy did not study or set aside a few minutes to complete their given work, at that point they in all probability will swindle. This is on the grounds that understudies feel certain that the odds of getting a not too bad review by deceiving are greatly improved than coming up short.

Anticipating bamboozling and scholarly contemptibility among understudies is about incomprehensible, understudies will dependably fall back on this arrangement under strain, stretch, sluggishness, absence of time or absence of information and so on. Be that as it may, what we can enhance is the profundity of disciplines understudies will get when captured and developing them with the ethical idea of honesty while they are kids. At the point when understudies are looked with outcomes, they are more probable not to swindle. In any case, understudies ought to likewise think about that the work and exertion they put in their assignments and exams will just consider the profundity of uprightness they have. With the end goal to keep up this trustworthiness, understudies ought to deal with their time appropriately, study and perused increasingly and connect themselves with propelled understudies.

To finish up, scholarly untruthfulness among understudies is dynamically ascending during that time and through innovation headway starting at how simple it is for them to get to data through the web. Understudies shouldn’t be pressurized by personnel or instructors to accomplish a high review or complete a coursework in a short measure of time with regards to the impact that drives them to submit scholarly untrustworthiness. Personnel ought to infer stricter disciplinary disciplines to maintain understudies in control however much as could be expected. Understudies should feel sure to compose their very own papers without stealing and the personnel ought to offer help and care to guarantee that.

Academic Dishonesty: Reasons, Consequences And Preventions

The academic community is one where individuals are expected to hold a higher standard of integrity given their access to a vast amount of resources to expand their knowledge. Any form of dishonesty within this community alters the representation of the material brought forward by the individual and more importantly, their character. There are many forms of academic dishonesty such as cheating, bribery, misrepresentation, conspiracy, fabrication, collusion and plagiarism. However, the most famous of them all is plagiarism. In this paper I will talk about the consequences of academic dishonesty and how to avoid it. In this paper I will discuss academic dishonesty with emphasis on plagiarism, its consequences and how to avoid it.

Academic Dishonesty

Character, achievement and credibility are so intimately intertwined with one another in the academic community. Character and credibility must exist simultaneously in order for achievement to occur. Without a good character and credibility, the foundation for which achievement stand will fall. The ethics of academia demands that those who encompass its community abide by the rules and regulations that govern it.

Plagiarism discredits any information that a person has shared with others. Plagiarism encompasses many negative characteristics such as stealing, cheating and lying. It is one form of academic dishonesty that brings about severe consequences.

Consequences of Academic Dishonesty

As discussed earlier, academic dishonesty, in any of its forms leads to the deterioration of one’s character and credibility. It limits the maximum capability of success that a person can achieve. Some of the common consequences of plagiarism include disciplinary action, failing a course, and even suspension or expulsion from the institution.

For instance, the President of The University of The Bahamas (then The College of The Bahamas), Dr. Rodney Smith was found guilty of plagiarism in 2005. This brought great shame to the college and most importantly, threatened its credibility in the world of academics and higher learning. Dr. Smith, being the head of the institution severely impacted the institution in a negative way because of his dishonesty and lack of integrity (Turnquest, 2014). He was later asked to resign from this position while the matter was reviewed.

There have been cases where Doctoral students have had their dissertations denied due to plagiarism allegations. After years of study to reach at the level they have, it one moment the entire empire that they built, crumbled. Some students have had their degrees delayed. This may have caused them to lose out on jobs or scholarship opportunities. (Bailey 2017)

How to Avoid Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty can be avoided by:

  • No Cheating- Unless otherwise stated, all assignments should be done independently. That means, no looking on your neighbor’s assignment paper or ‘googling’ the answers to a test.
  • Citing Sources- This is the most important and a crucial step in academia. Citing your sources gives credit to the person you have retrieved your information from. It erases any allegations that may be brought against you for using someone’s work.
  • Utilize Writing Centre’s- Professionals stationed at a Writing Centre are ready, willing and able to assist you with your work. The can assist you in avoiding plagiarism and show you how to properly cite sources.
  • Paraphrase- One of the most convenient ways to avoid plagiarism is to paraphrase—express something already written using your own words.
  • Use Plagiarism Checkers- There are many websites that check for plagiarism such as Scribbr, Plagscan, Grammarly and TurnItIn. They will analyze your work to ensure that you have not copied someone else’s material.
  • References- In addition to citing your sources, referencing them allows others to find where the article, website, magazine, etc, that you got your information from is located.

Conclusion

The simplest form of academic dishonesty, whether intentional or unintentional can have the greatest impact. The academic journey must be centered around the core values of integrity, honesty and fairness. It is important to avoid being dishonest in academia because it diminishes the value of your work—past, present and future. It also challenges your character and your ability to accomplish a task with your own knowledge and skills.

Academic dishonesty doesn’t only impact the person committing the act, it also has a negative effect on the institution the person attends. It is important to avoid engaging in all forms of academic dishonesty. Your character, credibility and success all depend on your morals. Academic institutions must hold true to their standards and values in order to maintain their credibility. This includes evicting anyone who goes against these values. Truth and integrity take precedence in academia. It is better to fail honestly with your integrity intact than to succeed by cheating the rules.

