The Craft of Academic Writing: Plagiarism in Research Work at Higher Education

Abstract

Plagiarism is an academic dishonesty that is frequently practiced in the fields of education, especially at the undergraduate and graduate level. This research study intended to explore the perceptions of teachers and students about their awareness regarding plagiarism, university plagiarism policy, plagiarism practices, causes of plagiarism, the prevalence of plagiarism, the role of Turnitin in reducing plagiarism and other measures to reduce plagiarism. A sample of 60 teachers (38 males, 22 females) and 150 students (65 males and 85 females) was contacted to collect data using a questionnaire. Data was analyzed through item analysis, and for comparisons, a t-test was applied. It was also found that plagiarism is a serious problem in universities, and it must be deterred. The fact being reported was that students misappropriate the ideas of someone else and mention them as their work. This malpractice extends to the unauthorized use of online sources and other published material. Several reasons were indicated for scholars’ involvement in plagiarism, i.e. considering their assignment as uninteresting, communication gap between scholars and supervisors, supervisors not reporting the plagiarism cases to the relevant bodies, busy schedule of supervisors, and the stress of meeting deadlines, lack of confidence in their abilities, pressure to achieve higher grades, lack of understanding about the task or the subject matter, and poor academic writing skills. There was a difference in perceptions of students and teachers, as students were less aware and less sensitive towards the phenomenon of plagiarism. It was suggested that institutions should conduct seminars and workshops to create awareness among students to avoid plagiarism and policies to curb plagiarism must be implemented strictly.