Training Unashamedly Ethical Accounting Graduates in an Elearning Environment.

Accountants play an important role in the economy and the persistent rise in accounting scandals compels educators to intensify ethics education. Plagiarism, the act of kidnapping the work of others without proper acknowledgement, is but one form of dishonesty that educators should address in their quest to raise students' awareness of sound ethical behaviour. Like corporate scandals, plagiarism cases are also increasing. Globally, professional accounting bodies expect their members to behave ethically and professionally. It might seem extreme to mention plagiarism and other unethical behaviour committed by accountants in the same sentence; however, a lack of integrity remains at the root of both these dilemmas. An increased tendency to plagiarise can be ascribed to different factors, including the availability of technology that facilitates plagiarism, a fear of failure, ignorance and unawareness. In the rapidly changing elearning environment, students often fall prey to plagiarism. Technology has removed the barriers that previously prevented students from appropriating others' intellectual knowledge and ideas. Increased access to information via the internet and social networking platforms have not only made it easier for students to interact with their peers, but have also created a fertile environment for plagiarism. Proposed practices to combat plagiarism should be embraced, and accounting e-learning educators should endeavour to use new technology to prevent and detect plagiarism. They should for example create videos or podcasts, incorporate discussions on interactive platforms and use various available plagiarism-checkers. This paper seeks insight from the literature on how accounting e-learning educators might deliver accounting graduates who are aware of ethical issues, specifically plagiarism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]