Works Cited

  1. Turnquest, A. (2014, August 21). The Tribune. Retrieved November 14, 2018, from http://www.tribune242.com/news/2014/aug/21/smith-chosen-cob-president-after-accepting-plagiar/
  2. Ways to Avoid Plagiarism. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.writecheck.com/ways-to-avoid-plagiarism
  3. Bailey, J. (2017, February 7). Academic Plagiarism, Real Courts. Retrieved November 21, 2018, from https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2017/02/07/academic-plagiarism-real-courts/

Relationship Between Academic Integrity and Writing

Starting with the definition, academic integrity is described as standard set of rules and regulation in academic field which avoid the chance of academic dishonesty like plagiarism and cheating. Academic integrity plays a vital role in maintaining the high caliber of academic standard by encouraging he practice of good research, honest writing, referencing and academic publishing. Academic integrity is very important for academic progress and on the other hand, we have professional integrity to consistently and willingly practices within the guidelines of the mission of a chosen profession under the obligation of a Code of Ethics. So, professional integrity can be described as the set of rules in any of the chosen profession the follows the honesty in the profession. Both academic integrity and professional integrity are very important in their own place which will ultimately shape the writing and learning skill of a person and help for the career development.

This is the time where following the academic dishonesty is nothing new and is very likely to happen because of easy access of internet to everyone. That means, every people including students doing their assignments or people writing their articles or any other writers doing their work can easily do any misconduct in their work, for example, they can copy others work or any kind of pictures and put those in their work without giving any credit to the original creator i.e. plagiarism. This is where academic integrity comes into play to avoid those misconduct in academic writing and maintain the standard. Academic integrity is important because it helps the person to build the base of academic writing. It encourages people to go through various sources to get a bit of knowledge and gives the appropriate attribution to those from whom you have sourced information and ideas. As a result, person can create his own content by incorporating all ideas and research which will demonstrate the understanding of the material you have learnt and give credit to the original writer. If there is no academic integrity in place, there won’t be any progress in the field of academic writing. People can jot down anything from any sources without giving any credit to the creator. People won’t care about referencing the sources in a proper way which will ultimately makes the sources unreachable to the reader. People cannot develop their writing in any manner if there is no integrity in their writing. Similarly, professional integrity is very important to every individual because it helps him to shape his career. That means, a person having strong integrity in his profession is sought by all organization because they can be productive. On the other hand, people lacking professional integrity can never be transparent, honest and consistently considerate about their ideas because they never come up with their own ideas. Hence, none of the organization are going to look after them.

Nowadays, educational and organizational sectors take academic and professional integrity very seriously because of the reason that both of these factors are connected with the productivity and the reputation of the institution. Organizations which are able to establish the high standard of academic and professional integrity within themselves are characterized as productive and transparent which ultimately boost the work ethics within the employees.

There will be environment in the institution where the employees can bring their own ideas to share resulting the customer satisfaction and financial growth of the company. Not only organization, integrity helps the people to be confident and productive. It’s not a difficult task to maintain the practice of academic and professional integrity in educational and industrial sector. Students should be encouraged to do the work assigned to them by themselves without involving in any kinds of academic dishonesty. Students are likely to take advantage of the fact that they have access to any kinds of information that they need in any types of source i.e. written, audio, or visual. It’s not wrong to get information from the valuable source that are needed but source of the information should be mentioned. Therefore, students should be taught about plagiarism, referencing and other ideas which helps them to get away from the academic dishonesty. It’s same case with the professional integrity. Organizations should focus about their employees from the base. Organization should always keep an eye on their employees and their work. The only way professional integrity should be applied in any organization is by encouraging the staff with productive ideas and discouraging those staff which are on the way to professional dishonesty. It so helps to build the working environment in the organization, enhance the cooperation between the employees and ultimately helps the organization to grow socially and financially.

It is the era of creativity and innovation. That’s why academic and professional integrity comes into play to save the originality of ideas invention as well as their creators. It seems that people didn’t really care about academic integrity before as they do now. During the late 18th century, the set of someone’s behaviour was defined by their duty, power, and self-esteem. That’s why, any act to promoting the uplifting and building of any of these within an individual was a goal. Any acts of academic dishonesty performed in order to maintain their good name was seen as a necessary means to an end. On the other hand, people didn’t care about the path how they got there. It wasn’t until the end of the 19th century when the goals of the university changed that the concept of academic integrity changed. As a result, many of the colleges, universities and companies teach their students and their employees about academic and professional integrity. Colleges have included the lessons for plagiarism and reference within their course. This will result in improvement of academic writing and profession.

In conclusion, academic and professional integrity plays a vital role to improve the academic status focusing in good research and respecting the source through reference. It will ultimately encourage original ideas to come out.

Academic Integrity Essay

Introduction

Any educational institute runs based on policies and it is important for every member of the institute to follow these policies. The policies must be reviewed from time-to-time so that they apply to the current situations. It is also the responsibility of the institute to create awareness about such policies. An educational institute is a place which transforms students into professionals. It is a place which teaches us many important aspects of life such as ethics, honesty, good behavior, professionalism etc. Policies of any institute are designed to inculcate these aspects into students. So, it is very important for every member of any institute to follow these and become responsible professionals. And today our discussion is based on few such important aspects which are Academic Integrity, plagiarism and ethics in computing.

Academic Integrity

Demonstrating honesty and morality towards the work given and having commitment towards the work assigned is called Academic Integrity. It is a very important aspect in any institute’s curriculum. This tests the student’s professionalism and sincerity towards the course. The rules set by an educational institute that define the academic integrity, have a major role in estimating the standard of education offered. Though in many countries it is not treated importantly, in United States, it is of utmost importance. Serious action is taken on students who do not follow these rules.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) believes that encouragement of intellectual honesty at all levels within any academic community creates a positive environment within the institute which helps students in improving their knowledge through exchange of information among scholars. Academic dishonesty is the failure to maintain academic integrity. SIUE tries to provide an environment to develop its student’s intellect in all means. There are several actions that lead to academic dishonesty which include cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, bribery, improper use of academic resources, falsifying to name a few. Students enrolled in the university are expected to be responsible and behave as good citizens of the institute. The general expectations from students are to attend classes regularly, have knowledge about requirements of course, complete the assignments and projects based on own knowledge and not show someone else’s ideas as their own, respect other student’s rights. Serious actions are taken when students do not abide to these laws and policies.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is showing someone else’s work as their own without proper acknowledgment. This can be avoided by not reproducing someone else’s ideas without properly acknowledging it. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville considers quoting actual words of others, using idea’s, browsing facts etc. as examples of plagiarism. Plagiarism is considered as a serious offense by the institute.

