BLOG #6 Chenwei Liu

As is known to us all, culture plays an important role in academic conduct and plagiarism. The most significant aspect is cultural differences among countries. Nowadays, more and more students choose to study abroad. However, people from different countries tend to have different views of plagiarism. Americans value intellectual property and copyright beyond everything else and impose heavy penalties on plagiarism, while in China, people are used to plagiarizing. Not only do students often copy homework of others, but some professors also plagiarize. The ex-principal of the Chinese university which I studied in was caught copying another professor’s essay and got fired eventually. From primary school to university, I have never been taught plagiarism, which results in my little awareness of academic integrity.

Obviously, some measures should be taken. I think there exist problems in current education system. Some universities disdain the importance and necessity of introducing plagiarism to students with different cultural background. And many international students are afraid to approach professors because of language barriers, which results in their unconsciousness of cheating sometimes. As far as I am concerned, orientations and lectures on academic integrity should be held. But this is not enough, for lectures can be boring. There is supposed to be more communication between professors and students. The situation will be much better when students are encouraged to share their opinions about plagiarism.