Student Plagiarism

There are few things in the academic world that cause as many problems as plagiarism. Every year, countless students wait too long to start assignments and when they realize that they have no time to get an assignment in, they turn to cheating to try and complete the project and pass the class. They do it by copying other people's work and turning it in as their own.

Online colleges and distance learning centers are increasingly having to deal with the problems of student plagiarism. Some studies have shown that plagiarism is actually on the rise and it gets worse every year. As many as eight out of every ten students have admitted to plagiarizing at least once with many of them admitting that they do it regularly. In most cases, plagiarism is a blatant attempt to cheat and it's a form of thievery.

Unfortunately, the internet has made plagiarism all too easy. There are countless web pages of information available to students who just have to find the page, copy the text, and turn it in. And because the internet is a vast resource, it can be hard trying to pinpoint if something was taken from a page or not. However, programs and search engines are constantly being developed to scour the web, returning results within seconds.

Students plagiarize in many different ways. Some simply find a web page, copy and paste what they find. Others download free copies of other student's entire papers and hand them in. Some even pay for papers. Luckily, teachers have the ability to enter a student's paper into search engines and the search engines search many sources. If plagiarism has occurred, the results page points it out and the student is caught.

As technology advances, it gets easier for students to cheat but it also makes it easier for teachers to catch them.

Published: 2010-01-20