Students' attitudes toward plagiarism in the interior design field

Abstract

Plagiarism is an important issue, with which students need to get acquainted before they start practicing as professionals after graduation. This study aimed to identify students’ attitudes towards plagiarism in the interior design field. It identified three aspects of visual plagiarism according to students’ perceptions: students’ knowledge and understanding of the topic, causes of plagiarism, and the time when plagiarism typically occurs during a project. The participants were interior design and furniture students (n=59) from King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through a questionnaire. The results revealed that students understand the general meaning of plagiarism but lack clarity regarding its finer details in the field of interior design. Five reasons, related to accidental plagiarism, were found to drive student to plagiarize. Furthermore, coping was most likely to occur in specific project phases. This study provides information that will help facilitate better practices for preventing visual plagiarism in various artistic fields. It will also make faculty members aware of students’ perceptions of plagiarism in the field of interior design, along with the need to include this issue in the curriculum to ensure academic integrity, foster creativity, and provide a clear understanding of plagiarism before students commence their professional careers.