| With the growing popularity of the internet, academic intellectual property has become widely available. It is important to examine why a growing number of college students seem to be engaging in academic misconduct. When examining compliance, in general, one school of thought believes that legitimacy of authorities can influence a person's behavior. This study measures student perception of legitimacy of a university's administration and students' compliance with that university's rules and regulations, at two separate time periods (before and after the chancellor of that university was accused of plagiarism) to see if students' opinions of university officials affect academic misconduct. Legitimacy is measured through three components: (1) obligation to obey the law, (2) trust and confidence, and (3) feelings toward authority. These components were not significant when evaluating academic misconduct, although other factors were found to be important. This research may inform the way instructors and administrators tackle issues of academic misconduct by expanding our understanding of those who plagiarize and cheat. |
