Attitude towards Plagiarism among Sherubtseans

Abstract

Academic writing is a specifically arduous task for students as it is associated with an assortment of cognitive and linguistic processes which students find difficult to achieve and make it a normative task to handle. In order to fulfil the writing requirements of academia, students often resort to using other people’s works and ideas without citing the source, a practice which is commonly referred to as plagiarism. As the practice of plagiarism becomes habitual, students become desensitized to the act and do not consider it a serious crime, and hence continue to practice it. Subsequently, the objective of this study was to find out and understand the rationale behind students committing plagiarism and their attitude towards the act. In addition, this research further explored and endeavoured to relate the practice of plagiarism with sociological and individual behaviour. This study employed a qualitative approach and the data was collected through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews which were semi-structured in nature. Participants were selected from among Sherubtse College students using purposive sampling and were representative of each department, namely, Social Science; Mathematics and Computer Science; Environmental and Life Sciences; and Arts and Humanities. The study deduced the causes of plagiarism to be demanding schedules; inadequate reading, language, and writing skills; and economy of effort. Given the prevalence of plagiarism among students and the tendency for both students and lecturers to take it for granted, it is of utmost importance for institutions to instil the concept of integrity, and teach reading, writing, and time management skills.