Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Understanding Undergraduate Plagiarism in the Context of Students’ Academic Experience

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

Abstract

Previous research has shown that student plagiarism is the product of interplay between individual and situational factors. The present study examined the relationship between these two sets of factors with a particular focus on variables linked to students’ academic context namely, their perception of peer behaviors, their experience of adversities in academic life, and their year of enrollment. So far, these situational features have received scant attention in studies of plagiarism conducted in most of Europe. A survey was carried out in a European higher education institution, involving a sample of 427 undergraduates. The data was analyzed via both conventional univariate and bivariate statistical analysis, and multivariate, multilevel modeling. The results suggest that awareness of peer plagiarizing and the experience of hardships in academic life, rather than level of academic achievement or year of study, are significantly related to plagiarizing, whereas heightened perception of the seriousness of plagiarism is associated with a lower likelihood of this type of behavior. The study also shows that students who plagiarize are more likely to be involved in other types of academic misconduct.

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

Availability of Data and Material

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  • Adam, L., Anderson, V., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2017). ‘It’s not fair’: Policy discourses and students’ understandings of plagiarism in a New Zealand university. Higher Education, 74, 17–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akbulut, Y., Sendag, S., Birinci, G., Kiliçer, K., Sahin, M. C., & Odabasi, 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, 463–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aljurf, S., Kemp, L. K., & Williams, P. (2019). Exploring academic dishonesty in the Middle East: A qualitative analysis of students’ perceptions. Studies in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1564262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashworth, P., Bannister, P., & Thorne, P. (1997). Guilty in whose eyes: University student perception of cheating and plagiarism. Studies in Higher Education, 22, 187–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auer, N. J., & Krupar, E. M. (2001). Mouse click plagiarism: The role of technology in plagiarism and the librarian’s role in combating it. Library Trends, 49(3), 415–432.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ba, K. D., Ba, K. D., Lam, Q., & D., Le, D., Nguyen, P. L., Nguyen, P. Q., & Pham, Q. L. . (2017). Student plagiarism in higher education in Vietnam: An empirical study. Higher Education Research & Development, 36(5), 934–946.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babaii, E., & Nejadghanbar, H. (2017). Plagiarism among Iranian graduate students of language studies: Perspectives and causes. Ethics & Behavior, 27(3), 240–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnhardt, B., & Ginns, P. (2017). Psychological teaching-learning contracts: Academic integrity and moral psychology. Ethics & Behavior, 27(4), 313–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blankenship, K. L., & Whitley, B. E. (2000). Relation of general deviance to academic dishonesty. Ethics & Behavior, 10, 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blum, S. D. (2009). My word! Plagiarism and college culture. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowers, W. J. (1964). Student dishonesty and its control in college. New York, NY: Bureau of Applied Social Research, Columbia University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bretag, B., Harper, R., Burton, M., Ellis, C., Newton, P., Rozenberg, P., et al. (2018). Contract cheating: A survey of Australian university students. Studies in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1462788.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bunn, D. N., Caudill, S. B., & Gropper, D. M. (1992). Crime in the classroom: An economic analysis of undergraduate student cheating behavior. The Journal of Economic Education, 23(3), 197–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cebrián-Robles, V., Raposo-Rivas, M., Cebrián-de-la-Serna, M., & Sarmiento-Campos, J. A. (2018). Percepción sobre el plagio académico de estudiantes universitarios españoles. Educación XX1, 21(2), 105–129.

