Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Perceptions of and Attitudes toward Plagiarism and Factors Contributing to Plagiarism: a Review of Studies

  • Published:
Journal of Academic Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The abundance of information technology and electronic resources for academic materials has contributed to the attention given to research on plagiarism from various perspectives. Among the issues that have attracted researchers’ attention are perceptions of plagiarism and attitudes toward plagiarism. This article presents a critical review of studies that have been conducted to examine staff’s and students’ perceptions of and attitudes toward plagiarism. It also presents a review of studies that have focused on factors contributing to plagiarism. Our review of studies reveals that most of the studies on perceptions of plagiarism and attitudes toward plagiarism lack an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the perceptions of plagiarism and other contextual, sociocultural and institutional variables, or the relationship between attitudes toward plagiarism and students’ perceptions of various forms of plagiarism. Although our review shows that various factors can contribute to plagiarism, there is no taxonomy that can account for all these factors. Some suggestions for future research are provided in this review article.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akbulut, Y., Şendağ, S., Birinci, G., Kılıçer, K., Şahin, M. C., & Odabaşı, H. F. (2008). Exploring the types and reasons of internet-triggered academic dishonesty among Turkish undergraduate students: development of internet-triggered academic dishonesty scale (ITADS). Computers & Education, 51(1), 463–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alam, L. S. (2004). Is plagiarism more prevalent in some form of assessment than others? In C. R. Atkinson, D. J.-D. McBeath & R. Phillips (Eds.), Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings of the 21st ASCILITE Conference (pp. 48–57).

  • Amiri, F., & Razmjoo, S. A. (2016). On Iranian EFL undergraduate students’ perceptions of plagiarism. Journal of Academic Ethics, 14(2), 115–131.

  • Ashworth, P., Bannister, P., Thorne, P., & Students on the Qualitative Research Methods Course Unit. (1997). Guilty in whose eyes? University students’ perceptions of cheating and plagiarism in academic work and assessment. Studies in Higher Education, 22(2), 187–203.

  • Babaii, E., & Nejadghanbar, H. (2016). Plagiarism among Iranian graduate students of language studies: perspectives and causes. Ethics and Behavior, 1–19. doi:10.1080/10508422.2016.113886.

  • Baetz, M., Zivcakova, L., Wood, E., Nosko, A., De Pasquale, D., & Archer, K. (2011). Encouraging active classroom discussion of academic integrity and misconduct in higher education business contexts. Journal of Academic Ethics, 9(3), 217–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, R., & Cox, A. (2005). “At least they are learning something”: the hazy line between collaboration and collusion. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 30(2), 107–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batane, T. (2010). Turning to Turnitin to fight plagiarism among university students. Educational Technology & Society, 13(2), 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, K. K., Behrendt, L. S., & Boothby, J. L. (2011). Instructor perceptions of plagiarism: are we finding common ground? Teaching of Psychology, 38(1), 29–35. doi:10.1177/0098628310390851.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertram Gallant, T. (2008). Academic integrity in the twenty-first century: a teaching and learning imperative. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

  • Biber, D. (2006). University language: A corpus-based study of spoken and written registers (Vol. 23): John Benjamins Publishing.

  • Bloch, J. (2012). Plagiarism, intellectual property and the teaching of L2 writing. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breen, L., & Maassen, M. (2005). Reducing the incidence of plagiarism in an undergraduate course: the role of education. Issues in Educational Research, 15(1), 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, R. (2009). Shameless! Reconceiving the problem of student plagiarism. Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities, 14(1), 65–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brimble, M., & Stevenson-Clarke, P. (2005). Perceptions of the prevalence and seriousness of academic dishonesty in Australian universities. The Australian Educational Researcher, 32(3), 19–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruce, I. (2008). Academic writing and genre: A systematic analysis. London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, J. (2002). A handbook for deterring plagiarism in higher education. Oxford Brookes University: Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.

  • Chen, Y., & Chou, C. (2016). Are We on the same page? College Students’ and Faculty’s Perception of Student Plagiarism in Taiwan. Ethics and Behavior, 1–21. doi:10.1080/10508422.2015.1123630.

  • Chien, S. C. (2014). Cultural constructions of plagiarism in student writing: teachers' perceptions and responses. Research in the Teaching of English, 49(2), 120–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chien, S. C. (2016). Taiwanese College Students’ Perceptions of Plagiarism: cultural and Educational Considerations. Ethics and Behavior, 1–22. doi:10.1080/10508422.2015.1136219.

