The Academic Creed
in Theory and Practice
"Education is not just another business; it is a calling"
Howard Gardner
Plagiarism, Cheating, and Academic Fraud
Plagiarism comes from the Latin verb plagiare, to steal. Edward White, an emeritus professor of English at California State University-San Bernadino, reminds us why plagiarism is a grievous offense against the academic honor code:
"Plagiarism is outrageous, because it undermines the whole purpose of education itself: Instead of becoming more of an individual thinker, the plagiarist denies the self and the possibility of learning. Someone who will not, or cannot, distinguish his or her ideas from those of others offends the most basic principles of learning" (A 58).
Yet, college students across the country are plagiarizing "like there's no tomorrow" (Clayton 17). When caught, some glibly blame their frauds on hard professors, but it would be closer to the truth to blame them on "soft" professors.
What was once the most iniquitous of academic sins is quickly becoming--in the eyes of these professors--a miscue not serious enough to warrant much of penalty. Growing numbers of professors who catch students cheating or plagiarizing ignore the event, grading students as usual and passing them on (Schneider A8). For example, one law professor decided to not file cheating charges against a student after the student filed a grievance about the professor's inquiry into the student's cheating (Ibid.). Another in the sciences didn't file charges against two students who cheated on a lab report because he was afraid other students wouldn't like him (Ibid.). A writer covering this story observes,
"Preventing and punishing cheating languish at the bottom of most professors' 'to do' lists--if they make the list at all" (Ibid.).
This "soft" attitude about plagiarism, of course, does little more than encourage even more students to do it.
More and more professors regard cheating and plagiarism as trivial events not worth their valuable time to monitor or punish. Of course, some plagiarism is trivial, even accidental, and should be dealt with quietly. And sometimes "plagiarism" is hard to differentiate from "failure to attribute" or other academic miscues. Yet, even in cases that are flagrant, many scholars are willing to play fast and loose with scholarly ideals and ethical values. According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, many professors simply "don't see the pursuit of academic honesty as part of their job descriptions...Others prefer to devote their energies to the 300 students in their class who care about learning instead of wasting time on the three scofflaws who don't" (Ibid.).
And still others are just too busy to care any longer about academic integrity. As one busy academic puts it,
"Most professors at a place like Northwestern can't be bothered. They're not rewarded for teaching; they're rewarded for research. There's no future in pursuing cheating from the standpoint of a professor's self-interest" (Ibid.).
In short, some professors--how many, no one knows--are simply refusing to monitor compliance with those ethical standards upon which their professional lives, and the edifice of knowledge, are based.