the use of the internet for research has made it easier and convenient for students to find materials relevant for their academic work. However, it is one of the sources of controversy in the institutions of learning with some educators arguing that it has made it easy to copy and paste information by the students adding to an increase in plagiarism.

Plagiarism means a way of stealing the ideas or words of another person and expressing them as one’s own without acknowledging the source. According to statistics, 55 percent of college representatives claim that the internet has increased plagiarism in the past ten years. Of those arguing that plagiarism is on the increase, 89 percent relate it to the use of the computers and the internet. The use of the internet makes it easier for the students to plagiarize by simply copying and pasting the contents. For a tutor or instructor to detect the level of plagiarism, the can use online tools such as plagiarism checkers a Turnitin to check for phrases lifted from the internet. In the earlier times, students use to use hard copies such as books and magazines implying that a student interested in plagiarizing would o so by typing one for word. To detect plagiarism in the students work the instructors would need to compare the students work using the sources provided.

The internet has made it easier to plagiarize and also to detect plagiarism since stealing of ideas is an old concept as research indicates. The internet is not wholly to be blamed for the increased stealing of ideas by students but the way the instructors address the issue plays a great part. The instructors should teach the students to do their work and tell them the meaning of plagiarism and why it is important to avoid it.

Preventing plagiarism. (2013). Seced, 2013(6). doi:10.12968/sece.2013.6.1788

The Guardian, (2010). Internet plagiarism rising in schools. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/jun/20/internet-plagiarism-rising-in-schools