Exploring Nigerian postgraduate students' experience of plagiarism: A phenomenographic case study

Abstract

In light of the high number of Nigerian students who gain admission to overseas universities for postgraduate studies, there is an increasing need to understand their background and previous study experiences. There are few studies of the experiences or views of Nigerian postgraduate students about the concept of plagiarism. The occurrence of plagiarism in the writings of some Nigerian students who travel overseas for graduate studies, like that of other students studying in a new academic context, has become a concern in recent times. This paper aims to contribute to the current research on student plagiarism around the world by exploring the concept of plagiarism of Nigerian postgraduate students studying in a United Kingdom university. It presents results from a phenomenographic study which utilised semi-structured interviews to acquire data. In analysing the data, the views expressed by participants, the manner in which these were expressed and the context in which the views were expressed were paramount. Preconceived ideas were put aside while analysing the data, letting the data speak for itself rather than viewing the data from existing theoretical structures or presuppositions. The emerging themes were noted and comparative views of experiences were arrived at from pooling and comparing quotations across several participants. An outcome space was identified and the emerging overarching theme relating to their experiences was found to be the fear of not understanding the underlying concept of plagiarism. The students expressed deep concern about the simultaneous awareness of the need to acquire the requisite academic writing skills and utilising them, while being faced with coursework and looming submission deadlines. The results and their implications are discussed with regards to the students’ adaptation and a way forward is proffered.

Understanding plagiarism in Indonesia from the lens of plagiarism policy: lessons for universities

“…The RPMPHE 2010 provides an explanation of plagiarism with lexical usage involving actions: "quoting other work" and "without accrediting", product: "partially or completely" and manner: "correctly and appropriately". The definition of plagiarism reflected in the literature as "copy and pasting", "absence of acknowledgement" and "presenting as their own" (Orim et al, 2013). However, the plagiarism definition offered by the RPMPHE 2010 appears to be lacking in detail and consistency.…”

“…This lack of awareness of the importance of addressing plagiarism could have implications on perceiving plagiarism as a serious offence as plagiarism policy and practices in term of prevention may not be effectively be aligned. For example, academics may not communicate academic integrity and avoid plagiarism in their everyday teaching (Orim et al, 2013;Mahmud and Bretag 2013).…”

Why do postgraduate students commit plagiarism? An empirical study

“…The danger with students overrating their academic writing is that they may not appreciate deficiencies in their academic writing abilities, and consequently, they may continue to commit plagiarism unintentionally. Poor understanding of plagiarism on the part of students put them at a higher risk of plagiarising (Leask 2006;Mahmood et al 2011;Orim et al 2013;Riasati and Rahimi 2013;Zafarghandi et al 2012).…”

Perspectives of Academic Integrity from Nigeria

“…The data from a study of Nigerian students (Orim et al 2013) suggested that students were more likely to get involved with academic dishonesty particularly when it is unrelated to examination cheating. This disposition was mostly due to their lack of awareness that a number of these acts constitute academic dishonesty (such as collusion, plagiarism, impersonation, etc.).…”

“…Regarding dishonesty in written papers such as term papers (coursework), essays, and dissertations, little work has been done by researchers, possibly because this form of assessment is not greatly explored in most aspects of the Nigerian educational system due to large class sizes or high ratios of students to lecturer (100:1) as observed by Udotong (Obinna 2012). Some researchers (Adeniyi and Taiwo 2011;Aluede et al 2006) have barely mentioned them as existing forms of academic dishonesty in the Nigerian education system, while others have focused on plagiarism (Babalola 2012;Orim et al 2013). In their research, these authors have explored themes such as copying from sources (including the Internet) without citations, fabricating or falsifying a bibliography, falsifying quotations, listing real sources which were not read in a bibliography, using a submission for more than one subject without approval, copying from sources and presenting it as one's own, and submitting someone else's work as one's own.…”