The practice of plagiarism, besides being reprehensible, is offensive to academic integrity. Even though it is extremely disapproved of, the spread of the use of plagiarism in end of course monographs and papers has been increasingly observed. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how doctrines, universities and jurisprudence have dealt with the issue and to present some proposals for plagiarism regulation in academia. It was observed that few universities have clear rules on the identification and punishment of plagiarism in academic texts. Even when they do exist, they are not always accompanied by a jurisprudential understanding on the identifying elements of the practice of plagiarism. From a study on the standards set by research funding agencies and decisions on the subject, suggestions are presented for the regulation of punishment regarding this practice in the academic realm. We conclude that plagiarism has been treated as if it were a teacher problem, when, in fact, it is an institutional problem. Respect for academic ethics should be a goal for all and the debate on the subject should involve both teachers and students.
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