How serious is essay plagiarism?

Jessica Johnson* was on the way to a funeral when she received an email from her university saying she’d committed a very serious offence: she’d plagiarised an essay.After a series of hearings, where the seriousness of cheating was drilled into her, she was given the most lenient punishment the university could offer, which was to re-write the essay.Reports suggest plagiarism is rife in universities.