Awareness and perception of plagiarism of postgraduate students in selected universities in Ogun State, Nigeria.
Idiegbeyan-ose, Jerome ; Nkiko, Christopher ; Osinulu, Ifeakachuku 等
Introduction
Higher education all over the world especially in this 21st century
is experiencing heightened reported cases of plagiarism. The prevalence
is traceable to the introduction of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) in education as well as the plethora of online
resources (Gow, 2013; McCab, 2005; Kress, 1999 and Haward, 1999). The
inimical act of copious copying of other scholars' intellectual
property devoid of proper attribution or what is popularly regarded as
'cut and paste' syndrome is a clear demonstration of the
culture of mediocrity. It has the greatest propensity of enthroning
superficiality and forestall advancement superficiality and forestall
advancement in knowledge and quality of learning. Plagiarism is a
contentious issue in higher education, it is perceived, by many to be
widespread and increasing among university students. (Flint, Clegg and
Mcdonald, 2006 quoted Roberts and Toombs, 1993; Larkham and Manns,
2002). Onuoha and Ikonne (2013) stressed that the incidents of
plagiarism nowadays seem to be on the increase especially with the
advent of Internet which made information more easily available and
accessible without any geographical barriers; therefore, researchers can
have access to any document in any part of the world as easily as
possible.
The International School of Management (2015) pointed out that in
Nigeria, the issue of academic integrity or dishonesty is so crucial in
the heart of the higher institutions management. Therefore, the
Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities in 2012 contacted
the United Kingdom (UK) based academic integrity software company called
Turnitin for discussions and technical collaboration. Today virtually
all universities in Nigeria have access to the Turnitin system and they
can now conduct originality checks of diverse publications to ensure
genuine intellectual contributions to scholarship.
Literature Review
Awareness refers to the cognitive ability of a person to discern,
decipher and judge a given phenomenon. It refers to the knowledge about
an object or event, the competences or skills as well as the methods of
operation; it has to do with background knowledge about the object,
event or any other phenomenon. (Reinhardt, Mletzko, Sloep and Drachsler,
2015.). Merikle (1984) defined awareness as the ability of a person to
discriminate among several possible stimuli; it enables the person to
make right judgment and decision as well as attain high level of
performance.
Awareness and perception are two coins that affect the judgment and
action of any individual. Perception is the process of recognizing,
organizing and interpreting sensory information, it deals with the human
senses and generate signals from the environment through the five sense
organs: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. (Human Perception and
Information Processing, 2015).
Awareness and perception level of researchers will have effects on
their involvement in plagiarism. Flint, Clegg and Mcdonald, (2006) cited
Liverpool Hope University College, (2003) and defined plagiarism as the
use of material which is not cited and referenced to its source and also
the direct use of material, referenced or un-referenced, without a clear
indication that the material is taken verbatim from its source. In the
same way, Pyer (2000) described plagiarism as theft, he stressed that it
is taking the words, ideas and labour of other people and giving the
impression and or pretending that they are your own, thereby crediting
the idea, opinion, and thought to oneself.
Plagiarism is an illicit activity synonymous with cheating, it can
be described as corruption of the process of independent and critical
thinking that is essential to adding to the body of knowledge. (Gow,
2013). Orim, Borg and Awala-Ale (2013) quoted Park (2003), also
described plagiarism as academic malpractice; and a breach of academic
integrity.
Plagiarism occurs as result of certain elements in the academic
environment. The causes of plagiarism can be summarized as: ignorance,
lack of skills, and academic pressure of publish or perish. To buttress
this point, Orim, Borg and Awala-Ale (2013) stressed that most
plagiarism cases occurred as a result of lack of awareness and proper
skills. They conducted a study on Nigerian students on post-graduate
programme in United Kingdom (UK), and found that most of the
post-graduate students are not aware of what actually constitutes
plagiarism before coming to UK universities. Some plagiarism behaviour
such as collusion is clearly intentional, and un-ethical, whereas, some
other could be accidental or unintentional which could be referred to as
poor practice. (Brown and Howell, 2001; Devlin and Gray, 2007; Elander,
Pittman, Lusher, Fox and Payne, 2010; James, Mclnnis and Davlin, 2002
cited in Powell, 2012; Hayes and Introna, 2005.)
Onuoha and Ikonne (2013) cited Island, (2011) and Wan et al (2011)
and observed that although students may sometimes engage in the acts of
plagiarism intentionally, some students unknowingly plagiarize because
they are unclear of what constitutes a quotation or paraphrase and they
are not equipped with how to cite properly.
