Abstract
In two studies undergraduate students were given an original paragraph and several rewritten versions of the paragraph, some of which were plagiarized (e.g., without a citation, superficially modified from the original) and some correctly paraphrased. Students were asked to determine whether each rewritten version had been plagiarized or correctly paraphrased. Approximately 74% of the students in both studies correctly identified the paraphrased versions. However, some of the plagiarized versions were misidentified as having been correctly paraphrased by as many as 40% to 50% of the students. Results suggest that students are often unclear as to what constitutes plagiarism and correct forms of paraphrasing.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
CAMPBELL, W. G., & BALLOU, S. V. (1974). Form and style: Theses, reports, term papers (5th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
DAVIS, S. F., GROVER, C. A., BECKER, A. H., & MCGREGOR, L. N. (1992). Academic dishonesty: Prevalence, determinants, techniques, and punishments. Teaching of Psychology, 19, 2–20.
DAVIS, S. F., SIMON, L, HANDLER, C., & MILLER, K. (1992). Academic dishonesty: One-time offenders or habitual criminals? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
FAKOURI, M. E. (1972). Achievement motivation and cheating. Psychological Reports, 31, 2–630.
HAINES, V. J., DIEKHOFR G. M., LABEFF E. E., & CLARK, R. E. (1986). College cheating: Immature, lack of commitment, and the neutralizing attitude. Research in Higher Education, 25, 2–354.
HALE, J. L. (1987). Plagiarism in the classroom. Communication Research Reports, 4, 2–70.
KARLIN, M., MICHAELS, C., & PODLOGAR, S. (1988). Research in Higher Education, 29, 2–36
KIANG, N. (1993). Plagiarism in a multicultural academic setting. Paper presented at the ORI/AAAS Conference on Plagiarism and Theft of Ideas, Washington, DC.
MCCABE, D. L. (1992). The influence of situational ethics on cheating among college students. Sociological Inquiry, 62, 2–374.
MCCABE, D. L., & TREVINO, L. K. (1993). Academic dishonesty: Honor codes and other contextual influences. Journal of Higher Education, 64, 2–538.
MACCOBY, E. E., & JACKLIN, C. N. (1974). Psychology of sex differences. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
MOFFATT, M. (1990). Undergraduate cheating. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 334921.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed.). (1994). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
ROIG, M., & BALLEW, C. (1994). Attitudes toward cheating in self and others by college students and professors. The Psychological Record, 44, 2–12.
ROSNOW R. L, & ROSNOW, M. (1995). Writing papers in psychology (3rd ed.). Brooks/Cole: Pacific Grove, CA.
SHEA, C. (1993). What’s happened to writing skills? The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 3, A33–34.
SINGHAL, A. C. (1982). Factors in students’ dishonesty. Psychological Reports, 51, 2–780.
TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY (1990). Special issue: Psychologists teach writing, 17.
WHITE, E. M. (1993). Too many campuses want to sweep student plagiarism under the rug. The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 24, A44.
ZENHAUSERN, R. (1978). Imagery, cerebral dominance, and style of thinking: Unified field model. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 12, 2–384.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Roig, M. Can undergraduate students determine whether text has been plagiarized?. Psychol Rec 47, 113–122 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395215
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395215