Academic Environment Students Are Under Extreme Pressure

¶ … academic environment students are under extreme pressure to turn assignments in on time as well and to get good grades on those assignments. Under these conditions students will often choose the path of least resistance or the easy way out and plagiarize from some document. In this essay we will briefly examine what plagiarism is and the challenges students face when attempting to avoid plagiarism. Ultimately it will be apparent that the majority of students plagiarize unintentionally and often to their great distress. While plagiarism is a serious concern, stemming the tide will require student education combined with institutional vigilance. Consequently, it is very difficult for untrained students to avoid plagiarism.

While there are many technical definitions of plagiarism, Academic Integrity (2011) suggests that plagiarism involves many variant and diverse types of behaviors. These behaviors range from the actual copying of text from another location for use in the students research, to the inclusion of ideas and thoughts from another author. Ultimately the substantive element of plagiarism is the attempt to pass off as unique the work, ideas or thoughts of other persons. This action then has the nature of being considered as theft beyond simply academic dishonesty. The challenge with the definition is that it does not consider the limitation students face and some of the practical problems they encounter when creating research papers and essays.

Student plagiarism falls into two categories intentional and unintentional. With intentional plagiarism the student will deliberately use material from texts and other sources without giving the author credit. The student is conscious of the transgression and engages in it because of multiple reasons. There are times students are pressed for time to turn in assignments. The easiest way to avoid being penalized for a late assignment is to go to the internet and copy and paste any information provided there. This approach is one of the most egregious forms of plagiarism. It is also one of the easiest forms to avoid.

Avoiding voluntary plagiarism involves action by both the student and the institution. The student is required to be better prepared for assignments. When students plan ahead they avoid the problem of plagiarizing because of time constraints. Assignments that are properly organized will get finished ahead of time. Voluntary plagiarism can also be addressed by the institution. To curb plagiarism institutions can have stiffer penalties for plagiarism; online mechanisms that allow student papers to be checked for the work of other authors can be very useful in deterring plagiarism (Davis, Grover, Becker, & McGregor, 1992).

Involuntary plagiarism is often the result of student carelessness, cultural factors, and the content being discussed being above the student's ken. This combination of factors means that much of the plagiarism observed is not deliberately done by the student. Students may take notes and carelessly omit the accompanying citation. In some cultures the concept of the ownership of ideas by another individual is not part of the cultural milieu. Additionally, Academic Integrity (2011) suggests that students engage in plagiarism when they are discussing subject matter with which they are unfamiliar. The student then explains the problems with the voice and text of the author.