Ryan, Bonanno, Krass, Scouller and Smith (2009) carried out a study
on undergraduate and postgraduate Pharmacy students' perceptions of
plagiarism and academic honesty and discovered that there is widespread
deficiency in students' understanding of plagiarism across all
years of under-graduate and post-graduate Pharmacy students in
University of Sydney, Australia. In the same way, Chukwuemeka, Gbenga,
Sunday and Ndidiamaka (2013), investigated academic dishonesty among
Nigerian Pharmacy students in comparison to their United Kingdom
counterparts and found that the perception of Nigerian students as
regards academic dishonesty in the universities investigated was poor,
and the students' involvement in cheating was much higher than what
was reported in US and UK schools. A research that was conducted in
University of Florida in 1987, revealed that 68.1% of the students
engaged in plagiarism and other forms of academic misconducts (Maina,
Maina and Jauros, 2014).
Theoretical Framework
The study relied on two theories to explain the interrelatedness of
the main variables.
Situation Awareness Theory
Stanton, Chamber & Piggott (2001) cited Gilson (1995) and
pointed out that the idea behind situation awareness was conceived
during the world war 1 on the importance of gaining an awareness of your
enemy before the enemy gains a similar awareness of you; the theory
further pointed out that in order for people to maintain an adequate
awareness about a system status/phenomenon, the development of events in
those areas must be tracked as they unfold.
Situation awareness is the appropriate awareness of a situation or
event. It is the perception of the elements in the environment within a
specific time and space, the perception of their meaning and
anticipation of their status in the future (Endsley, 1988, cited in
Santon 2015)
Huemer's Theory of Perception: Analysis and Objections
According to Rubin (2015), Michael Huemer's theory lays out an
account of perception that supports a version of direct realism. His
argument was based on two premises "perception is directed
awareness of external reality and it leads to non-inferential knowledge
of that reality.
Huemer's theory claims that for awareness to take place there
must be relationship between the one who is aware and the object of
which he is aware. This implies that for one to be aware of something
and there is no object present then there cannot be actual awareness as
in the case of hallucination".
Huemer listed three major components of perception:
--Internal mental state: this refers to the perceptual experience
--Object of perception: this is external and roughly satisfies the
content of the experience
--Relationship exist between the two--the absence of any of these
items listed above disqualifies the event from perception
Perception Error
A coil of rope might be mistaken for a snake. In order to avoid
mistakes in perception, Huemer introduces the notion of primary and
secondary perception. In secondary perception, the object is perceived
by virtue of another perception, perceiving a coil of rope as snake
involves the same primary perception in which the image is taken to be
of different objects the coil of rope is taken as a snake; it is only
acceptable to a reasonable resemblance as the coil of rope has some
visual resemblance to a snake and not a coil of rope for a dog, a more
serious error.
Relevance of this theory to this work
These theories on awareness and perception are relevant to this
work as it explained the relationship between awareness and perception;
it also discussed perception error which is much related to plagiarism
perception. The theory explained primary and secondary perception; this
is also relevant to plagiarism as many researchers may not know what
actually constitute plagiarism because of their perception of
plagiarism. The theories therefore project attitudinal disposition of
students and environmental factors as predictors of plagiarism.
Institutional policies, actual practices, orientation, core values,
legal frameworks and enforcements are intricately related to scholarship
outcomes with respect to originality of content or plagiarism. In a
University where the culture of honesty and esteem for intellectual
property is clearly demonstrated and entrenched as well as palpable
recognition of original contribution to knowledge, the proper worldview
to plagiarism would have been ingrained in the minds of students.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The conceptual model depicts the interplay of awareness, perception
and plagiarism. Lack of awareness of the basic attributes and underlying
motions of the phenomenon leading to wrong perception and resulting in
perpetuation of plagiarism.
Originally developed for this work
Statement of the Problem
Plagiarism has been a serious and widely condemned epidemic
ravaging institutions of higher learning all over the world. Several
attempts have been made by the management of the various institutions to
arrest this ugly incident. The efforts had led to formulation of
institutional plagiarism or academic dishonesty policies. Some
institutions had even subscribed to plagiarism detection software such
as turnitin. Literature revealed that plagiarism can be unintentional or
intentional, a research that was done in United Kingdom to determine the
awareness level of Nigerian postgraduates students in that country
reported that most of the students are not aware of what actually
constitute plagiarism before coming to UK to study. It is against this
background that this study sought to investigate the nexus between
awareness and perception on plagiarism among Nigerian postgraduate
students.
