As a student in today's academic world, a very serious issue is being taken into consideration when handing out grades and that is the issue of the student who tries to cheat on online class. Cheating online is becoming an issue with every teacher and professor who teaches online. The issue of the student who tries to cheat on online class is one that the universities and the colleges are constantly trying to avoid when handling the students within their online classes. Cheating is usually in the form of plagiarism and the teachers have opted to place most of the students' work through a plagiarism program. The one most used by teachers is Turnitin.com. This program will scan the student's work and match it against any online authorship throughout the entire Internet. This is a very extensive plagiarism program and the student will need to be sure that he/she has not been involved in plagiarism or trying to cheat on online class.

            Sometimes when a student is researching a topic for an essay or a term paper, the original work can get “mixed up” with the student's original ideas. If the student does not cite any of this original work, whether it is an exact quote or paraphrased, the student needs to cite this quote or information as the original author. In order for the student to check on his/her own work, he/she needs to use a plagiarism program before turning his/her work in. The student may use the Turnitin.com or Copyscape.com, which are both plagiarism program websites. These two websites will check the essay or term paper for any work cited on the Internet by any other authors. The report will come to the student immediately and the student can check his own work so that he may not cheat on online class.
            The student who has decided to cheat on online class may pay a huge price for his/her plagiarism. The student could be expelled from the college or university and that same student may find it difficult to enter any other college or university with a “cheating” mark on his/her name. The colleges and universities take a dim look at the student who tries to cheat on online class. They do take it quite seriously and the student who has decided to cheat on online class may find himself/herself in a really bad position with the teacher and the university.

            To avoid the pitfalls for the student who may cheat on online class, that student must ensure that his/her work is void of all plagiarism. He/she must check every piece of work through a plagiarism program in order to keep in good standing with the university and the professor or teacher. Most teachers and professors today in the modern academic world check their students work through an online plagiarism program; so if the student wants to get a “jump” on the teacher's plagiarism program, the student should use the plagiarism program himself/herself first.

            Cheating or plagiarism can not only affect the student's academic scores and university life, but can affect the student's life after college. Many firms will check the ethical background of the student they wish to hire. If that student has been one who may cheat on online class, that firm may opt to hire another person for the position and that student will have lost an opportunity in the vocation of his/her choice.