Plagiarism is more commonly seen to be committed by international students knowingly or unknowingly. International Students might be caught in plagiarism unknowingly due to difference in cultural conceptions or English not being their primary language of communication or difference in the way educational institutes function in their home country to that of United States. For example, in India, plagiarism is never considered seriously resulting in students copying their work from fellow students or taking content from the internet directly and presenting it, where as in United States, plagiarism is given utmost importance and it may even lead to the expulsion of student from educational institute.

Ethics

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has quoted that “Computing Professional’ actions change the world”. The general ethical principals to be followed by computing professionals and students according to ACM are as below:

  • Skills are to be used for the greater benefit of the society.
  • Avoid information disclosure.
  • Best practices need to be followed in all works.
  • Be honest.
  • Be fair to others.
  • Respect the effort of others to develop any idea.
  • Confidentiality needs to be maintained.
  • Maintain standards of professionalism and conduct
  • Know the rules that every individual need to abide to
  • Do not present false information
  • Do not falsify the results of experiments

Many institutes follow the code of ethics defined by ACM. It defines how a professional should behave in all respects and be honest with the work done by them. Serious actions are taken when these principles are not followed.

Measure to be taken by Students

Plagiarism can be avoided by the students by taking few measures. Below are some examples:

  • Understand the concept well and try to articulate your own thoughts.
  • If something needs to be taken from a paper then, use quotes to indicate the same.
  • Provide proper citation.
  • Acknowledge any ideas taken from any other source.
  • Citation needs to be provided even if you use your own previous works.
  • Once your paper is done, review it.
  • Check if all references and citations are provided.

By following these steps, even unintentional plagiarism can be avoided.

Conclusion

Maintain academic integrity and avoiding any kind of misconduct is of utmost importance, as it would affect student’s career. Being caught in any kind of academic misconduct affects not only a student’s life in university but also affects his overall career. It remains as a mark in their profile. International students especially should be really careful about this, as it is considered a serious offense in the United States and can be expelled from the country and may not return too.

References

  1. https://www.siue.edu/policies/1q5.shtml
  2. https://www.siue.edu/policies/3c2.shtml
  3. https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/110295
  4. https://www.acm.org/code-of-ethics
  5. https://www.siue.edu/policies/1i6.shtml

Forms Of Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty is any type of cheating that occurs in relation to a formal academic exercise. Academic dishonesty can include plagiarism, fabrication and cheating. Penalties for academic dishonesty can be very serious and can be deemed a criminal offense.

In 2019, a college admission scandal was uncovered by federal agents at several universities including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, and The University of Texas. As told by Eric Levenson and Mark Morales on CNN March 13, 2109, this admittance scandal, also called Operation Varsity Blues, involved coaches, exam proctors, and many more. The man in the middle of this scandal is a guy by the name of William Singer. Singer was the CEO of the college admissions company The Key, and using this company as a disguise, Singer accepted money from the parents of students to allow them to get accepted into these schools.

Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman are two big names that surfaced during this scandal. Huffman paid $15,000 to cheat on her daughter’s SAT’s at a test center where a proctor would help students cheat. Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, paid bribes totaling $500,00 to get their two daughters on the USC crew team. Another parent paid Singer $1.2 million to get their student into Yale.

In my opinion, the people involved in this scandal got a slap on the wrist. Loughlin only received two months in jail and is required to pay a $150,000 in fines and her husband, Giannulli, received 5 months in jail and $250,000 in fines. I think that they should’ve received more jail time and more fines to let others know how wrong this was and what could potentially happen when caught doing such.

Another form of academic misconduct is plagiarism. According to the 2009 Encyclopedia of Journalism volume 3, “Plagiarism is the reuse of original ideas or words without attribution”. People often plagiarize when taking shortcuts when deadlines are approaching or to hide the lack of knowledge in writing papers. Others may plagiarize because they don’t think that they will get caught or they are just lazy and don’t care. As said in the Encyclopedia of Business in Today’s World, “Plagiarism is often unintentional”. It can also take place when a student struggles with how to use researched material and from my standpoint I can understand how that can happen when struggling to write a paper.

If plagiarism is intended I feel like the consequences should be more severe then it should be for unintentional plagiarism. If unintentional, for a first offense I think that you should be made to redo your paper and receive a letter grade lower than you made. If it was intentional, you should receive a zero on your paper. If it happens twice, you should be dropped from your class and have to retake it and if it’s happening in multiple classes you should be expelled. Plagiarism can destroy your reputation so it is a very serious offense.

To avoid plagiarism Sage Encyclopedia of Business states that “All that is needed is appropriate citation of sources”. It also goes on to say that “Writer’s should make it clear to readers exactly what is coming from where”. You can also use a plagiarism checker before you submit a paper.

References

  1. Bruton, Samuel V. ‘Plagiarism.’ The SAGE Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society, edited by Robert W. Kolb, 2nd ed., vol. 5, SAGE Reference, 2017, pp. 2637-2641. Gale eBooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX6070900864/GVRL?u=txshracd2500&sid=GVRL&xid=6690524f. Accessed 2 Oct. 2020.
  2. Lewis, Norman P. ‘Plagiarism.’ Encyclopedia of Journalism, edited by Christopher H. Sterling, vol. 3, SAGE Reference, 2009, pp. 1074-1077. Gale eBooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3202300275/GVRL?u=txshracd2500&sid=GVRL&xid=da65dc64. Accessed 2 Oct. 2020.
  3. Fernândez-Calienes, Raul. ‘Plagiarism.’ Encyclopedia of Business in Today’s World, edited by Charles Wankel, vol. 3, SAGE Publications, 2009, pp. 1290-1291. Gale eBooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3201500758/GVRL?u=txshracd2500&sid=GVRL&xid=a96e1301. Accessed 2 Oct. 2020.