Objectives of the Study
The general objective of the study is to investigate the awareness
and perception of plagiarism by post-graduate students in Nigerian
Universities.
The specific objectives of the study are to:
* Investigate if the post-graduate students are aware of plagiarism
* Ascertain if there is gender difference in plagiarism awareness
of post-graduate students in Nigerian Universities
* Find out if there is difference in plagiarism awareness of
post-graduate students in Nigerian Universities from different level of
education
* Investigate if there is difference in plagiarism awareness of
post-graduate students in Nigerian Universities from different age
groups
* Find out if training will have effect on plagiarism by
post-graduate students in Nigerian Universities
* Find out the reasons why postgraduate students plagiarize
* Investigate if there is difference in awareness of plagiarism by
postgraduate students in federal, state and private universities in
Nigeria
* Investigate if there is difference in perception of plagiarism by
postgraduate students in federal, state and private universities in
Nigeria
* Ascertain if there is relationship between awareness and
perception of plagiarism among postgraduate students in Nigerian
universities
Research Questions
1. Are post-graduate students in Nigerian Universities aware of
plagiarism?
2. Is there gender difference in plagiarism awareness of
post-graduate students in Nigerian Universities
3. Is there difference in plagiarism awareness of post-graduate
students in Nigerian Universities from different level of education?
4. Is there difference in plagiarism awareness of post-graduate
students in Nigerian Universities from age groups?
5. Will training have effect on plagiarism by post-graduate
students in Nigerian Universities?
6. Why do postgraduate students plagiarize?
7. Is there any difference in awareness of plagiarism by
postgraduate students in federal. State and private Universities in
Nigeria?
8. Is there any difference in perception of plagiarism by
postgraduate students in federal. State and private Universities in
Nigeria?
9. Is there any relationship between awareness and perception of
plagiarism by postgraduate students in Nigerian Universities?
Hypotheses
H1. The post-graduate students in Nigerian Universities are not
aware of plagiarism in academic writing
H2. There is no significant difference in awareness of plagiarism
by post-graduate students in federal, state and private Universities in
Nigeria
H3. There is no significant difference in perception of plagiarism
among post-graduate students in federal, state and private Universities
in Nigeria.
H4: there is no significant relationship between awareness and
perception of plagiarism by postgraduate students in Nigerian
Universities.
Methods
This descriptive study adopted a survey research design. A
stratified sampling technique was used to select participants from three
strata; federal, state and private universities. In all 338 respondents
participated in this study. This sample comprised 116 participants from
federal university out of the 160 administered, 74 respondents from
state university from 85 copies of the questionnaire administered and
148 participants from private university out of the 190 administered.
Questionnaire developed by the researcher was used in data collection.
The data collected were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential
statistics. A research assistant was employed for the distributions and
collections of the questionnaires in the various institutions.
Data Analysis and Interpretations of Results
The results of data collected and analyzed to achieve objectives
raised for this study are highlighted below;
Table 1: Demographic of respondents (n=338)
Variation Frequency Percent
Gender
Male 175 51.8
Female 163 48.2
Age
Less than 20 years 1 .3
20-25years 58 17.2
26-30years 110 32.5
31-35years 51 15.1
36-40 53 15.7
41years and Above 65 19.2
Institution
Federal 116 34.3
State 74 21.9
Private 148 43.8
Degree
PGD 27 8.0
Masters 192 56.8
M.Phil/PhD 43 12.7
PhD 76 22.5
Survey, 2015
The gender distribution revealed that 51.8% of respondents were
male and female respondents accounted for 48.2%. The age distribution
revealed that 0.3% was less than 20 years those respondents within 20-25
years bracket were accounted for 17.2%. The respondents within 26-30
years bracket were accounted for 32.5%. The respondents within 31-35
years bracket were accounted for 15.1%. Those respondents within 36-40
years bracket were accounted for 15.7% and respondents were 41 years and
above accounted for 19.2%. The ownership structure of universities where
respondents were selected from revealed that 34.3% from federal and
21.9% from state and 43.8% from private. The analysis of types of degree
registered for by the respondents revealed that 8% PGD students, 56.8
were Masters students, MPhil/ Phd students were 12.7% and PhD students
were 22.5%
In analyzing the variables of this study, awareness was observed at
the three levels the results revealed that 38.8% reported high level,
46.4% average level and 14.8% low level. The causes of plagiarism among
students were identified; the analysis revealed that 35% of respondents
blamed the prevalence of plagiarism on pressure often placed on students
to meet deadlines, while32% blamed it on inadequate writing skills among
students and 33% cited lack of knowledge among students on what
constitute plagiarism. The exposure of students to training on proper
citation and referencing revealed that 15% reported high exposure, 26%
average and 59% low level of exposure. The respondents suggested ways of
reducing or curbing act of plagiarism among postgraduate students, 5%
believed that increasing awareness among students will curb the act of
plagiarism, 15% suggested adequate training and education on proper
citation and referencing while 42% suggested that universities should
have definite university policy on plagiarism and 38% suggested
introduction of plagiarism detection software.
