What Motivates Students to Plagiarize

It is clear that pressure is not the only factor motivating students to plagiarize, but also the professor’s lenience misleads some students to believe that it is possible for one to plagiarize and not get caught .Love and Patrick (1998) add that the same study from College Student Journal shows how some professors carelessly address student plagiarism, and allow for students to cheat and plagiarize rather than penalizing them for such violations of university rules. Therefore, it is not surprising when students blame professors for not being strict and clear with the rules and regulations of plagiarism. They usually assume the professor’s lenience as a green light for plagiarizing (Love and Patrick, 1998). I remember my first semester in Douglas College, my classmates encouraged me to use his last semester’s paper and hand it in as my paper. When I asked him what if the instructor finds out, would it not be a shame? He replied sarcastically,” I did it for a long time and the instructors knew about it but never said anything”.
No doubt, technology with its potential influence and facility makes it even more easer for students to plagiarize. The students can reach any source of information just by typing a few words in the worldwide Google search engine. According to Wang (2008), “Students no longer need to go to libraries and search through rows of books shelves and, manually copy cards and notebooks” (Wang, 2008, p.2). Wang Also mention some facts that nowadays, students can find the most recent and reliable research, journals and papers available online, and they just copy and paste without mentioning even the authors’ name. And surprisingly they submitting the work as theirs own and getting high grades for misbehaviour (Cited in, Wang,2008).Furthermore, some students think collecting small pieces of information, phrases or words, which contains writer’s idea, is not plagiarism and it is allowed to use as theirs ( Wang,2008). A survey done by the Center of Academic Integrity (2005) shows that 77% of the surveyed students did not think taking tiny pieces from different sources from the Internet is plagiarism (Wang,2008 ).
In addition, technologies quick progress makes it easier than before for students not to be worried about academic dishonesty and plagiarize. A student from Iran said that, with smart phones most of the Iranian students order papers form tutors agencies, “ First the student texts the required description, and then the agency will replay with a price and time. If you want it early you have to pay more,” he said. Likewise, a report from an Egyptian magazine shows 65-72% of undergraduate students from college and universities use cellphones and the internet to download articles, essays and even books in foreign languages and claim them as their work. To add insult to injury, three minsters from the Iranian cabinet have recently created counterfeit degrees using the internet in order to earn their titles as cabinet ministers. They were later caught and had their titles taking away by a parliamentary committee but they still remain as government officials.
There is no doubt that plagiarism is a serious issue in educational systems all around the world, but it is not impossible to fight and limit it. If educational institution faculties and professors put in more effort in recognizing and decreasing the pressure on students, if professors explain explicitly the consequences and penalties of plagiarism and finally, if the faculties and government find a way to restrict the usage of technological innovations, then society can be certain that an educational world full of peace and honesty will developed for generations to come.