  • Comas-Forgas, R., & Sureda-Negre, J. (2010). Academic plagiarism: explanatory factors from students’ perspective. Journal of Academic Ethics, 8(3), 217–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, G. J., Gouldthorp, B., Thomas, E. F., O'Brien, G. M., & Correia, H. M. (2013). Online academic-integrity mastery training may improve students' awareness of, and attitudes toward, plagiarism. Psychology Learning and Teaching, 12(3), 282–289. doi:10.2304/plat.2013.12.3.282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. (2012). International postgraduate students' experiences of plagiarism education in the UK: student, tutor and expert perspectives. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 8(2), 21–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Decoo, W. (2002). Crisis on campus: confronting academic misconduct: MIT Press.

  • Devlin, M., & Gray, K. (2007). In their own words: a qualitative study of the reasons Australian university students plagiarize. High Education Research & Development, 26(2), 181–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Divan, A., Bowman, M., & Seabourne, A. (2015). Reducing unintentional plagiarism amongst international students in the biological sciences: an embedded academic writing development programme. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 39(3), 358–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrich, J., Howard, S. J., Mu, C., & Bokosmaty, S. (2014). A comparison of Chinese and Australian university students' attitudes towards plagiarism. Studies in Higher Education. doi:10.1080/03075079.2014.927850.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, T. (2009). “We know it when we see it” is not good enough: toward a standard definition of plagiarism that transcends theft, fraud, and copyright. Paper presented at the 4th Asia Pacific Conference on Educational Integrity University of Wollongong, Australia, 28–30 September,

  • Flint, A., Clegg, S., & Macdonald, R. (2006). Exploring staff perceptions of student plagiarism. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 30(02), 145–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flowerdew, J., & Li, Y. (2007). Plagiarism and second language writing in an electronic age. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 27, 161–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, P. J., & Hughes, C. (2012). Academic integrity and plagiarism: perceptions and experience of staff and students in a school of dentistry: a situational analysis of staff and student perspectives. European Journal of Dental Education, 16(1), e180–e186. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0579.2011.00695.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler Jr., F. J. (2013). Survey research methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franklyn-Stokes, A., & Newstead, S. E. (1995). Undergraduate cheating: who does what and why? Studies in Higher Education, 20(2), 159–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghajarzadeh, M., Norouzi-Javidan, A., Hassanpour, K., Aramesh, K., & Emami-Razavi, S. H. (2012). Attitude toward plagiarism among Iranian medical faculty members. Acta Medica Iranica, 50(11), 778–781.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gomez, G. (2012). Do easily copied internet media in the library lead to plagiarism?. In International Conference on Science and the Internet, Düsseldorf, Germany (pp. 131–143). Retrieved from http://nfgwin.uni-duesseldorf.de/sites/default/files/Gomez.pdf

  • Gomez, M. S. S., Shivanna, L., & Shivanna, B. S. (2014). Assessment of the attitude towards plagiarism among dental postgraduate students and faculty members in Bapuji dental college and hospital, Davangere–a cross sectional survey. Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences, 13(5), 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gullifer, J. M., & Tyson, G. A. (2010). Exploring university students' perceptions of plagiarism: a focus group study. Studies in Higher Education, 35(4), 463–481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gullifer, J. M., & Tyson, G. A. (2014). Who has read the policy on plagiarism? Unpacking students' understanding of plagiarism. Studies in Higher Education, 39(7), 1202–1218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, R. A. (2001). The plagiarism handbook: Strategies for preventing, detecting, and dealing with plagiarism. Los Angeles: Pyrczak.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind (Vol. 2). London: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, R. M. (1995). Plagiarisms, authorships, and the academic death penalty. College English, 57(7), 788–806.

  • Hu, G., & Lei, J. (2012). Investigating Chinese university students’ knowledge of and attitudes toward plagiarism from an integrated perspective. Language Learning, 62(3), 813–850.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, G., & Lei, J. (2015). Chinese university students’ perceptions of plagiarism. Ethics and Behavior, 25(3), 233–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyland, K. (2003). Second language writing: Cambridge University Press.

  • Hyland, K. (2009). Academic discourse: English in a global context: A&C Black.