Answers to Research Questions
Research Question 1: Are postgraduate students in Nigerian
universities aware of plagiarism?
In answering the first research question which sought to determine
the level plagiarism awareness among postgraduate students in Nigerian
universities, the awareness was observed generally regardless of
ownership and specifically which put ownership into consideration. The
findings revealed as presented in table 3 that almost half of the total
respondents or 46.4% reported average level of awareness. However, 38.8%
reported high level of awareness and only 14.8% reported low level of
awareness. This implies an average awareness of plagiarism issues among
postgraduate students in Nigerian universities. However, the awareness
level was considered at federal, state and private level as presented in
figure 1.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
The figure 1 showed that awareness of plagiarism is higher among
postgraduate students in private than federal and state universities. In
interpreting these findings, one can conclude that considering the level
of education of the respondents, average level of awareness of
plagiarism may not be appropriate because of the seriousness of the
concept of plagiarism in academic circle. This may pose a serious threat
to quality of academic work and output.
Research Question 2: To what extent does gender affect awareness of
plagiarism among postgraduate students in Nigerian universities?
The gender effect on awareness of plagiarism among postgraduate
students in Nigerian universities was examined. The findings revealed
that 175 (51.8%) males against 148 (48.2%) females participated in this
study. However, only 3.2% males against 38.2% females reported high
level of plagiarism awareness while 36.2% males reported average level
of awareness against 10% female. The findings equally revealed that
while 12.4% of males reported low level of plagiarism awareness no
females did. These findings imply that females are better aware of
plagiarism than males.
Research Question 3: To what extent does educational level affect
awareness of plagiarism among postgraduate students in Nigerian
universities?
The findings as presented in the table above show that awareness
increases as the educational level increases. The Ph.D students reported
highest level of awareness meanwhile there is little difference in the
level of awareness of Masters and M. Phil/Ph.D while PGD students
reported lowest level of awareness.
Research Question 4: To what extent does age affect awareness of
plagiarism among postgraduate students in Nigerian universities?
The findings as presented in the table above shows no relationship
between awareness and age of students. The distribution does not reflect
any pattern to suggest whether awareness increases or decreases as age
increases.
Research Question 5: To what extent does training affect awareness
of plagiarism among postgraduate students in Nigerian universities?
The awareness of plagiarism among postgraduate students in Nigerian
universities was cross tabulated with the training on proper citation
and referencing. The result revealed that all the 50 (15%) participants
who reported high level of training equally reported high level of
awareness while 71(22%) out of 86(37%) who reported average level of
training reported high level of awareness and while remaining 15(5%)
reported average level of awareness. Meanwhile 184 (54.4%) participants
reported low level of training out of which 142(54.5%) reported average
level of awareness while the remaining 42(0.12%) reported low level of
awareness. It can be inferred that training affect awareness of
plagiarism among postgraduate students in Nigerian universities. The
more the students are exposed to training on proper citation and
referencing the better their level of awareness.
Research Question 6: Why do postgraduate students in Nigerian
universities plagiarize?
The reasons while students plagiarized was examined and three
factors were reported as responsible for plagiarism The pressure in
meeting deadlines in academic endeavours was reported by 35% while 32%
cited inadequate writing skills of postgraduate students in Nigerian
universities and 33% of participants blamed the act of plagiarism on
poor knowledge on what constitute plagiarism.
