Ethics and Plagiarism

Ethics play a large part in life, especially in the lives of college students.  The term pertains to morality and character, which is influenced by our environment, upbringing, experiences, religion, and other aspects of life.  Without these influences, our morality begins to break down and our ability to decipher between right and wrong is questioned.  In regards to plagiarism, plagiarizing is morally and ethically wrong.  To plagiarize is to take the ideas and words of another and claim them as your own.  The ethical problem with this action is that due credit is not given to the original author.  Plagiarizing also eliminates the ability for us as students to effectively learn through our own deductive reasoning and evaluation.  If we choose to take the work of others and pass it off as our own, we are falsely implying that the thought processes to come to such conclusions belonged to us, when in fact, we are only choosing not to think for ourselves.  Clemson's Academic Integrity Policy states that "as members of the Clemson University community, we have inherited Thomas Green Clemson's vision of this institution as a 'high seminary of learning.'"

In agreement and accordance with the Academic Integrity Policy at Clemson, I will not plagiarize.  I plan to continue my education at Clemson and being caught in the act of plagiarizing would not only alter those plans, but also end in extreme embarrassment.  I strongly believe that it is important to complete your own work and credit those from which you learn, for both intellectual and moral growth, as well as fairness and accuracy in the measurement of true academic success.