Plagiarism and Ethical Issues
Eunjoo Oh1
1 Kyungil University
Department of Library and Information Science
Abstract. The purposes of this study were to explore the current status about
plagiarism, focusing on the college student classroom activities. In order to
achieve the study goals, the survey was conducted and students’ works were
compared with the web resources.
Keywords: Plagiarism, Internet Ethics, Information
1 Introduction
Information technology has brought about tremendous development of the society in
diverse fields. In particular, information related works such as creating, editing,
disseminating, and using information become common and easy activities and it
became one of the normal activities. Every day, a great deal of information is created
and perished at the same time. When information is created, it is quickly disseminated
through the network and easily reproduced as different information. The net-based
environments made it possible and the ability to utilize the information technology
tools is one of the most essential competencies in this order. On the other hand, it is
true that this environment keeps causing serious societal problems such as online
illegal activities and ethical problems [1].
The problems often occur because people are not aware that the properties in the
cyber space belong to someone [3]. In the cyberspace, there is a tendency that ethical
awareness or consequences become weak because the space is not considered a real
world. According to Choo [5], since there is not any direct contact between the users
and people feel distance from each other. In this condition, illegal and immoral
activities such as using other people’s intellectual properties without permission and
violating communication laws can easily occur. Nowadays, the copyright these kinds
of illegal activities become serious problems in our society.
1.1 Problem Statement
As the illegal activities in the cyber space increases, higher education institutions put
special efforts to strengthen the information ethics education. Since students tend to
use information in the Internet for the assignments or studies without any
consciousness as their own, many colleges try to educate the students by offering the
class about the proper use of information and copyright laws. However, many studies
Advanced Science and Technology Letters Vol.119 (Psychology and Counseling 2015), pp.78-81
http://dx.doi.org/10.14257/astl.2015.119.17
ISSN: 2287-1233 ASTL Copyright © 2015 SERSC
[2] still present that students do not know how to use the Internet resources properly
and illegal activities and cybercrimes are getting diverse and serious. Plagiarism is
particularly a big problem in campus.
1.2 Purposes of the Study
The purposes of this study are to explore the current status about plagiarism on
campus and find out the reason why how students plagiarize the works. The study
attempts to suggest the effective ways to reduce such academic illegal activities based
on the study results. In order to achieve the study goals, three research questions
suggested as follows; (1) what is the status of plagiarism on campus? (2) why is the
reason for the plagiarism? (3) what are the students’ perceptions of plagiarism?
2 Research Methods
Plagiarism inspections were conducted with the students’ works and survey was
conducted with the college students. Plagiarism inspections were conducted with two
classes that are currently offered in the college. During the class time, the instructor
gave students two hours to write as reports about a certain topic in the computer room
and asked them to upload to the LMS. After class, the students’ works were compared
with the web resources. The online survey instrument was developed by the instructor
and conducted with the college students. Total 163 college students participated in the
survey.
3 Research Results
3.1 Current status of plagiarism
According to the data, 127students (77%) responded to have experiences with
plagiarism in somehow out of the total 149students. When analyzing the ways of
plagiarism, 85students (51.5%) students answered to download or copy internet
resources, 66students (40%) answered to copy other people’s work, and 57students
(28%) answered to copy books or printed materials.
Table 1. Experiences with Plagiarism.
Responses No. Percent
Yes 127 77%
No 22 23%
Advanced Science and Technology Letters Vol.119 (Psychology and Counseling 2015)
Copyright © 2015 SERSC 79
Table 2. The Ways of Plagiarism
Ways Number Percent
Copy other people’s work 66 40%
Download internet resources 85 51,5%
Copy books or printed materials 57 34.5%
Purchasing the report online 28 17%
When analyzing the students’ works, out of the total 29 students, there were 3
students who submitted the same report and three students who copied the web same
website.
2.1 Reasons of Plagiarism
When analyzing the reasons, 86 students (52.1%) copy the works when the
assignments are difficult and 76 students (46.1%) did that when do not have enough
time to finish the assignments.
Table 3. Reasons of Plagiarism.
Reasons No. Percent
Assignments were difficult 86 52.1%
Do not feel the necessities to do the assignments 19 11.5%
Do not have time 76 46.1%
Professors do not recognize the copied work 24 14.5%
Everybody does it 27 40% Plagiarism is not wrong 1 0.6%
3.3 Students’ Perceptions of Plagiarism
When analyzing the perceptions, 99 students (60%) thought that it is a personal matter
that individuals have to make a decision. 72 students (43.6%) answered that it should
be stopped because it is not ethical and 50 students (30.3%) answered that they can do
it when there is not enough time to submit the assignments on time.
Table 4. Perceptions of Plagiarism.
Reasons No. Percent
It should stopped because it is ethically wrong 72 43.6%
It is not a problem because everybody does it. 4 2.4%
When the assignment cannot be submitted on time, it can
happen.
50 30.3%
It is fine to do because professors do not care about it. 11 6.7%
It is a personal matter. 99 60%
Never thought about it. 4 2.4%
Advanced Science and Technology Letters Vol.119 (Psychology and Counseling 2015)
80 Copyright © 2015 SERSC
5 Conclusion
This study explores the current status and students perceptions of plagiarism in higher
education institutions. According to the study, most students (77%) had experiences
with plagiarism and it is shown that the most students copy or download or internet
resources, for their assignments. They also copy other people’s work or copy books or
printed materials. Regarding such behaviors, the students tend to think as personal
matters that individuals have to make a decision by themselves. Even they answered
that it can happen when there not enough time to finish the assignment on time. Based
on the results, the study suggests to implement information ethics related classes in to
the college curriculum as a required class.
References
1. Kang. S.H.: Comparison of Behavioral Changes of the College Students after Internet Ethics
Class. Journal of Computer Education. 16 (43-50)
2. Kim. S.C., Han. J.T.: Research on Internet Ethics about Medical Students. Journal of
Computer Education. 17, 147-145 (2013)
3. Kim. K.H., Kim. T.W.: Intentions of Breaking the Copyright Law of the Digital Properties.
Journal of Computer Education. 16 (63-71)
4. Choo. B. W.: Moral Deviation in Online and Inter Ethics. Ethics Education. 87, 119-141
(2012)
5. Seo. Y. K.: Students’ Perceptions of Plagiarism. Women Study. 22. 113-130 (2007)
Advanced Science and Technology Letters Vol.119 (Psychology and Counseling 2015)
Copyright © 2015 SERSC 81