Unethical use of online resources for a school paper

What is unethical behavior, exactly? Unethical behavior is an action that falls outside of what is considered right or proper for a person, a profession or an industry. Individuals can behave unethically, as can businesses, professionals and politicians. However, one's definition of "unethical" depends on their own ethical standards and the standards of their society. Take a look at different unethical behavior examples that are generally agreed upon as unacceptable.

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1. Essays for college students
2. Paid reviews of things you’ve never used
3. Pitching magazines your copywriting client

Man taking money from another's pocket as example of unethical behavior

To people with high ethical standards, the question of right vs. wrong is clear. Societies reinforce the accepted ethics of individuals with laws and consequences. While some situations may be defined as ethical dilemmas, most people would agree that the following behaviors are not acceptable in individual relationships.

Someone lies to their spouse about how much money they spent.
A teenager lies to their parents about where they were for the evening.
An employee steals money from the petty cash drawer at work.
You lie on your resume in order to get a job.
Friends talk about another friend behind his back.
A student takes credit for work they did not do.
A college student cheats on a school paper by copying it off the Internet.
Someone takes $20.00 out of their friend's wallet when she is sleeping.
You sell a house and don't disclose known defects to the buyers.
A person sells a car and lies about the vehicle's accident history.

Business ethics are so important that most companies have formal codes of ethics to make their expectations clear. Some unethical behaviors in the workplace are illegal as well as unethical. Take a look at the different unethical behaviors one may see businesses commit.

A chemical company dumps pollutants into the water supply rather than cleaning up the pollution properly.
A factory releases toxins into the air at levels above what is permitted by the Environmental Protection Agency.
An employer coerces an injured worker not to report a work injury to workers' compensation by threatening him with the loss of a job or benefits.
A supervisor refuses to give an employee a final paycheck for hours worked before the employee left the company.
Someone in power uses their position to sexually harass a subordinate.
A company incorrectly classifies an employee as an independent contractor in order to reduce payroll taxes and avoid providing benefits.
Large companies engage in price-fixing to force smaller competitors out of business.
Businesses use bait and switch or false advertising tactics to lure customers in or convince them to buy a product.
A car salesman rolls back the odometer on a vehicle that is for sale.
A company refuses to honor a warranty claim on a defective product.

Doctors and lawyers are bound by a stricter code of ethics because they are taking care of and representing people who trust them. These professionals risk malpractice accusations if they act in an unethical manner. Read a sample list of unethical behaviors by these professionals.

A doctor dates a patient in their care.
A physician doesn't tell a patient his true diagnosis because it may reveal that there was a mistake in his care.
A dentist performs unnecessary procedures on a patient in order to receive the insurance payment.
A doctor uses a patient as a teaching tool for students for long periods of time without the permission of the patient or patient's family.
A lawyer will not return money or provide a settlement that was being held for a client.
A lawyer represents parties on both sides of a legal transaction.

You may also see examples of unethical behavior in the political world. Some politicians walk a fine line between getting elected and remaining ethical, and many governments struggle with upholding rights-based ethics for both their citizens and citizens in other countries.

A politician uses the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to target groups that they do not like by auditing those groups or refusing to give them tax-exempt status.
Someone running for office obtains private tax information about their political opponents and uses that information in a campaign.
A person running for office knowingly tells lies about their own political position or about the political position of their opponent just to get elected.
A politician accepts excess campaign contributions that violate campaign finance laws.
Someone running for office uses money that was donated to their campaign for personal, non-approved expenses.
An elected official uses their position of power to coerce lobbyists into buying expensive gifts for them and for their spouse.
The government secretly spies on U.S. citizens in violation of the Fourth Amendment and lies about it.
A person in a position of power closes traffic lanes to intentionally create a traffic jam because residents in that city are not likely to vote for them in an election.

These are just some of the many different examples of unethical behavior that could occur. But what makes these behaviors unethical rather than immoral? Learn more about the differences between ethics, morals and values, and see how they're treated differently in society. You can also take a look at examples of admirable virtues that many societies value in their citizens.

Staff Writer

Code of Ethics Examples: From Personal to Professional
A code of ethics is a set of principles and rules used by individuals and organizations to govern their decision-making process, as well as to distinguish right from wrong. They provide a general idea of the ethical standards of a business or organization. However, people can have their own personal code of ethics as well. Keep reading for a more thorough explanation of a code of ethics, as well as several code of ethics examples.
What's the Difference Between Ethics, Morals and Values?
Have you ever deemed someone’s behavior to be unethical? Have you ever questioned their moral code or the values upon which they base their decisions? When our minds wander to these places, the terms ethics, morals and values tend to feel very similar, but they are not quite the same. Keep reading for explanations and values, ethics and morals examples to learn how they are different.

