Why Learners Choose Plagiarism: A Review of Literature

Abstract

Through a review of literature, this paper presents a theoretical foundation for understanding why learners may choose to plagiarize both online and on ground. Ethical theories, social desirability, perceptions of plagiarism, and demographics and academic dishonesty in relation to the reasons learners choose to plagiarize are presented. Web sites that encourage plagiarism and online tools that are available to detect plagiarism are discussed.