Forty-eight University of Virginia students quit or were expelled recently for plagiarism. New York Times reporter Jayson Blair plagiarized or fabricated parts of more than three-dozen articles. Best-selling historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Stephen Ambrose were accused of stealing from other writers. Journalists and educators alike call plagiarism a growing problem, and many say the Internet is partly to blame. Studies show 90 percent of college students know plagiarism is wrong, but educators say many do it anyway because they don't think they'll get caught, or because in today's ethical climate they consider plagiarism trivial compared to well-publicized instances of political and corporate dishonesty. Other educators say many high-school students don't understand -- or were never taught -- about copyright regulations and how to properly cite sources.

Brian Hansen, a freelance writer in Boulder, Colo., specializes in educational and environmental issues. He previously was a staff writer for The Researcher and a reporter for the Colorado Daily in Boulder and Environment News Service in Washington. His awards include the Scripps Howard Foundation award for public service reporting and the Education Writers Association award for investigative reporting. He holds a B.A. in political science and an M.A. in education from the University of Colorado.