Attitude of Students Towards Cheating and Plagiarism: University Case Study

Abstract

During their studies, many students commit some form of academic dishonesty, such as cheating and plagiarism, often to obtain higher grades than they are capable of. The current widespread use of the Internet, mobile and wireless devices has made it easier for students to illegally access information and at the same time it has become difficult for academic institutions to control and discover such instances. Hence, it is essential that students become aware of the seriousness of these offences and be encouraged to avoid them. In this study, the attitude towards cheating and plagiarism among female students in the College of Computer and Information Sciences (CCIS) at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was studied. We aim to highlight the most prevailing practices, the underlying reasons, the popular sources of illegal information and the conception of students towards the ethicalness of exercising such practices. The results of the study indicate that both cheating and plagiarism are common among our students, despite the fact that most of them believe that they are unethical and against religious values. After having analyzed the results, we tried to propose some recommendations that may help combat cheating and plagiarism among students in higher education.