Plagiarism by Academics in Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study of the Journal of Zimbabwe Studies

Abstract

The ai m of the study was to explore the incidence and causes of plagiarism amongst academics from h igher educa tion institutions in Zimbabwe. A case study approach was used to examine 267 manuscripts submitted to the Jo urnal of Zi mbabwe Studies in 2014, by subjecting them to Ithenticat e anti-plagiarism software. Interviews were ca arried out with 105 academics and two editorial staff members to obtain information on reasons for plagiarising. The results showed that 26% fell within the journal’s acceptable similarity index (0-10%), 20% had 11-15% whilst 54% had similarity indexes of 16-99%. The major re ason for plagiarism was the pressure to satisfy the requirements tenure and promotio n. Some academics took advantage of the non-electronic nature of t he journal, which red uced the chances of detection. Others argued that the call for manuscri pts had not indicated that they would be subjected to plagiarism detection software. Interestingly, when some authors were notified of their plagiarism offences, they indicated that the papers had already been publish ed elsewhere showc asing yet another breach of publication ethics - multiple submission of articles to di fferent journals. These findings raise alarm considering that academics are the torch bearers who ought to exud e ethical and academic leadership . Higher education institutions should to take action on this severe violation of ethical, academic and professional standards, fuelled partly by t the insistence on publications in a ‘publish o r perish’ profession.