Hypothesis testing
The hypotheses raised for this study were tested and the results
presented below
Hypothesis 1: The post-graduate students in Nigerian Universities
are not aware of plagiarism in academic writing
The result of the first hypothesis tested revealed that
post-graduate students in Nigerian Universities are aware of plagiarism
in academic writing at X2=70.57, 2 degree of freedom, <0.05
significant level. This implies the finding is significant; average
level of awareness of plagiarism was observed among post-graduate
students in Nigerian Universities.
Hypothesis 2
There is no significant difference in awareness of plagiarism by
post-graduate students in federal, state and private Universities in
Nigeria.
This hypothesis sought to determine the significant difference in
awareness of plagiarism by postgraduate students in federal, state and
private Universities in Nigeria. The findings revealed no significant
difference at [f.sub.(2,327)] =1.064 and p=0.346. it implies that the
level of awareness cut across the types of institution without one
having advantage over others.
Hypothesis 3
There is no significant difference in perception of plagiarism
among post-graduate students in federal, state and private Universities
in Nigeria.
This hypothesis sought to determine the significant difference in
the perception of plagiarism by post-graduate students in federal, state
and private Universities in Nigeria. The findings revealed a significant
difference at f (2,327) =25.000 and p<0.05. It implies that that what
postgraduate students perceived as plagiarism differ across the types of
institution.
Hypothesis 4
There is no significant relationship between awareness and
perception of plagiarism.
Awareness Perception
Awareness Pearson Correlation 1 .294(**)
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 330 325
Perception Pearson Correlation .294(**) 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 325 332
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
This hypothesis sought to determine the significant relationship
between awareness and perception of plagiarism among post-graduate
students in Nigerian Universities. The findings revealed a significant
positive relationship at r=0.294 and p<0.05. It implies that as the
awareness increases, perception will also improve.
Discussion of Findings
Research is at the very core of postgraduate studies. This requires
following systematic processes in expanding the frontiers of knowledge
through original and novel discoveries, unique contributions to
scholarship, patentable innovations. The academia places highest premium
on observance of ethical standards in the pursuit of scientific
inquiries devoid of intellectual dishonesty. Consequent upon observed
increase in the wave of plagiarism in the country, the study sought to
investigate the awareness and perception of this phenomenon among
post-graduate students in selected Universities in Ogun State. The
resultant findings are discussed hereunder:
The average level of awareness of plagiarism reported by
respondents in this study presupposes obvious deficiency in ethical
value expectations in research activities. The post-graduate students
ought to have had requisite exposure and preparations in this regard
during their undergraduate lectures on research projects. This
deficiency is corroborated by Orim, Borg and Awala-Ale (2013). This
trend must be checked to guarantee the credibility and capability of
Nigerian graduates to undertake postgraduate studies without recourse to
auditing basic courses like academic writing as a prerequisite for
progression to research activities.
It is noteworthy that the study showed that awareness of plagiarism
is higher among postgraduate students in private Universities than their
public counterparts. This could be attributable to stricter oversight by
Management of private Universities leading to comparative advantage in
efficiency. Although the awareness difference in these institutions is
not significant.
Training on proper citation and referencing is regarded as having
the propensity to eliminate or reduce plagiarism. Since attribution as
exemplified by citation and referencing is at the root of respect for
intellectual property, mastery must not be assumed but painstakingly
taught and practiced through insistence on proper compliance to best
practices in report writings, seminar papers, dissertation and thesis.
The study showed significant positive relationship between
awareness and perception of plagiarism among post-graduate students in
the respondent institutions. This finding resonates with Stanton (2015)
Situation Awareness theory and Huemer's theory of perception. This
goes to underscore the fact that the Universities' roles in
sensitization, advocacy and providing appropriate regulatory frameworks
as well as actual scholarly practices are non-negotiable ingredients in
shapening students' attitudinal dispositions and perspectives about
plagiarism.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the findings of this study have indicated that an
average level of plagiarism awareness existed among post-graduate
students in Nigeria Universities. The findings equally showed low level
of training on citation and referencing and wrong perception about what
plagiarism is all about. These findings indicated a serious challenge
that calls for immediate attention. Plagiarism being a serious academic
crime may work against achieving the goals of research in the
university. Viewed from the perspective that universities exist to solve
the problem of mankind through research, plagiarism can be
counterproductive in the continuous realization of these lofty ideals.
Recommendations
The following recommendations were made based on the findings
1. Awareness programme on plagiarism should be intensified by all
Nigerian Universities so as to minimize the rate of involvement by
students.