Kantian Vs. Utilitarianism In Academic Dishonesty

What is ethics? Simply put, ethics is the study of the way things should be – ethics gives insight into what people do and why they do it. There are several different types of ethics; this paper will focus on two types: Kantian Ethics and Utilitarianism.

Kantian Ethics

Kantian Ethics is the ethical theory of philosopher Immanuel Kant. Instead of emphasizing an action’s results, Kantian Ethics emphasizes the principles behind actions. People must treat others with respect and be motivated by the right principles.

The categorical imperative is a pivotal piece of Kantian Ethics; it is a moral obligation that is compulsory in all situations and does not depend on a person’s inclination or purpose. The categorical imperative states that people should always respect the humanity in others, and that people should only act in accordance with rules that apply to everyone. With the categorical imperative, people act as they would want all others to act toward each other. For example, if it were said that stealing is wrong, then under no conditions would it be okay to steal. People act so that they treat humanity always as an end and never as a means. This means treating people well and with respect, promoting their welfare, respecting their rights, and avoiding harm to them. Never manipulate others or use them to achieve one’s own goals.

Kant argued that people are inimitable, and things are replaceable. Kant also believed that people have a self-worth that things do not. People have desires, and things that satisfy those desires can have value for people. People also have self-worth because they are free agents who have free will to make their own decisions. When people are motivated by the right principles, they act ethically. Good actions that are performed by people are the results of them feeling that they ought to act a certain way. The intention behind an action is whether an action is good or bad. Kant felt that if people disappeared, the moral dimension of the world would also disappear.

Kantian Ethics also states that the only way for moral goodness to exist is for rational creatures to act from a good will – good will is the only thing that is completely good. A person committing an act that they think is good does not make the act itself good; it is the attitude the person has toward doing an act that matters.

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is a moral theory that claims that what really matters is the amount of happiness or suffering created by a person’s actions. Acting accordingly involves increasing the amount of happiness and decreasing the amount of suffering or unhappiness. The only effects of actions that are relevant are the good results or bad results that they produce. With utilitarianism, life is made better by maximizing things that cause good feelings like happiness and pleasure and minimizing the things that cause bad feelings like unhappiness and suffering. Utilitarianism determines what actions are right or wrong by focusing on the outcomes of the action; we should promote happiness and oppose suffering. The question that utilitarians ask is “Which action would produce the greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness?”

With the utilitarian theory, laws should restrict people’s freedoms as little as possible. Whatever action is being evaluated, the action that produces the greatest amount of good is the action that should be chosen – the outcome that produces the best consequences is the outcome that should be selected. For example, three people were in a vehicle accident and needed organ transplants to save their lives. Doctors harvest organs from a perfectly healthy person to transplant into the three that were in the accident. Because doctors are saving three lives at the expense of one life, this would be acceptable because it causes the greatest amount of good.

Kant Versus Utilitarianism

Kantian ethics and utilitarianism have different ways of determining whether actions are right or wrong. Under Kantian ethics, we should look at the intentions of specific actions; humans are free rational beings and should not be used purely for the enjoyment or happiness of others. You should not act on motives that you would not want to be universal law under Kantian Ethics; people should not use other people to get what they want. Under utilitarianism, we should perform actions that produce the greatest amount of happiness; you may use whatever means necessary to achieve an end that increases happiness.

Considering the Case

Suppose that you are sitting in a classroom about to take an exam for which you are unprepared. You are normally a diligent student and proudly maintain a 4.0 GPA. You find yourself in a situation where you can cheat without getting caught, by copying from the student next to you who you know is one of the best students in the class, and who you know has studied hard for the exam. Getting an A in this class is important to you since you will be applying to medical school where the competition for admission is fierce. Anything less than an A might jeopardize your chances of getting into a good school and therefore could have consequences on your entire career path. Should you cheat?

Under Kantian Ethics, we would have to look at the intentions of the action and whether those intentions are good or bad. What principles lie behind my actions to cheat? Is the action I am going to perform a good action or a bad action? Am I being motivated by the proper principles that treat everyone with respect equally? In a situation like this, I would think that Kant would advise that cheating is morally wrong, as the only person in the situation that would be benefitting from my actions is myself. It is my desire to cheat, but that desire only satisfies my needs, not anyone else’s. The only person that cheating would have value for would be myself. If I cheated, I would likely be guaranteed an A, and I would get into medical school. The person whose test I used to cheat would receive no value out of my actions. Therefore, Kant would say that copying from the student next to me would be morally wrong because I am manipulating that student to my advantage.

Under utilitarianism, no one is suffering from me copying from the student next to me. Cheating from another student will maximize my happiness and does not have any harmful effects toward anyone else. Copying from the student next to me would increase my pleasure and happiness and would decrease any pain and suffering I would have if I did not cheat and had failed the test. Failing the test would jeopardize my chances of getting into medical school and therefore, I would suffer. Under utilitarianism, my action of copying from another student would be acceptable because the outcome would bring the greatest amount of happiness, and happiness is a good thing. The consequences of my action would only affect me and no one else, so what harm would there be if I were to copy another student’s test?

