Student perspectives on plagiarism

Abstract

This chapter comprises a review of the higher education literature on plagiarism, with a specific focus on studies that consider students’ perspectives. The literature on plagiarism in higher education reveals three dominant understandings of plagiarism: Plagiarism as a moral issue, plagiarism as a regulatory issue, and plagiarism as an issue of learning to write in academia. In this chapter, each of these three perspectives is explained alongside a consideration of students’ understandings of plagiarism with specific regard to each perspective. From a moral or regulatory perspective, many students express anxiety about being caught plagiarizing, either deliberately or unintentionally. Furthermore, many students link plagiarism with the mechanical act of referencing, rather than with the idea of utilizing and building on previous research. Consequently, although they are able to define plagiarism, many students are unable to identify plagiarism in their own or others’ written work. Some students also express confusion over the varying referencing expectations provided by different teachers. Others report that plagiarism is not a concept of importance to them, despite their recognition that it is important to their teachers. From a learning to write perspective, students express a desire for more information on how to avoid plagiarism and for the opportunity to practice and become competent academic writers. This chapter reveals a disjuncture between what students understand about plagiarism and good academic practice, and what institutional expectations of them are, as indicated by plagiarism policies and assessment practices. The chapter concludes by outlining where more research is needed in order to facilitate effective support for students as developing academic writers.