2. The National Universities Commission (NUC) should enforce the
use of turnitin plagiarism detection software by all Universities in
Nigeria so as to reduce the rate of plagiarism by students and faculty.
Any university that fails to comply should be sanctioned by the National
Universities Commission.
3. The Federal and state government of Nigeria should introduce
scholarship for postgraduate students so as to reduce their financial
burden and encourage scholarship in research.
4. Information ethics should be introduced as a compulsory course
for all postgraduate students irrespective of their departments so that
they can be taught on policies that govern the use and reuse of
information. A lecturer in the department of Library and Information
Science or Information Resources Management Department should teach the
compulsory general course. In universities where there is no Library and
Information Science Department, a seasoned professional librarian should
teach the course.
References
Chukwuemeka, U., Gbenga, F., Sunday, N & Ndidiamaka, E. (2013).
Academic dishonesty among Nigeria pharmacy students: A comparison with
United Kingdom. African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. Available
at http://www.academiciournals.org/AJPP._accessed on February 3, 2015.
Flint A, Clegg S,& Mcdonald R. (2006). Exploring staff
perceptions of student plagiarism. Journal of Further and Higher
Education Vol. 30, No. 2, May 2006, pp. 145-156. Available at
www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03098770600617562. accessed January
27, 2015.
Gow, S. (2013). A Cultural Bridge for Academic Concept of
Plagiarism: A Comparism of Chinese and British Cultural Concepts of
Plagiarism by Chinese Master's Graduate of UK Institutions Employed
by Sino-Foreign Joint Ventures in Shanghai, China. In Conference
Proceeding, Plagiarism Across Europe And Beyond, Held Between June 1213
at Brno, Czech Republic. Avaialble at
https://plagiarism.pefka.mendelu.cz/files/proceedings.pdf. accessed
January 26, 2015.
Hayes, N. & Introna, L.D. (2005). Cultural Values, Plagiarism,
and Fairness: When Plagiarism Gets in the Way of Learning. Ethics and
Behavior, 15(3), 213-231. Available ay
citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.153.9088. Accessed
January 27, 2015.
Human Perception and Information Processing (2015). Available at
www.ifs.tuwien.ac.at/...infovis/.../Chapter3 HumanPerceptionAndInform.
Accessed Auguat 19, 2015.
International School of Management (2015). White Paper: Academic
Integrity & Cultural Sensitivity Hits and Pathway to the Future.
Available at www.ism.edu.ng/brochure/academic-integrity.pdf. Accessed
January 26, 2015. January 26, 2015
Maina, A., Maina, M. & Jauros, S (2014). Plagiarism: a
Perspective from a case of a Northern Nigeria University. International
Journal of Information Research and Review Vol. 1 (12)(, pp. 225-230.
Available at www.iiirr.com/sites/default/files/issues/0167.pdf. access
February 9, 20-15.
Merikle, P. M. (1984). Toward a definition of awareness. Bulletin
of the Psychonomic Society. Vol 22 (5). Pp. 449-450. Available at
link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03333874.pdf. accessed August
19, 2015.
Onuoha, U., & Ikonne, C. (2013). Dealing with the Plague of
Plagiarism in Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org.
Vol 4 (11) available at www.iiste.org > Home > Vol 4, No 11 (2013)
> Onuoha. Accessed on February 10, 2015.
Orim S, Borg E. & Awala-Ale, I. (2013). Students'
Experience on Institutionsl Interventions on Plagiarism: Nigerian Case.
In Conference Proceeding, Plagiarism Across Europe And Beyond, Held
Between June 12-13 at Brno, Czech Republic. Avaialble at
https://plagiarism.pefka.mendelu.cz/files/proceedings.pdf. accessed
January 26, 2015.
Powell L (2012) Understanding plagiarism: developing a model of
plagiarising behaviour, iParadigms 5th International Plagiarism
Conference, The Sage Gateshead, UK, 16-18 July 2012. Available at
citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.259.7745. accessed
December 17, 2014..
Powell, L (2012). Understanding Plagiarism: Developing a Model of
Plagiarism Behaviour. iParadigms 5th International Plagiarism
Conference, The Sage Gateshead, UK, 16-18 July 2012. Available at
citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.259.7745, accessed
January 29, 2015
Pyer, H. S. (2000) Plagiarism. Available online at:
http://online.northumbria.ac.uk/faculties/art/information_studies/Imri/Jiscpas/docs/external/student_plagiarism_advice. pdf accessed
Reinhardt, W., Mletzko, C., Sloep, P. B. & Drachsler, H.