To conclude, Kantian Ethics bases the outcome of an action on the principles behind the action, and not the results of the action. In Kant’s view, the principles behind copying another student’s test are morally wrong. I am not good by copying another student’s test and my actions are not good, because my intentions only satisfy my needs and desires. So according to Kant, I should not copy the paper of the student who sits next to me just because I need to get an A, or I might jeopardize my chances of getting into medical school. I put myself in this situation and should suffer the consequences. Under the utilitarian view, it would be okay for me to copy another student’s test because doing so would increase my happiness and decrease my suffering. I would almost be guaranteed to receive an A, which would make me happy because I would not jeopardize my chances of getting into medical school.

Plagiarism As The Type Of Academic Dishonesty

Plagiarism refers to the act of stealing and publishing of another writer’s idea, language, thoughts, or expressions and representing them as one’s original work. The behavior involves using the productions of other authors and failing to recognize them as the innovators of works. Plagiarism relates to values, ethics and religion, and even though there are ways to prevent and check if it exists, some students still plagiarize original works.

Plagiarism is closely related to ethics, religion, and values. Academic dishonesty is similar to deception and goes against ethical guidelines because stealing and lying are regarded as unethical. In terms of religion, cheating is not allowed, since plagiarism is the same as cheating, the act goes against religious principles and teachings (Hosny & Fatima, 2014). In society, when one takes someone’s property without asking for permission, they show a lack of respect and betray the values of the land. The act is not acceptable since it goes against the values, religion, and ethical principles as perceived by society.

Students can prevent plagiarism by using several strategies. Paraphrasing is an excellent way of ensuring that a student avoids copying someone’s original work. Learners need to evade using two words together from a given source, and if they cannot avoid it, they can utilize quotation marks (“6 Ways to Avoid Plagiarism,”2012). Through citing sources, learners can avoid plagiarism cases. Including a reference page also helps prevent plagiarism; however, learners need to ensure it meets the provided formatting guidelines. These strategies are essential in helping students avoid academic dishonesty.

It is possible to check if a student’s paper has plagiarism before submitting. Many learners are worried that their paper might be detected for academic dishonesty; however, several approaches are available to offer assistance. Students can employ the use of different plagiarism checker programs that are readily available. These programs can cross-check the works of learners against the papers that have been submitted before (Dalal, 2016). With these strategies, students can recognize the ideas that are plagiarized and change them appropriately.

Many institutions have formulated policies that discourage academic dishonesty. However, students still resort to plagiarism for various reasons. The pressure to get high grades makes students fell that they need to cheat so that they can succeed. Learners engage in activities other than studying; therefore, they may develop fear to meet deadlines. Which will push them to copy someone’s original works. Some students lack proper understanding of plagiarism (Adam Anderson, & Spronken-Smith, 2017). Poor time management coupled with procrastination does lead to pressure and stress, which makes learners resort to cheating in their papers. Teachers need to play a central role in helping students understand the seriousness of such behavior.

Plagiarism is a serious offense that needs to be discouraged among learners. The act goes against the values of society as well as religious and ethical principles. Learners need to realize there are various strategies they can use to prevent plagiarism and check if they have used someone’s original works. Many students still engage in academic dishonesty because of various reasons such as pressure to get high grades. Therefore, learning institutions need to teach students how to avoid these challenges to avoid plagiarism in their works.

Investigating Academic Dishonesty Among University Students

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter researcher present the background of this study, identification of the problem, limitation, research questions, purposes, and significance of this study.

Background of the Study

Academic dishonesty is someone’s or group of people tendency to commit dishonest behaviour in the field of education. Academic dishonesty contradicts academic integrity, which is about commitment to the values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility (Fundamental Values as cited in Ahmed, 2018). Academic dishonesty is involving various deviant behaviour that breached the rules and regulations of learning institutions (De Lambart, Ellen, & Ferrell in Meng, Othman, D’Silva, & Omar, 2014, p. 67). Academic dishonesty can further describe as students’ tendency in cheating or copying someone’s work and it gives student advantages during the test or finish their assignment (Bleeker as cited in Thomas, 2017, p. 141). In line with Bleeker definition, Tasgin (2018, p. 86) state that academic dishonesty is propensity of an individual to intentionally commit plagiarism, using someone else’s work as his own without paraphrasing and adding citation or references. Therefore, writer can conclude that academic dishonesty is someone’s or group of people tendency to commit dishonest behaviour in the field of education.

Academic dishonesty can be done in the form of cheating and plagiarism. Cheating during exam and plagiarize someone’s work are belong to academic dishonesty (Bachore, 2016, p. 15). Further, Lyer and Eastman (2008) as cited in Basir and Bala (2018, p. 59) emphasize, there are four components of academic dishonesty; those are plagiarism, cheating, electronic cheating and seeking outside help.

Cheating is the act in searching information through personal resources and asking and giving for help or answer during test or examination hours. It supported by Etter et.al (2006) as cited in Bachore (20116, p. 15), using notes, formulas or other information in electronic device without teacher’s permission, or allowing someone else to take a test for someone else and asking another to give you help, including offering money or other benefits are categorized as cheating.

Meanwhile, plagiarism is the acts of telling material from other resources, submitting other writer paper, copying material without adding quotation marks, and paraphrasing sentences without adding resources are belong to plagiarism (Park as cited in Rehman and Waheed, 2014, p. 2). Further, providing papers and submitting same academic work for more than one course also categorize as plagiarism (Bachore, 2016, p. 15).

Academic dishonesty or more commonly known as cheating and plagiarism is not a new problem in the field of education (Balbuena and Lamela, 2015, p. 69). It is an ongoing issue today and overcomes even in some of academic institutions, for example in Harvard (Carmichael as cited in Ahmed, 2018). Types academic dishonesty which done by students is cheating during exam and plagiarism (Rehman and Waheed, 2014). A study found that there are 97% of medical school students in Europe admitted to do academic dishonesty (Taradi, Taradi, & Dogas as cited in Thomas, 2017, p. 141). Among 3,600 students in United stated found that 95% of students admitted to cheating during the past academic year (Wangaard and Stephens, 2011). There are many students believe that cheating is wrong but they still do it (Ahmed, 2018). Further, there are more than 65,700 undergraduate and 9,250 graduated students during 2001 until 2005 commit plagiarism (McCabe as cited in MacLennan, 2018).

