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Why Plagiarism Is Important For Academic Integrity?

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What is the Role of Plagiarism in regards to Academic Integrity? Plagiarism, “the act of using another person 's words or ideas without giving credit to that person: the act of plagiarizing something” (Merriam-Webster, 2017), is said to be reaching epidemic proportions (Park,2003). Throughout history, plagiarism has been an issue, however, the severity and the implications where not fully understood until the development of the printing press in the 17th century. Now in the age of information sharing, society has an obligation to consider where changing 21st century values fit within academic writing and whether there are any implications for standards regarding plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious form of cheating as it essentially defines …show more content…

Educators and students alike see the internet as a valuable source of information where they can present their findings and gain exposure and recognition. However, students see this presentation of work on a public forum as the author giving permission for their work to be used to further the readers understanding of the issue and a basis for further research. As such, students and young researchers do not feel the need to reference the original author that their ideas have developed from. As a consequence of the current situation, experienced researchers and educators believe that the increasing incidences of plagiarism are violating their rights to their own ideas and are undermining the established values regarding academic integrity. Unfortunately, to the dismay of some educators, a 36-year study performed by Inglehart (2008) proposes that these values are not likely to change but rather become more prominent. Rather than follow along a path of values that drive educators to strive for recognition and success, younger generations, in particular those from western cultures, already believe that they have the necessary tools to achieve success, therefore preferring to aim for self-expression and self-understanding. These values do not require members of the younger generation to feel the need to express recognition for a piece of work as they believe in a sense of community and to use this knowledge to obtain a greater understanding of the

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