Certainly, interests of these two subjects are different, if not even opposite. This would be wrong to say that students are interested in promoting plagiarism or that teachers do everything possible to catch those who plagiarize. The issue is much more complicated: students, when under pressure, start taking advantage of plagiarism, and teachers, in order to promote justice and fairness, start inventing ways to prevent plagiarism.
So, let us turn to the causes of plagiarism, i.e. why students still plagiarize:
- Students are overwhelmed with assignments.
Would it not be wiser for teachers who want to prevent plagiarism to simply give students less assignments and try to consider the fact that students have to complete assignments for other subjects as well? - Students hope that anti-plagiarism software will not be used to check their work.
Would it not be better for teachers to remind students about software he/she uses to prevent plagiarism? - Students do not have good research skills to make their own findings, rather than to plagiarize.
Would it not be smarter for a teacher who is struggling to prevent plagiarism to give students additional support in research, explaining different citation styles, research methods, etc.?
Whenever you have a problem, it is always better to start from its origin and cause. So, if these recommendations on how to prevent plagiarism were considered by teachers, this problem would not be so disturbing, continuously growing and developing.
Certainly, these causes cannot serve as good excuses for plagiarism. So, dear students, do everything possible not to plagiarize!