Also, academic dishonesty is not new issue in Indonesia. This issue is a concern of Indonesia government. Government makes a rule regarding plagiarism that is Pasal 70 Undang-undang Republik Indonesia No. 20 Tahun 2003 state that graduates students who commit plagiarism for their thesis will be imprisoned or fined Rp 200.000.000 (two hundred rupiah). Hovewer, in the reality, there are some students who commit plagiarism. Pratama and Santosa (2018) stated that EFL students in Singaraja, Indonesia understand the notion of plagiarism but they still committing plagiarism. According to Dee and Jacob (2012) as cited in Grira & Jaeck (2018, p. 10) conducting plagiarism can give some impact such us decrease the quality of education and decrease human value.

There are some similar studies that had been conducted by some researchers. First is study has been done by Tasgin (2018). The aim of study is to examine the relationship between the research attitudes of the pre-service teachers and their academic dishonesty tendencies. The design of study is correlational design and method used in this study is quantitative method. The subjects of study are 659 volunteer pre-service teachers from the faculty of education of a state university in East of Turkey. Further, the result is, there is negative relationship between academic dishonesty and attitudes towards the research.

Other research had been conducted by Diego (2017). The focus of the study are to find the reason why students copy other learners’ answer during exam, the way by which students copy other learner’ answer, the effect of copying other learners’ answer, and intervention need to be maintained. The study uses qualitative method. The subjects of the study are high school students in Palawa.

The other study had been conducted by Bachoer (2016). The objective of the study is to asses the perception of teachers and learners on the nature of practice, the type and the causes of academic cheating (dishonesty) in Hawassa University. Concerning this matter, this study has a novelty in the term of subject. The subjects of this study are English Language Education students. This study decided to investigate the motive and trend of academic dishonesty among University students. Further, this study is quantitative research and the design of this study is survey.

Since academic dishonesty case was very concern to be conducted by several researchers, the researcher conducted this study intended to investigate motive and trend of academic dishonesty among university students. Before conducting the present study, researcher conducted primarily observation through informal interview with several students of English Language Education. The result of preliminarily observation was used as ground information in the consideration of conducting this study.

Based on preliminarily study, it was found that students of English Language Education has committed plagiarism and cheating. They committed plagiarism by copying the information from the internet without adding the sources and claimed that as their original work. Meanwhile, they also admitted that cheated during the exam. They admitted that they cheated by asking their friend the answer, making a note on paper or on the desk, or searching the answer on the internet. However, this case needs deep analysis to investigate the situation above.

This study is very important to be conducted because academic dishonesty is widely happening. This study can raise students’ awareness about academic dishonesty. Then, the result of this study can be used as reflection of what teacher/lecture should do to fighting with academic dishonesty in collage.

Identification of Research Problem

Based on preliminarily observation, it was found that students of English Language Education had committing academic dishonesty in the form of cheating and plagiarism during their collage life. They do those things due to several reasons such as they do not really understand about the material; they do not know how to make correct citation or quotation: they do not know what kinds of act that belongs to academic dishonesty; and the lecturer does not check the originality of students work.

Thus, comprehensive investigation is needed to obtain the information about what English Language Education students’ motives behind committing academic dishonesty. It cannot be deny that academic dishonesty can occur due to several actions and there must be several motives behind students doing academic dishonesty

Limitation of Problem

This study is limited to investigate English Language Education students’ motives on conducting academic dishonesty in the form of cheating and plagiarism and English Language Education students’ ways on committing academic dishonesty in the form of cheating and plagiarism. This study only focus on investigate students’ motive and ways on conducting cheating and plagiarism because these types of academic dishonesty are very crucial among students. Wangaard and Stephens (2011) stated that 95% from 3,600 students in United State found that 95% admitted to cheating during the past academic year. Further, there are more than 65,700 undergraduate and 9,250 graduated students during 2001 until 2005 commit plagiarism (McCabe as cited in MacLennan, 2018).

Purpose of Study

Based on research questions, this study intended to investigate English Language Education students’ motives on committing cheating and plagiarism and ways on committing cheating and plagiarism. The result of the study can raise students’ awareness about cheating and plagiarism and it can reflect what teacher/lecture should do to avoid academic dishonesty in the form of cheating and plagiarism.

LITERATURE RIVIEW

In this chapter, the researcher presents theories that used to support this study which divided into theoretical review and empirical review.

Theoretical Review

Academic dishonesty contradicts academic integrity, which is about commitment to the values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility (Fundamental Values in Ahmed, 2018). Academic dishonesty is involving various deviant behaviour that breached the rules and regulations of learning institutions (De Lambart, Ellen, & Ferrell in Meng, Othman, D’Silva, & Omar, 2014, p. 67). Academic dishonesty can further describe as students’ tendency in cheating or copying someone’s work and it gives student advantages during the test or finish their assignment (Bleeker in Thomas, 2017, p. 141). In line with Bleeker definition, Tasgin (2018, p. 86) states that academic dishonesty is propensity of an individual to intentionally commit plagiarism, using someone else’s work as his own without paraphrasing and adding citation or references.

There are two forms of academic dishonesty, which are cheating and plagiarism. It is supported by statement from Bachore (2016, p. 15) cheating during exam and plagiarize someone’s work are belong to academic dishonesty Further, Lyer and Eastman (2008) as cited in Basir and Bala (2018, p. 59) emphasized that there are four components of academic dishonesty; those are plagiarism, cheating, electronic cheating and seeking outside help.

