The Effect of Plagiarism on Students

Plagiarism is a significant problem in both secondary schools and at the university level. There are websites set up expressly to facilitate the plagiarism of research papers, and it seems that the stigma attached to plagiarism has lessened compared to previous decades. Engaging in plagiarism has a deleterious effect on both the student and society at large.

Respect for Others

Plagiarizing shows a lack of respect toward the instructor and the work of the individual whose work is being plagiarized. Not caring about the integrity of other people's work may carry over to not caring about other things that belong to people as well.

Respect for Self

A student who has copied the work of another person is not showing respect for his own creative and intellectual potential. It also shows that he does not care about maintaining personal integrity.

Motivation

Engaging in plagiarism can destroy a student's motivation to do his own work. Plagiarism is easy to do in many school settings, and can be self-reinforcing.

Learning

When a student plagiarizes his work, the student has denied himself the opportunity to learn about the content being studied, as well as missing out on the opportunity to sharpen his research and writing skills. Plagiarized work means that no significant learning has been accomplished.

Prevention

To prevent plagiarism, instructors must diligently check student work. Knowing student capabilities helps instructors identify when a paper may be plagiarized. Instructors should also run suspect parts of papers through a search engine to see if the material has been plagiarized from an online source. All instructors should have a plagiarism policy. (See reference 1 below.)

References

• Writing: Plagiarism