Internet plagiarism is becoming the root of unethical behavior amongst students. Educators are finding themselves having to combat instances of cyber cheating and the many ways it can be done. There are many opposing attitudes toward the way educators are handling the matter in schools. There has been media attention, hearings with school boards, and expulsion of students. Educators are now having to create equally savvy tools to try to keep up with the internet and its myriad of ways to cyber cheat. Internet Plagiarism

The internet is probably one of the most technological advances known to man. It has created ways to bring the world together through apps and programs, such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. The internet has made leaps and bounds in obtaining an education through online resources. There are probably millions, if not, billions of reference and resource materials available to the average student. Thus making the temptation to cheat all the more accessible. Unfortunately, there are some students that have chosen this unethical route. In this paper, we will discuss such topics as Internet plagiarism, school’s response to plagiarism, and using TurnItIn.com to compare student’s work, as a tool for catching plagiarism.

How should educators deal with plagiarism? In my opinion, there needs to be a system in place that would require students to submit information prior to writing the paper. Perhaps, they would be required to submit an outline or a placeholder

Wouldn’t it be great if every writing assignment you were offered was a terrific one?

Unfortunately, that’s not how things always work out in the messy world of free enterprise.

There are a lot of shady doings online, and if you want to keep your reputation as a writer, you need to stay away from scammy situations.

Some scams arise out of deliberate greed on the part of the clients. Others come about due to utter ignorance of journalistic and scholarly ethics.

Here are three common writing assignments that are, shall we say, ethically challenged?

I recommend you stay away from these:

1. Essays for college students

Most writers know this is just not cool. But in case you don’t, as the mother of a college student, let me assure you that parents and university professors would really, really like students to write their own papers.

It’s dishonest to buy papers online and then pretend they are your own work. The student could be expelled for cheating if they use that school paper they buy online from that assignment-mill. These places are constantly out promoting and trying to recruit more writers to this shady side of the freelance street…for example, dig this guest-post pitch I got just a few days ago:

I’m Alex, I work for <URL of essay mill website>, We can write a blog post “how custom essay writers earn money“. I’ll cover all the processes inside our organization to make your readers familiar with this particular type of work for writers. Please, tell me what you think about such topic for your blog.

As a kicker, this work doesn’t tend to pay very well, so hopefully it won’t be too hard to give it a pass.

2. Paid reviews of things you’ve never used

Has this happened to you? I’m finding this sleazy deal popping up more often lately. Startups and businesses of all stripes are desperate to rack up favorable reviews on popular portals such as Amazon, TripAdvisor, or Yelp.

In case you think nobody would be crazy enough to ask you to make up a review of something you know nothing about, here’s a screen shot of a recent LinkedIn query I got:

I hope it goes without saying that becoming a writer who posts made-up reviews around the Internet is not going to help you build a lucrative writing career. Just steer clear.

3. Pitching magazines your copywriting client

Many companies are unaware of journalistic ethics, and will ask to hire you to write for them. But what they’d like you to do is pitch a big magazine you’ve been writing for a great idea — that you’ve discovered a great business to profile…your new client’s business.

I got this one twice last week alone. Here’s a taste from one of the emails (names and details removed to protect the guilty):

“I came across an article you wrote for X Magazine. I wondered if the company for which I’m now working could pay your fees to write an article [for that magazine] that mentions them. The company is Y. The company has grown 20% each year. They need/deserve some publicity!”

Saying “yes” to this one is a great way to find yourself never writing for that magazine again, after they realize you failed to mention that the subject of your “great idea” for an article is in fact a paying client of yours.

In the world of journalism, this is called conflict of interest. It is lying by omission.

When a company hires you to write for them, then you are on their PR team. When you approach magazines, you must disclose that fact, or you are a liar.

You can decide to pitch an article as a reporter, about a company you find interesting. Or you can get paid by that business to write things for them — articles, web copy, white papers, you name it.

But you can’t do both at once.

You could pitch a magazine that another reporter should write about your client — that’s a PR activity. Or you could offer a magazine an article by your CEO that you’ve ghostwritten, for which you will be paid by the company. In this scenario, the magazine will usually not pay the company anything — it’s a free piece the CEO wants to get published to promote the company, and everybody’s clear on that.

Even after you’re done getting paid to write for that business client, if you want to mention or quote that former client in an article, you need to disclose it to your editor and get their OK.

It may seem tempting to try to get double-paid — by both a business and a magazine — for the same article. But trust me, it won’t be worth it when you’re found out and banned from the publication.

Got other writing ethics questions? Ask them in the comments below. Or consider attending 4-Week Journalism School — we spend a whole week on how to avoid getting fired or sued over what you write. Class begins Wednesday.