What comes to mind when we think of plagiarism, according to the Webster-Merriams dictionary plagiarism is “the act of stealing and passing off (others' ideas and words) as one's own" (Webster-Merriam) Webster seems to have left something out: plagiarism is not just the act of stealing one's own work, it is also the result of the ethical deterioration of academic integrity. In the discussion of plagiarism, a controversial question is whether plagiarism is taken quite seriously and what the severity of the consequences of plagiarism are. Many people assume that the consequences of plagiarism result in a letter grade deduction on an assignment or a complete zero on the assignment of plagiarism is the deterioration of academic integrity and degeneration of ethics, it follows that the consequences are not taken seriously and the severity is not even considered In the recent briefing on plagiarism, a controversial issue was whether the consequences of plagiarism they are taken quite seriously. On the one hand, some argue that plagiarism is becoming a more socially acceptable norm for many students. From this point of view the severity of the consequences of plagiarism is not seen as helpful. According to authors Ma, Lu, Wan, and Turner, “Who's Who (1998) conducted its 29th annual survey of high school students nationwide, finding that 80% of students admitted to cheating on school work overall with or without the help of the Internet, a jump of four points compared to the figure reported in the 1997 survey” (Ma). These findings call into question the common assumption of neoliberals that plagiarism is taken seriously and the severity of consequences aims to prevent plagiarism with s in it...... middle of paper ....... " An Empirical Investigation of Digital Cheating and Plagiarism Among Middle School Students.” AMERICAN SECONDARY EDUCATION 35(2) SPRING 2007 35.2 (2007): 69-82. Educational research completed. Network. November 22, 2011. .Merriam-Webster. "Plagiarism: Definition and more from the free Merriam-Webster dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. 2011. Network. November 22, 2011. .Reed, Deborah K. “Plagiarism Isn't Just a Problem for Students.” Journal of Personnel Development 32.1 (2011): 47-49. Educational research completed. Network. November 23. 2011. .