Cheating

Cheating is the act in searching information through personal resources and asking and giving for help or answer during test or examination hours. It supported by Etter et.al (2006) as cited in Bachore (20116, p. 15), using notes, formulas or other information in electronic device without teacher’s permission, or allowing someone else to take a test for someone else and asking another to give you help, including offering money or other benefits are categorized as cheating. Further, Garavalia, Olson, Russell, & Christensen (2007) as cited in Thomas (2017, p. 141) also state that cheating is condition when students allow their friends to copy their answer.

There are several behaviours that related to cheating. McCabe and Trevino (1993) as cited in Royer (2013) stated that there are several types of behaviour that categorized as cheating such as using note while taking a test, learn material by applied unfair method before conducting a test, copying another students works and turning it as your own work, giving help for someone else during the test, fabricating or falsifying a bibliography, using someone else work, copying sentence without giving acknowledgement, working collaboratively when teacher asks to work individually, asking unpermitted help for finishing the assignment. In edition, Miller, at all (2008) as cited in Royer (2013) mentioned that asking information from someone who already take a test also categorized as cheating behaviour.

Plagiarism

Meanwhile, plagiarism is the activity of claiming someone else work as their own, without paraphrasing and only copying the whole content, and paraphrasing certain sentences without giving credit (Park in Rehman and Waheed, 2014, p. 2). Another activity that consider as plagiarism are acting as provider of papers and submitting same academic work for more than one course (Bachore, 2016, p. 15).

Dhammi and Haq (2016) stated that there are several forms of plagiarism. First is verbatim plagiarism. Verbatim plagiarism is when someone uses someone else’s words in his/her own name without referencing. Second is mosaic plagiarism. In mosaic plagiarism, someone is mixing some words from someone else’s idea/opinion. Third is cyber plagiarism. In this type of plagiarism, someone is downloading and copying a part or entirety of article or research paper from the internet without giving proper citation. Another type of plagiarism is image plagiarism. In image plagiarism, someone uses image or video without asking permission or providing appropriate citation.

Empirical Review

The first study was done by Rehman and Waheed (2014) which conducted case study about activities performed by university students during academic misconduct and their perceptions regarding such activities. The data were collected through interview. The result showed that the major activities performed by the students during academic misconducts such as during exams hours, assignment preparation and using internet resources and 47.5% students considered academic dishonesty as unethical but acceptable practice in the context of Pakistan and agreed upon that academic dishonesty is a bad habit and may be avoided.

The second study was done by Alsuwaih, Rust-Eft, and Alshurai (2016) which conducted study to investigate why academic dishonesty is common among the students at the College of Basic Education in Kuwait. The data were collected through interview and questioners survey. The result of this study shows that academic dishonesty is common at the College of Basic Education in Kuwait because its has some benefits such as receiving higher grades, saving time, receiving higher marks than friends, receiving scholarships for masters and doctorate degrees, and making new friends.

The third study was done by Ahmed (2018) which is conducted survey study about students’ perspective towards cheating and how it is done. The data were collected through distribute survey which consists of items stetements and open-ended questions.The result of study showed that students believe that this kind of misbehaviour is wrong but they still do it. Further, the result showed that 65% of students use technology to cheat.

The forth study was done by Tasgin (2018) which conducted correlation study about relationship between pre-service teachers’ attitude towards research and their academic dishonesty tendency. The result showed that the academic dishonesty tendencies of the senior year pre-service teachers are higher than that of the sophomore year pre-service teachers. The result of this study also found that there was a negative relationship between the academic dishonesty and their attitudes towards the research.

Conceptual Framework of Thinking

This study investigates English Language Education students’ motives on committing cheating and plagiarism, ways on committing cheating and plagiarism. Based on theoretical and empirical review that have been explained, there were several theories and previous studies which reviewed that relevant this study. For the detail process of this study, it can be seen in figure below.

References

  1. Ahmed, K. 2018. Student perceptions of academic dishonesty in a private Middle Eastern university. Higher Learning Research Communications, 8(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.18870/hlrc.v8i1.400
  2. Alsuwaileh, B. G., Russ-Eft, D. F., & Alshurai, S. R.2016. Academic dishonesty: a mixed-method study of rational choice among students at the college of basic education in Kuwait. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(30), 139-151. https://iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JEP/article/view/33629/34573
  3. Bachore, M. M. 2016. The nature, causes and practices of academic dishonesty/cheating in higher education: the case of Hawassa University. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(19), 14-20. https://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/ JEP/article/view/31909/32779
  4. Bashir, H., & Bala, R. 2018. Development and validation of academic dishonesty scale (ADS): presenting a multidimensional scale. International Journal of Instruction, 11(2), 57-74. https://doi.org/10.12973/iji.2018.1125a
  5. Dhammi, I.K & Haq, R.U. 2016. What is plagiarism and how to avoid it?. Indian Journal of Ortho,50(8), 1-2. http://www.ijoonline.com/text.asp?2016/50/6/581/193485
  6. Diego, L.A.B. 2017. Friends with benefits: causes and effects of learners’ cheating practices during examination. IAFOR Journal of Education, 5(2), 121-138. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1156266.pdf
  7. MacLennan, H. 2018. Student perceptions of plagiarism avoidance competencies: an action research case study. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 18(1), 58-74. https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v18i1.22350
  8. Marshal, L.L., & Varnon, A.W. 2017. Attack on academic dishonesty: what ‘lies’ ahead?. Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education, 13(2), 31-40. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ115887.pdf
  9. Meng, C.L., Othman, J., d’Silva, J.L., & Omar, Z. 2014. Influence of neutralization attitude in academic dishonesty among undergraduates. International Education Studies, 7(6), 66-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ies.v7n6p66
  10. Rehman, R.R., & Waheed, A. 2014. Ethical perception of university students about academic dishonesty in pakistan: identification of student’s dishonest acts. The Qualitative Report, 19(7), 1-13. http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR19/rehman7.pdf
  11. Royer, S. C. 2013. Faculty and student perceptions of academic cheating and the influence of achievement motivation with online and face-to-face learning environments. UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 2022. Retrieved from http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/2022
  12. Tasgin, A. (2018). The relationship between attitudes towards research and academic dishonesty tendencies of pre-service teachers. International Journal of Progressive Education, 14(4), 85-96. https://doi.org/10.29329/ijpe.2018.154.7
  13. Thomas, D. 2017. Factors that explain academic dishonesty among university students in thailand. Ethis & Behavior, 27(2), 140–154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2015.1131160

