Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Academic research and newspaper stories suggest that academic misconduct, including plagiarism, is on the increase. This apparent increase coupled with new internet enterprises selling ‘pass’ papers and customized research are worrying trends. Academic misconduct is deeply harmful in a number of ways by devaluing awards, frustrating academics and demotivating ‘honest’ students. Despite the heightened attention given to it, the entire subject seems to be clouded in uncertainty, not least what students themselves think. This article addresses student attitudes and understandings of academic misconduct. Findings from a study conducted within a large business school indicated that teaching on plagiarism was ineffective and there were many misunderstandings, which had coincided with high levels of unintentional plagiarism, bogus referencing and collusion. First-year students in particular experienced difficulties. As part of this article a theoretical framework for understanding student behaviour is proposed which may suggest various improved learning and teaching strategies.

Keywords

academic misconduct collusion higher education plagiarism student perceptions student typologies

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ashworth, P. , Bannister, P. and Thorne, P. ( 1997) ‘Guilty in Whose Eyes? University Students’ Perception of Cheating and Plagiarism in Academic Work and Assessment’ , Studies in Higher Education 22(2): 187-203.

Bennett, R. ( 2005) ‘Factors Associated with Student Plagiarism in a Post 1992 University’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 30(2): 137-62.

Brimble, M. and Stevenson-Clarke, P. ( 2005) ‘Perceptions of the Prevalence of Academic Dishonesty in Australian Universities’, Australian Educational Researcher 32(3): 19-44.

Carroll, J. ( 2002) A Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism in Higher Education . Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford Brookes University.

Carroll, J. ( 2004) ‘Institutional Issues in Deterring, Detecting and Dealing with Student Plagiarism: Full Report’. Joint Information Systems Committee.

Carroll, J. and Appleton, J. ( 2001). Plagiarism: A Good Practice Guide. Oxford: Oxford Brookes University and Joint Information Systems Committee: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=project_plag_practise [accessed 25 April 2006].

Dahl, S. ( 2007) ‘Turnitin: The Student Perspective on Using Plagiarism Detection Software’, Active Learning in Higher Education 8(2): 173-91.

Devlin, M. and Gray, K. ( 2007) ‘In Their Own Words: A Qualitative Study of Reasons Australian University Students Plagiarize’, Higher Education Research and Development 26(2): 181-98.

Duggan, F. ( 2006) ‘Plagiarism: Prevention, Practice and Policy’ , Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 31(2): 151-4.

10.

Franklyn-Stokes, A. and Newstead, S. E. (1995 ) ‘Undergraduate Cheating: Who Does What and Why?’ , Studies in Higher Education 20(2): 159-72.

11.

Hart, M. and Friesner, T. ( 2004) ‘Plagiarism and Poor Academic Practice: A Threat to the Extension of eLearning in Higher Education?’, Electronic Journal of eLearning 2(1): article 25: http://ejel.org/volume-2/vol2-issue1/issue1-art25-hart-friesner.pdf [accessed March 2010].

12.

Lave, J. and Wenger, E. ( 1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives). New York: Cambridge University Press.

13.

Leask, B. ( 2006) ‘Plagiarism, Cultural Diversity and Metaphor-Implications for Academic Staff Development’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 31(2): 183-99.

14.

Liddell, J. ( 2003) ‘A Comprehensive Definition of Plagiarism’ , Community and Junior College Libraries 11(3): 43-52.

15.

Opinionpanel Research (2006) ‘The Student Panel Times Higher Omnibus’, 1 March. Unpublished.

16.

Park, C. ( 2003) ‘In Other (People’s) Words: Plagiarism by University Students - Literature and Lessons’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 28(5): 471-88.

17.

Pickard, J. ( 2006) ‘Staff and Student Attitudes to Plagiarism at University College Northampton’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 31(2): 215-32.

18.

Pincus, H.S. and Schmelkin, L.P. ( 2003) ‘Faculty Perceptions of Academic Dishonesty: A Multidimensional Scaling Analysis’, Journal of Higher Education 74 (2): 196-209.

19.

Resnick, L.B. ( 1987) ‘Learning In School and Out’, Educational Researcher 16(9): 13-40.

20.

Rosamond, B. ( 2002) ‘Plagiarism, Academic Norms and the Governance of the Profession’, Politics 22(3): 167-74.

21.

Shapira, G. ( 1993) ‘Did She or Did She Not?’, in P. Schwartz and G. Webb (eds) Case Studies on Teaching in Higher Education, pp. 29-35. London: Kogan Page.

22.

Shepherd, J. ( 2006) ‘1 in 6 Admits to Cheating’, Times Higher Education Supplement, 17 March, pp. 1 and 9.

23.

Stefani, L. and Carroll, J. ( 2001) A Briefing on Plagiarism. Learning and Teaching Support Network, Generic Centre Assessment Series no. 10.

24.

Tookay, M. ( 2002) ‘BEST Briefing Document: Plagiarism’. Learning and Teaching Support Network.

25.

University of Wolverhampton (2008) ‘Regulations and Procedure for the Investigation of Academic Misconduct’ : http://www.wlv.ac.uk/Docs/aca_acad_misc.doc [accessed 26 February 2008].

Exploring academic misconduct: Some insights into student behaviour

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References