The acts of scientific misconduct potentially performed by authors when planning, conducting or reporting the results of their studies may lead to rejection of the future paper and even the banning of the author alongside the corresponding administrative and/or legal sanctions. Plagiarism is the wrongful appropriation of copyrights, academic texts, research methods, charts and ideas, as well as the fabrication and falsification of information, all of which classifies as instances of scientific misconduct in the ethics of scientific publication. An increase in the number of instances of plagiarism is observed in the university environment when analyzing academic studies, theses, diploma papers and dissertations using anti-plagiarism software. However, unawareness of the strategies to prevent plagiarism is common among undergraduate and graduate students. The purpose of the present study was to present information about academic plagiarism, discussing the main concepts, causes, associated factors and impact of plagiarism from the perspective of scientific publication ethics.