  • Chien, S.-C. (2016). Taiwanese college students’ perceptions of plagiarism: Cultural and educational considerations. Ethics & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2015.1136219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chirikov, I., Shmeleva, E., & Loyalka, P. (2019). The role of faculty in reducing academic dishonesty among engineering students. Studies in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1616169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chudzicka-Czupała, A. (2014). Psychological and moral determinants in accepting cheating and plagiarism among university students in Poland. Polish Journal of Applied Psychology, 12(1), 75–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comas-Forgas, R., & Sureda-Negre, J. (2016). Prevalencia y capacidad de reconocimiento del plagio académico entre el alumnado del área de Economía [Prevalence and ability to recognize academic plagiarism among university students in economics]. El Profesional de la Información, 25(4), 616–622.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, G. J., & Clare, J. (2017). How prevalent is contract cheating and to what extent are students repeat offenders? Journal of Academic Ethics, 15, 115–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, G. J., & Tremayne, K. (2019). Is plagiarism really on the rise? Results from four 5-yearly surveys. Studies in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1707792.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foltýnek, T., & Čech, F. (2012). Attitude to plagiarism in different European countries. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 60(7), 71–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foltýnek, T., & Glendinning, I. (2015). Impact of policies for plagiarism in higher education across Europe: Results of the project. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 63(1), 207–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freiburger, T. L., Romain, D. M., Randol, B. M., & Marcum, C. D. (2016). Cheating behaviors among undergraduate college students: results from a factorial survey. Journal of Criminal Justice Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2016.1203010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geddes, K. A. (2011). Academic dishonesty among gifted and high-achieving students. Gifted Child Today, 34(2), 49–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, C. J., Khey, D., & Schreck, C. J. (2008). Gender, internal controls, and academic dishonesty: Investigating mediating and differential effects. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 19(1), 2–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glendinning, I. (2014). Responses to student plagiarism in higher education across Europe. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 10(1), 4–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hensley, L. C., Kirkpatrick, K. M., & Burgoon, J. M. (2013). Relation of gender, course enrollment, and grades to distinct forms of academic dishonesty. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(8), 895–907.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hetherington, E. M., & Feldman, S. E. (1964). College cheating as a function of subject and situational variables. Journal of Educational Psychology, 56(4), 212–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ison, D. C. (2018). An empirical analysis of differences in plagiarism among world cultures. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2018.1479949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iyer, R., & Eastman, J. K. (2006). Academic dishonesty: Are business students different from other college students? Journal of Education for Business, 82(2), 101–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, L. A., Arnett, J. J., Feldman, S. S., & Cauffman, E. (2002). It’s wrong, but everybody does it: Academic dishonesty among high school and college students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27, 209–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jereb, E., Perc, M., Lämmlein, B., Jerebic, J., Urh, M., Podbregar, I., & Šprajc, P. (2018). Factors influencing plagiarism in higher education: A comparison of German and Slovene students. PLoS One, 13(8), e0202252. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jian, H., Li, G., & Wang, W. (2020). Perceptions, contexts, attitudes, and academic dishonesty in Chinese senior college students: A qualitative content-based analysis. Ethics & Behavior, 30(7), 543–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerkvliet, J. (1994). Cheating by economic students: A comparison of survey results. Journal of Economic Education, 25, 121–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerkvliet, J., & Sigmund, C. L. (1999). Can we control cheating in the classroom? Journal of Economic Education, 30, 331–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khathayut, P., Walker-Gleaves, C., & Humble, S. (2020). Using the theory of planned behaviour to understand Thai students’ conceptions of plagiarism within their undergraduate programmes in higher education. Studies in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1750584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klein, H. A., Levenburg, N. M., McKendall, M., & Mothersell, W. (2007). Cheating during the college years: How do business school students compare? Journal of Business Ethics, 72(2), 197–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, C.-H., & Wem, L.-Y. (2007). Academic dishonesty in higher education: A nationwide study in Taiwan. Higher Education, 54(1), 85–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Love, P. G., & Simmons, J. (1998). Factors influencing cheating and plagiarism among graduate students in a college of education. College Student Journal, 32, 539–551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, H., & Cook, A. (2003). Mind the gap: Are students prepared for higher education? Journal of Further and Higher Education, 27(1), 53–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, K., & O’Riordan, C. (1998). Inequality in higher eEducation: A study of class barriers. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 19(4), 445–478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, D. L., Butterfield, K. D., & Treviño, L. K. (2012). Cheating in college: Why students do it and what can be done about it. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, D. L., & Treviño, L. K. (1997). Individual and contextual influences on academic dishonesty: A multicampus investigation. Research in Higher Education, 38(3), 379–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, D. L., Treviño, L. K., & Butterfield, K. D. (2001). Cheating in academic institutions: A decade of research. Ethics & Behavior, 11, 219–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKibban, A. R., & Burdsal, C. A. (2013). Academic dishonesty: An in-depth investigation of assessing measurable constructs and a call for consistency in scholarship. Journal of Academic Ethics, 11, 185–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molnar, K. K. (2015). Students’ perceptions of academic dishonesty: A nine-year study from 2005 to 2013. Journal of Academic Ethics, 13, 135–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newstead, S. E., Franklyn-Stokes, A., & Armstead, P. (1996). Individual differences in student cheating. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(2), 229–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newton, P. (2015). Academic integrity: A quantitative study of confidence and understanding in students at the start of their higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1024199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olafson, L., Schraw, G., Nadelson, L., Nadelson, S., & Kehrwald, N. (2013). Exploring the judgment–action gap: College students and academic dishonesty. Ethics & Behavior, 23(2), 148–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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 

  • Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 539–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pulfrey, C., & Butera, F. (2016). When and why people don’t accept cheating: Self-transcendence values, social responsibility, mastery goals and attitudes towards cheating. Motivation and Emotion, 40, 438–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raftery, A. E. (1995). Bayesian model selection in social research. Sociological Methodology, 25, 111–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sherif, M. (1936). The psychology of social norms. Oxford, England: Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, C. A., Carr, J. R., Mccullough, S. M., Morgan, S. J., Oleson, T., & Ressel, M. (2004). Gender, student perceptions, institutional commitments and academic dishonesty: Who reports in academic dishonesty cases? Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 29(1), 75–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, T. R., Langenbacher, M., Kudlac, C., & Fera, A. G. (2013). Deviant reactions to the college pressure cooker: A test of general strain theory on undergraduate students in the United States. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, 8(2), 88–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, J. M. (2017). How to cheat and not feel guilty: Cognitive dissonance and its amelioration in the domain of academic dishonesty. Theory Into Practice, 56, 111–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, T. H., Jawahar, I. M., & Kisamore, J. L. (2010). Predicting academic misconduct intentions and behavior using the theory of planned behavior and personality. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 32(1), 35–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland, E. H. (1947). Principles of criminology (4th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, A., Taylor, D., & Johnston, C. (2014). A model for exploring student understandings of plagiarism. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 38(1), 129–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szabo, A., & Underwood, J. (2004). Cybercheats: Is information and communication technology fueling academic dishonesty? Active Learning in Higher Education, 5(2), 180–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tibbets, S. G. (1997). Gender differences in students: Rational decisions to cheat. Deviant Behavior, 18, 393–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tibbetts, S. G. (1999). Differences between women and men regarding decisions to commit test cheating. Research in Higher Education, 40(3), 323–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood, J., & Szabo, D. (2003). Academic offences and e-learning: Individual propensities in cheating. British Journal of Educational Technology, 34, 467–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vowell, P. R., & Chen, J. (2004). Predicting academic misconduct: A comparative test of four sociological explanations. Sociological Inquiry, 74(2), 226–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker, J. (1998). Student plagiarism in universities: What are we doing about it? Higher Education Research and Development, 17(1), 89–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker, M., & Townley, C. (2012). Contract cheating: A new challenge for academic honesty? Journal of Academic Ethics, 10(1), 27–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, M. J., & Newton, P. M. (2014). Turnaround time and market capacity in contract cheating. Educational Studies, 40(2), 233–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitley, B. E., Nelson, A. B., & Jones, C. J. (1999). Gender differences in cheating attitudes and classroom cheating behavior: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 41(9/10), 657–680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox, P., Winn, S., & Fyvie-Gauld, M. (2005). ‘It was nothing to do with the university, it was just the people’: The role of social support in the first-year experience of higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 30(6), 707–722.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wowra, S. A. (2007). Moral identities, social anxiety, and academic dishonesty among American college students. Ethics & Behavior, 17(3), 303–321.

    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 

  • Yu, H., Glanzer, P. L., Sriram, R., Johnson, B. R., & Moore, B. (2016). What contributes to college students’ cheating? A study of individual factors. Ethics & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2016.1169535.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of the Azores, Portugal; and Centro Interdisciplinar de Ciências Sociais – CICS.UAc/CICS.NOVA.UAc, R. Mãe de Deus, 9500-801, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    Jorge Ávila de Lima

  2. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of the Azores, Portugal; and CEEAplA, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    Áurea Sousa

  3. Department of Sociology, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    Angélica Medeiros, Beatriz Misturada & Cátia Novo

Authors
  1. Jorge Ávila de Lima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Áurea Sousa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Angélica Medeiros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Beatriz Misturada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Cátia Novo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jorge Ávila de Lima.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of Interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

de Lima, J.Á., Sousa, Á., Medeiros, A. et al. Understanding Undergraduate Plagiarism in the Context of Students’ Academic Experience. J Acad Ethics 20, 147–168 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-021-09396-3

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-021-09396-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation