Plagiarism

Plagiarism: plague of modern academia

Samuel Ballesteros Jr. and Shawn Lowther

University of Phoenix Online

Gen300 Skills for professional development

Plagiarism: On the surface the casual, uninterested reader may quickly scan over this word and might associate it to the word plague. What reader would want to read about the plague in this day? Then again, the plague might be the right metaphor by which a parallel to plagiarism could be made. So sit back and relax, casual reader, and as you read be prepare for the academic version of the black plague.

As history points out the black plague was an epidemic brought on by disease that ran rampant throughout Europe in the middle ages. The plague killed thousands of people without discriminating between age, gender, religion, soccer club, or public office. Those afflicted died. Everyone else was affected by its repercussions.

The same can be said about how plagiarism has made its mark on academia. Murray points out that "[p]lagiarism has existed for, hundreds of years, so it is not a new phenomenon, but we do hear about it much more nowadays than we ever have in the past" (2006, Ð'¶ 1). While plagiarism may not be able to be eradicated, it can be diminished. This can be accomplished by understanding what plagiarism is and why someone would opt to commit this form of academic death.

Plagiarism is a disease of intellect (from a lack of moral character, good study habits and discipline?) that infects potentially thousands of good assignments. This form of intellectual disease, like the plague, does not discriminate. It has the potential to affect any student given the right circumstances. Those afflicted by this disease run the chance of being diagnosed (caught). If this occurs their prognosis will be, in essence, academic death. Other exposed to the plagiarist will also be affected; such as professors and staff who have to take action against plagiarism. Fellow students, who may be affiliated with the plagiarist, could be exposed (tarnished) in the process.

Does the disease of plagiarism exist outside the academic setting? Thompson (2005) states:

But there were other, deeper problems. The culture at large seemed pretty grim. Did it really reward integrity? Did the social institutions that we once considered sacrosanct still value honesty, hard work, fair play? Were politicians not manipulating the truth to persuade voters to support spurious causesÐ'...Were business leaders, the mass media, or the clergy any better?Ð'...We all take our cues about what is right or wrong from the people at the top of our worlds (Ð'¶ 13).

Thompson alludes to a poison that seemingly lurks in the outside world. From a single wrong action, plagiarism grows into an epidemic.

So what is with this plague? Why the Herculean effort to discourage the act of plagiarizing? Has it ever occurred to a plagiarizer that took an idea from another's expressed thoughts and claimed it as their own that the originator might take offense? Or moreover, lose financial or personal standing in the community because of such an act? The act of plagiarism is an elaborate expression of cheating or stealing. The commandment "[y]ou shall not steal" (International Bible Society, 1984, p. 65) seems applicable. Another apropos tenant with roots in the Bible lends itself to following this simple, Ð''golden' rule "Ð'...do to others what you would have them do to youÐ'..." (International Bible Society, 1984, p. 818)

Why plagiarize, really? What can cause someone to risk the denigrating themselves? Looking back at history and how "[t]he Black [plague]Ð'... had a drastic effect on Europe's population, irrevocably changing Europe's social structureÐ'...The uncertainty of daily survival created a general mood of morbidity influencing people to live for the momentÐ'..." (Wikipedia 2006, Ð'¶ 2). Perhaps this could be a metaphor of the attitudes that are germinated in writers and a plausible reason of why plagiarism might be appealing. The attitude of having nothing to lose can be very enticing. But do plagiarists all have such a defeatist attitude? As Thompson (2005) pointed out earlier, society tends to look to its leaders, movers, and shakers. Their actions influence our lives by being role models whom we emulate. Therefore, figuratively, we might follow them right off the edge of the bridge; sports figures are a readily available example. Why are there so many reasons a student would plagiarize? A handy battle cry of beleaguered students is procrastination, but plagiarism can occur in many situations and for a variety of reasons.

The perception of Ð''survival' is another way of succumbing to the plague's grip. Once a student is in a crunch for time, committing plagiarism would be the easy way out. It would bring on a false bravado or mistaken feeling of Ð''damn the torpedoes!' This attitude can be brought about because as Bertram, Gallant, Tricia, Drinan, and Patrick (2006) point out: "Ð'...scarcity of available jobs, the dependency on financial aid, and requirements of admission into graduate school all pressure students to view surviving as a higher priority than thriving" (p. 8, Ð'¶ 1). A student in the Ð''survival mode' would be at greater risk of committing plagiarism.

Another driving force is peer pressure; which can weigh heavily on a person's actions. As their peers "influence individual behavioral choices. Social norms theory says that people tend to maintain behavior consistent with peer descriptive norms, and that overestimating the frequency that one's peers engage in a behavior can lead to increases in that behavior" (Hard, Conway & Moran, 2006, p. 2). A common thread can be drawn, leading to the plagiarizing writer's perceptions of their own credibility. Can a plagiarizer's credibility be at the crux that brings about the act of plagiarism? Another take on this discussion by Bertram et al. (2006) point towards instances where students who are at a loss to express thought on paper may feel that plagiarism is a way out of a stressful situation. They feel this is due to the lack of knowledge on their part (p. 6, Ð'¶ 1); could the academic plague have its start here?

It is known that during the black plague, the rats were the primary carriers of the diseased infested fleas Ð'- a root cause of why the plague spread as easily as it did.