Ethics & Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the theft of ideas, concepts, and the credit for them. What is more alarming is that even though more and more people are realizing how this unethical act undermines the essence of scholarship in competitive intellectual marketplace, plagiarism remains a serious and rampant problem in today's educational environment. Research conducted by Donald L. McCabe of Rutgers University highlighted some startling facts about the nature and extent of plagiarism:

• On most campuses, over 75% of students admit to some cheating. In surveys conducted in 1990, 1992, and 1995 involving almost 7,000 students on 26 small-to-medium-sized campuses, almost 80% of undergraduate student respondents reported one or more incidents of cheating.
• Academic honor codes effectively reduce cheating. In surveys conducted in 1990 and 1995 of over 5,000 students on 14 small-to-medium-sized campuses which have strong academic honor codes, 57% of undergraduate student respondents reported one or more incidents of cheating. Giving students significant voice and responsibility in issues of academic integrity appears to significantly reduce cheating.
• Chronic cheating is also prevalent. On campuses without honor codes, one in five students (one in four on larger campuses) self-reported more than three incidents of explicit cheating on tests and examinations. On campuses with honor codes, only one in sixteen students reported such levels.

Online learning, as one of the most important alternative learning approaches, has also come under heavy fire with regards to ethical dissemination of knowledge. The issue of plagiarism has become a major obstacle for online learning and has led some to undervalue the credentials of online learners. The underlying theme of online education has been distorted and misrepresented too frequently. In the face of this situation, our challenge is to identify and embrace ethical practices and models across the complete spectrum of our services and programs.

At BrainMass, we believe that plagiarism is a serious academic offence and we make serious efforts to be vigilant against this non-ethical practice. BrainMass is strongly committed to teaching and practicing academic integrity.

BrainMass is a self-aware, dynamic community of ethical and qualified Online Teaching Assistants who believe in the common objective of creating information by sharing it. Besides possessing specialized scholarly expertise, our Online TAs are equipped with a strong awareness of the issues surrounding the process of sharing this knowledge. Therefore, they make conscious efforts to circumvent the possibility of promoting unethical learning. They whole-heartedly nurture the educational experience of students but not without taking precautions.

Knowledge is valuable but only if it is untainted. The members of our community must have a common trait - they should all believe in fairness to the owners of original work and take the responsibility to do independent work. Online TAs help a great deal in limiting such morally-incorrect practices by informing students about plagiarism and how to cite and acknowledge other's work correctly.

BrainMass will fully co-operate with any university, college or high school administrator that approaches us with material that is believed to have been generated by an Online TA and handed in as a student's own work.

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