(2015). Understanding the meaning of awareness in research. Available at
ceur-ws.org/Vol-931/paper1.pdf. accessed August 18, 2015
Rubin, E. (2015). Huemer's Theory of Perception: Analysis and
Objections. Available at
http://www.bu.edu/thenerve/archives/spring-2010/reviews-spring-2010/huemer/. Accessed September 15, 2015.
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 273 (6). Available at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov >
NCBI > Literature > PubMed Central (PMC). Accessed on February 3,
2015.
Stanton, N. A., Chamber, P. R. G & Piggott, J. (2001).
Situational Awareness and Safety. Available t
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/49400532_Situational_awareness_and_safety._accessed September 15, 2015.
.Zobel. J., & Hamilton, M. (2002). Managing Student Plagiarism
in Large Academic Department. Australian Universitys' Review vol 45
(2). Available at goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au/~mh/Papers/zobelhamilton.pdf.
accessed on February2, 2015.
By
Idiegbeyan-ose, Jerome, Nkiko Christopher (Ph.D), and Ifeakachuku,
Osinulu
Centre for Learning Resources, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun
State, Nigeria.
Caption: Conceptual Model of Awareness, Perception and Plagiarism
Caption: Figure 1: Awareness Level of Plagiarism
Table 2: Analysis of Variables
Variation Frequency Percent
Awareness
High Level of Awareness 131 38.8
Average Level of Awareness 157 46.4
Low Level of Awareness 50 14.8
Causes of plagiarism
Pressure to meet deadlines 116 35
Inadequate writing skills 106 32
Lack of knowledge on what constitute 108 33
plagiarism
Training on proper citation and referencing
High level of exposure to training 50 15
on proper citation and referencing
Average level of exposure to training 86 26
on proper citation and referencing
Low level of exposure to training 194 59
on proper citation and referencing
Factors that can reduce level
of involvement in plagiarism
Awareness 17 5
Training and education 50 15
Definite university policy on plagiarism 139 42
Introduction of plagiarism detection software 124 38
Table 3: Level of Awareness of plagiarism among postgraduate
students in Nigerian universities
Variation Frequency Percent
High Level of Awareness 140 41.4
Average Level of Awareness 156 46.2
Low Level of Awareness 42 12.4
Table 4: Gender difference in awareness of plagiarism
among postgraduate students in Nigerian universities
Gender High Average Low
Male 3.2% 36.2% 12.4%
Female 38.2 10
Table 5: Educational level difference in awareness of plagiarism
among postgraduate students in Nigerian universities
Degree High Average Low
PGD - - 8
Masters 10 42.4 4.4
M.Phil/PhD 8.1 4.6 -
PhD 22.3 0.2 -
Table 6 Age difference in awareness of plagiarism among
postgraduate students in Nigerian universities
High (%) Average (%) Low (%)
Less than 20 years .0 .3 .0
20-25years 2.7 14.5 .0
26-30years 14.8 11.8 3.0
31-35years 5.9 7.4 1.8
36-40 3.0 5.9 6.8
41years and Above 8.9 6.5 .9
Table 7 Cross tabulation of training and awareness
of plagiarism among postgraduate students
in Nigerian universities
Awareness of plagiarism
High Average Low
High 50 (15%) - -
Average 71 (22%) 15 (5%) -
Training on Low - 142 (54.5%) 42 (0.12%)
proper citation
and referencing
Table 8: Reasons for students' Involvement in Plagiarism
Frequency Percent
Pressure to meet deadlines 116 35
Inadequate writing skills 106 32
Lack of knowledge on what 108 33
constitute plagiarism
Table 9: Level of awareness of plagiarism among
postgraduate students in Nigerian universities
Variation Frequency Df [X.sup.2]-Ob P
High Level of Awareness 140 2 70.57 <0.05
Average Level of Awareness 156
Low Level of Awareness 40
Table 10: ANOVA table showing Summary of awareness of plagiarism
of post-graduate students in federal, state and private
Universities in Nigeria
Variations Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 18.359 2 9.18 1.064 .346
Within Groups 2822.129 327 8.63
Total 2840.488 329
Table 11: ANOVA table showing perception of plagiarism
of post-graduate students in federal, state and private
Universities in Nigeria
Variations Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 596.419 2 298.210 25.000 .000
Within Groups 3924.460 329 11.928
Total 4520.880 331
