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Research indicates, and University students and teachers agree, that not many students understand what defines plagiarism. Internet cheating and plagiarism is a growing trend among college students. Research from the Center for Academic Integrity indicates that in 1999, only 10 percent of college students admitted to plagiarizing information from the Internet. That number increased to 41 percent in 2001.
The center’s research also indicates that many students do not have a clear understanding of what constitutes plagiarism, with many students believing that using small bits of information from various sources without giving proper credit is acceptable.
Marie Goodwin, a University English instructor, said she has had one case where she has been able to print out material from the Internet and bring it to the Dean of Students Office.
Goodwin said, although she tries to warn students at the beginning and throughout the semester that plagiarism is unacceptable, she thinks students are sometimes confused about the definition of plagiarism.
“I think a lot of students aren’t sure what plagiarism is,” Goodwin said. “Even certain paraphrasing is plagiarism.”
Goodwin said she thinks the prevalence of material on the Internet has already contributed to more students being tempted to plagiarize.
“I think it’s human nature in a way,” Goodwin said. “If you’re stressed and need to get something done, it can be very tempting.”
June Pulliam, another English instructor, said though she has suspected students of plagiarizing information from the Internet, she has not been able to prove any instances of it.
Pulliam said she tries to be proactive and let students know there will be consequences if they are caught plagiarizing material.
But Pulliam said often students in her classes are writing on unique topics that are difficult to find on the Internet.
However, Pulliam said she also thinks students may sometimes be confused about the definition of plagiarism.
“Sometimes they don’t know they’re plagiarizing,” Pulliam said. “I think they are sometimes confused, but I try to go over it in class and also put information on my Web page to let them know.”
Students had various opinions of what they thought constituted cheating.
Kristin Casey, a business freshman, said she thinks copying material from the Internet and passing it off as one’s own is plagiarism.
Casey said teachers in her classes have not mentioned cheating, plagiarism or any possible consequences.
Jeff Simmons, a computer science junior, said he saw a difference between cheating and plagiarism.
“Cheating is copying someone else’s work, but plagiarism is transferring previous thoughts into your own,” Simmons said.
Wei Xu, an engineering graduate student, said he thought students needed to know the right way to use the Internet to find proper information.
“The Internet can be bad and good, but I think it is fine if people just use it to get information,” Xu said. “But I think it is bad to cheat using the Internet.”