Plagiarism: Implications in Professional Life, Prevention and Cures

Abstract

Plagiarism as a form of academic misconduct represents a serious violation of the academic values of integrity and honesty, and has implications that go beyond the university to the workplace, the economy and society. Research indicates that students who plagiarize and engage in other forms of academic misconduct are more likely to engage in unethical practices in the workplace in their future professional life. This is especially relevant to business and engineering students who have been reported for the highest rates of violations, and they transfer these unethical behaviors to the workplace. Business and engineering graduates later become corporate executives and leaders who wield great power and influence in the organizations they lead; the unethical actions they take are bound to affect their organizations and the society. The paper presents an interdisciplinary overview drawing on relevant research that locates plagiarism as a form of academic misconduct in education practice, and traces the implications on corporate businesses, management, ethics, and leadership. The absence of ethics education causes students to become more tolerant with academic violations, and later violate professional ethics in the workplace. As executives, the unethical decisions they make are often rationalized as necessary for organizational success. Consequently, a culture of cheating and impunity is generally condoned. It is in this context of a general decline in ethics that the reported failure of big international businesses can be better understood. The way out is a return to ethics education in schools. Some measures are suggested for cures.