Academic Dishonesty: Cause And Effect Of Plagiarism

Mr. Walsh senator of Montana committee plagiarism in his master thesis in 2007.”an examination of final paper required for Mr. Walsh’s master’s degree from the United States Army War College indicates the senator appropriated at least a quarter of his thesis on American Middle East policy from other authors’ work with no attribution” (Martine,2014). Plagiarism is an immoral act that is usually done to deceive audience by pretending that some copy and pasted ideas, which are used by other experts, originally comes from intellectual knowledge of the author. (SHashok,2011). It is understandable that this phenomenon has ever been a potential concern for academics and artwork creators. However, these days it seems that with proper and unlimited access to the internet, using polarized materials has become easier than ever before. Personal, academic and cultural factors are responsible for this academic dishonesty which appears to has direct impacts on individuals and society.

The first probable cause of the plagiarism can be personal issues. Some of the students may commit plagiarism duo to their lack of time. It is very probable that their short time leave them with little choices such as using others ideas or words. In addition, some mental and economic pressures on individuals might contribute to plagiarism. For example, those students who are under pressure of their family to pass a course with a high GPA, are more prone to commit plagiarism in their essays. Also, failure in the course for those students who suffer from financial problems is challenging as it may lead to imposing huge expenses upon their families which they cannot easily afford. Furthermore, it seems that there are some association between students major and using plagiarized materials as McCabe (1996) pointed that according to an academic survey engineering and business students commit plagiarism more than language and humanity students. (as cited by James,2017). However, personal factors are not the only intentions for this immoral phenomenon as more general factors can lead to plagiarism.

Another conducive factor for plagiarism is cultural factor. It has been shown on numerous occasion that differences between education systems in different countries will lead to plagiarism. For example, in Chinese learning and education institutions, it is acceptable to paraphrase and use some part of others ideas or words without citation. In addition, in some cultures student are more appreciated if using expert ideas as oppose to their own ideas (Hu and Lai,2012 as cited by Wiley 2016). Another major contributing factor of plagiarism has to do with different definition of plagiarism in different countries. For example, sometimes using other author’s book may be considered as sharing knowledge as oppose to plagiarism. Furthermore, lack of prohibiting policies in some countries may lead to more prone to plagiarism. It is obvious that without legal punishments or academic honesty policies people are more likely to commit plagiarism.

Another key element which can make profound impact on the rate of plagiarism is academic factor. Firstly, unfamiliarity with plagiarism and correct citation method is the most frequent academic issue for many of the plagiarism cases. It has shown on numerous occasion that some of the students or even authors are not aware of methods for citation.so they might commit plagiarism unintentionally (SHashock,2011). In addition, lack of language knowledge or skills may eventually lead to plagiarism for some of the international students as they usually more rely on the others native writer’s words. Secondly, seeking for higher GPA between students may cause academic dishonesty. In today competitive job markets in some countries students are more likely to have a prestigious job in the future with higher GPA as oppose to lower scores.

Either personal or cultural or academic factor is responsible for plagiarism

The effects are the same.

The first and perhaps the most important effect of the plagiarism is personal failure.

With regard to effects on students, plagiarism may lead to some sort of academic punishments which are mostly irreversible. For example, university students may lose their scholarships, fail the courses or even fail the programs which can directly affect their academic and professional life’s. Moreover, the effect of plagiarism for international student might be even more profound as they may lose their visas. Considering occupied people, plagiarism may cause losing jobs for employees. Another possible negative consequence of plagiarism can adversely affect creativity of the society. To exemplify, authors will not have incentive to publish their unique ideas as they will not receive credits for their works and their ideas will be stolen. On the other hand, people who do not want to plagiarize have to do that as other people are using plagiarized materials and they are in unfair competition.

There is no denying that even one relevant cause may lead to plagiarism. However, the possibility of committing plagiarism among students goes up when more than one causes is involved. International students who are not completely aware of the importance of the proper citation and also have financial problems are a lot more likely to commit plagiarism as opposed to domestic students. In addition, it should be considering that, some of the contributing factors to plagiarism are not major factors for this academic dishonesty. For instance, being under pressure and not having enough time is particularly the case for the students who have a family to run. lack of language knowledge and skills is more correlate with international student. On the other hand, it is understandable that in detected plagiarism case the element that is affected more is individual as oppose to society duo to direct influence it will have on their future life.

References

  1. Cummings, J. N., Butler, B., & Kraut, R. (2002). The quality of online social relationships. Communications of the ACM, 45(7), 103-108.
  2. Hu, Y., Wood, J. F., Smith, V., & Westbrook, N. (2004). Friendships through IM: Examining the relationship between instant messaging and intimacy. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10, 38-48.
  3. Tidwell, L. C., & Walther, J. B. (2002). Computer-mediated communication effects on disclosure, impressions, and interpersonal evaluations: Getting to know one another a bit at a time. Human Communication Research, 28, 317-348.
  4. Underwood, H., & Findlay, B. (2004). Internet relationships and their impact on primary relationships. Behaviour Change, 21(2), 127-140.