What comes to mind when we think of plagiarism, according to the Webster-Merriams dictionary, plagiarism is "the act of stealing and passing off ideas and words of others) for one's own. » (Webster-Merriam). Webster seems to have forgotten a little something, plagiarism is not only the act of stealing one's work, it is also the result of an ethical deterioration of academic integrity. In the plagiarism debate, a controversial issue is whether plagiarism is taken seriously enough and how serious the consequences of plagiarism are. Many people assume that it is obvious that the consequences of plagiarism result in a deduction from the grade of a paper or a complete zero on the assignment. Moreover, the real consequence of plagiarism is the deterioration of academic integrity and the degeneration of ethics; it follows that the consequences are not taken seriously and the seriousness is not even taken into account. At a recent briefing on plagiarism, a controversial question was whether the consequences of plagiarism are taken seriously enough. On the one hand, some argue that plagiarism is becoming a more socially acceptable norm for many students. From this point of view, the seriousness of the consequences of plagiarism is not considered useful. According to authors Ma, Lu, Wan and Turner, "Who's Who (1998) conducted its 29th annual survey of high school students nationwide, they found that 80% of students admitted to cheating on their schoolwork in general 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 challenge the common assumption among neoliberals that plagiarism is taken seriously and the seriousness of the consequences ensures that plagiarism is prevented with in...... middle of paper ....... "A survey empirical study on digital cheating and plagiarism among middle school students." AMERICAN SECONDARY EDUCATION 35(2) SPRING 2007 35.2 (2007): 69-82. Educational research completed. Internet. November 22, 2011. .Merriam-Webster. “Plagiarism – Definition and more from the free Merriam-Webster Dictionary.” Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. 2011. Internet. November 22, 2011. .Reed, Deborah K. "Plagiarism Isn't Just a Problem for Students." Staff Development Journal 32.1 (2011): 47-49. Educational research completed. Internet. November 23. 2011. .