The Folks at the Annals of Improbable Science report that professors only read about 2/3 of the itmes listed in the bibliography of papers they publish. Seems it is not only students that are dabbling across ethical lines. Their study found that 50% of sources listed are generally only skimmed through. Journal editors are blamed for the practice.

I'm guessing it is only going to get worse as the infosphere continues to expand faster than people can explore and digest the magnitude of what they find.