Copyright

Running Head: Increasing Academic Dishonesty

Abstract
This article reviews a range of resources relating to issues surrounding academic dishonesty and copyright infringement cases on university campuses. Traditional thought has placed considerable blame for an increase in these cases over the last ten years on the evolution of technology. Close examination of the literature shows that technology has helped to ease a student’s ability to commit acts of academic dishonesty and infringe copyright laws but has not been the sole reason behind acts. Instead a lack of understanding and education has resulted in a student’s inability to successfully write essays using proper citations. In order to effectively combat these issues, academic librarians need to develop education based plans for raising awareness about academic dishonesty, copyright laws and university policies relating to both.
Keywords: plagiarism, academic dishonesty, copyright, information literacy

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Running Head: Increasing Academic Dishonesty

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Academic librarians face numerous responsibilities every day, ranging from simple decisions over which books to order to more complex reference questions asked by students and faculty. Over the last ten years, the advent and evolution of technology has made those same commonly encountered tasks much easier and exponentially faster. However, technology and the internet have also increased a user’s ability to access information in the quantitative sense.
Whereas students champion this boost in information access, academic librarians are beginning to see the negative effects of scholarly information made available electronically.
Scholars are aware of the extensive amounts of incorrect and unscholarly information that exists in the digital realm and on the internet. Although this has always been a concern for members of the academic realm, the concern is shifting towards academic dishonesty, plagiarism and copyright infringement.1

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