  • Kasprzak, J., & Nixon, M. (2004). Cheating in cyberspace: maintaining quality in higher education. Association for the Advancement of Computering in Education, 12(1), 85–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kayaoğlu, M. N., Erbay, Ş., Flitner, C., & Saltaş, D. (2015). Examining students’ perceptions of plagiarism: a cross-cultural study at tertiary level. Journal of Further and Higher Education. doi:10.1080/0309877x.2015.1014320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koul, R., Clariana, R. B., Jitgarun, K., & Songsriwittaya, A. (2009). The influence of achievement goal orientation on plagiarism. Learning and Individual Differences, 19(4), 506–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntz, J. R., & Butler, C. (2014). Exploring individual and contextual antecedents of attitudes toward the acceptability of cheating and plagiarism. Ethics & Behavior, 24(6), 478–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kutz, E., Rhodes, W., Sutherland, S., & Zamel, V. (2011). Addressing plagiarism in a digital age. Human Architecture, 9(3), 15–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lau, G. K., Yuen, A. H., & Park, J. (2013). Toward an analytical model of ethical decision making in plagiarism. Ethics & Behavior, 23(5), 360–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lei, J., & Hu, G. (2015). Chinese university EFL teachers’ perceptions of plagiarism. Higher Education, 70(3), 551–565. doi:10.1007/s10734-014-9855-5.

  • Leonard, M., Schwieder, D., Buhler, A., Bennett, D. B., & Royster, M. (2015). Perceptions of plagiarism by STEM graduate students: a case study. Science and Engineering Ethics. doi:10.1007/s11948-014-9604-2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim, V. K., & See, S. K. (2001). Attitudes toward, and intentions to report academic cheating among students in Singapore. Ethics & Behaviour, 11(3), 261–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louw, D. A. (1998). Human development. Cape Town: Pearson South Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, S., & Beck, S. (2011). Faculty perceptions of plagiarism at Queensborough community college. Community & Junior College Libraries, 17(2), 63–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, S. & Garry, M. (2005). How well do students really understand plagiarism? In Goss, H. (Ed.), Proceedings of the 22nd annual conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) (pp. 457–467). Brisbane, Australia, 4–7 December.

  • Marshall, S., & Garry, M. (2006). NESB and ESB students’ attitudes and perceptions of plagiarism. International Journal of Educational Integrity, 2(1), 26–37.

  • Mavrinac, M., Brumini, G., Bilić-Zulle, L., & Petrovecki, M. (2010). Construction and validation of attitudes toward plagiarism questionnaire. Croatian Medical Journal, 51(3), 195–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell, A. J., Curtis, G. J., & Vardanega, L. (2008). Does culture influence understanding and perceived seriousness of plagiarism? International Journal for Educational Integrity, 4(2), 25–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, D. L. (2005). Cheating among college and university students: a North American perspective. The International Journal for Educational Integrity, 4(1). doi:10.21913/IJEI.v1i1.14

  • Michalec, M., & Welsh, T. S. (2007). Quantity and authorship of GIS articles in library and information science literature, 1990-2005. Science & Technology Libraries, 27(3), 65–77.

  • Mu, C. (2010). "I only cited some of his words": the dilemma of EFL students and their perceptions of plagiarism in academic writing. Journal of Asia TEFL, 7(4), 103–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murtaza, G., Zafar, S., Bashir, I., & Hussain, I. (2013). Evaluation of student's perception and behavior towards plagiarism in Pakistani universities. Acta Bioethica, 19(1), 125–130. doi:10.4067/s1726-569x2013000100013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oppenheim, A. N. (1966). Questionnaire design and attitude measurement (pp. 133–142). London: Heinemann.

  • Paltridge, B. (2002). Thesis and dissertation writing: an examination of published advice and actual practice. English for Specific Purposes, 21(2), 125–143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paltridge, B., & Starfield, S. (2007). Thesis and dissertation writing in a second language: A handbook for supervisors: Routledge.

  • Park, C. (2003). In other (people's) words: plagiarism by university students--literature and lessons. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 28(5), 471–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pecorari, D., & Petrić, B. (2014). Plagiarism in second-language writing. Language Teaching, 47(3), 269–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pennycook, A. (1996). Borrowing others’ words: text, ownership, memory, and plagiarism. TESOL Quarterly, 30(2), 201–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pennycook, A. (2001). Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Mahwah: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, B. (2010). Exploring academic misconduct: some insights into student behaviour. Active Learning in Higher Education, 11(2), 97–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, M. R., & Horton, V. (2000). Cybercheating: has morality evaporated in business education? International Journal of Educational Management, 14(4), 150–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickard, J. (2006). Staff and student attitudes to plagiarism at university college Northampton. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(2), 215–232. doi:10.1080/02602930500262528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, L. (2012). Understanding plagiarism: developing a model of plagiarising behavior. Paper presented at the International Integrity & Plagiarism Conference, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0903/10b04ade5540c672c5b0db66e868bd805644.pdf.

