The State of Plagiarism Today 7 There is a citation tool within the research database for the full cita- tion, but students still need to understand what to do about the paren- thetical citation or footnote. Many of these research database articles do not have page numbers when printed, although this is beginning to change. This makes it harder to properly document the source. Many research database articles do not list an author. The publication cycle for these articles can be confusing. A citation generated by the research data- base can show two or more “homes” for the article. This can erode the student’s understanding of the true origin of the source. Students can access this type of source and still not be absolutely sure exactly what they are reading. Research database articles encourage plagiarism in several ways. As with any digital resource, the ability to cut and paste is present. When a student uses a scholarly research article that is too difficult to understand and synthesize, plagiarism can result. The structure of many research database articles is very similar to a research paper. In fact, many scholarly journal articles are actual research papers completed by professionals in a particular field. The structure of the article can be copied. These articles make it easy for the research (research database article) to dictate the paper instead of the student’s ideas dictating the research. Web Pages Access to information from web pages is available from absolutely any- where. “Good enough” information appears in less than a second. The Internet has changed our expectations for information delivery. We now expect information fast, with quality and relevance as secondary concerns. We can look through many web pages to satisfy our curiosity on any num- ber of subjects. It can be difficult to know the difference between facts, original ideas, opinions, and credible information because of the numer- ous options for information. Web pages have become the de facto informa- tion source for all types of personal and academic decision-making. This can create a lack of information discernment, which can impact decisions in every aspect of life. The potential for plagiarism increases exponentially when students use the Internet randomly for academic secondary sources. Many web pages have very accessible vocabulary, making it more difficult to detect small amounts of copy and paste. The copy and paste of sentences from web pages is the easiest type of cheating that, unlike other types of academic dishonesty, can be completed in complete privacy. The natural language searching of the Internet, where any term is typed into a search box in a web browser, often means less accurate search results. It also increases the
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