  • Pupovac, V., Bilic-Zulle, L., Mavrinac, M., & Petrovecki, M. (2010). Attitudes toward plagiarism among pharmacy and medical biochemistry students-cross-sectional survey study. Biochemia Medica, 20, 307–3013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quah, C. H., Stewart, N., & Lee, J. W. C. (2012). Attitudes of business students’ toward plagiarism. Journal of Academic Ethics, 10(3), 185–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reingold, R., & Baratz, L. (2011). An institutional code of ethics--a response to attitude of Israeli Teachers' education college students towards academic plagiarism. US-China Education Review, 8(5), 589–598.

    Google Scholar 

  • Remler, D. K., & Pema, E. (2009). Why do institutions of higher education reward research while selling education? NBER Working Paper No. 14974. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w14974.

  • Rettinger, D. A., & Kramer, Y. (2009). Situational and personal causes of student cheating. Research in Higher Education, 50(3), 293–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, Tim S., ed. Student plagiarism in an online world: Problems and Solutions: Problems and Solutions. IGI Global, 2007.

  • Robinson-Zañartu, C., Peña, E. D., Cook-Morales, V., Peña, A. M., Afshani, R., & Nguyen, L. (2005). Academic crime and punishment: faculty members' perceptions of and responses to plagiarism. School Psychology Quarterly, 20(3), 318–337. doi:10.1521/scpq.2005.20.3.318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, G., Bonanno, H., Krass, I., Scouller, K., & Smith, L. (2009). Undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students' perceptions of plagiarism and academic honesty. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 73(6), 105.

  • Scollon, R. (1995). Plagiarism and ideology: identity in intercultural discourse. Language in Society, 24(01), 1–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shirazi, B., Jafarey, A. M., & Moazam, F. (2010). Plagiarism and the medical fraternity: a study of knowledge and attitudes. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 60(4), 269–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silver, M. (2012). Voice and stance across disciplines in academic discourse. In K. Hyland & C. S. Guinda (Eds.), Stance and voice in written academic genres (pp. 202–217). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sisti, D. A. (2007). How do high school students justify internet plagiarism? Ethics & Behavior, 17(3), 215–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M., Ghazali, N., & Fatimah Noor Minhad, S. (2007). Attitudes towards plagiarism among undergraduate accounting students: Malaysian evidence. Asian Review of Accounting, 15(2), 122–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Song-Turner, H. (2008). Plagiarism: academic dishonesty or "blind spot" of multicultural education? Australian Universities' Review, 50(2), 39–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sowden, C. (2005). Plagiarism and the culture of multilingual students in higher education abroad. ELT Journal, 59(3), 226–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sterngold, A. (2004). Confronting plagiarism: how conventional teaching invites cyber-cheating. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 36(3), 16–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland-Smith, W. (2005). Pandora's box: academic perceptions of student plagiarism in writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 4(1), 83–95. doi:10.1016/j.jeap.2004.07.007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland-Smith, W. (2008). Plagiarism, the Internet, and student learning: improving academic integrity: Routledge.

  • Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wager, E. (2014). Defining and responding to plagiarism. Learned Publishing, 27(1), 33–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker, J. (2010). Measuring plagiarism: researching what students do, not what they say they do. Studies in Higher Education, 35(1), 41–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber-Wulff, D. (2014). False feathers: A perspective on academic plagiarism. Springer Science & Business.

  • Wheeler, G. (2009). Plagiarism in the Japanese universities: truly a cultural matter? Journal of Second Language Writing, 18(1), 17–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, S. C. (2012). Attitudes and behaviors related to academic dishonesty: a survey of Taiwanese graduate students. Ethics & Behavior, 22(3), 218–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeo, S. (2007). First-year university science and engineering students’ understanding of plagiarism. High Education Research & Development, 26(2), 199–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zivcakova, L., & Wood, E. (2015). Examining instructional interventions: encouraging academic integrity through active learning approaches. In Exploring Learning & Teaching in Higher Education (pp. 191–205): Springer.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia

    Fauzilah Md Husain, Ghayth Kamel Shaker Al-Shaibani & Omer Hassan Ali Mahfoodh

Authors
  1. Fauzilah Md Husain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ghayth Kamel Shaker Al-Shaibani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Omer Hassan Ali Mahfoodh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Fauzilah Md Husain or Omer Hassan Ali Mahfoodh.

Ethics declarations

Funding

This work was supported by Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia [Grant number 304/PBAHASA/6313161].

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Husain, F.M., Al-Shaibani, G.K.S. & Mahfoodh, O.H.A. Perceptions of and Attitudes toward Plagiarism and Factors Contributing to Plagiarism: a Review of Studies. J Acad Ethics 15, 167–195 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-017-9274-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-017-9274-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation