Exploring the attitudes of medical faculty members and students in Pakistan towards plagiarism: a cross sectional survey

Rathore, Farooq Azam; Waqas, Ahmed; Zia, Ahmad Marjan; Mavrinac, Martina; Farooq, Fareeha

doi:10.7717/peerj.1031

Cited by 26 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…These study findings were similar to the result obtained by Rathore et al [33] in their study conducted to explore the medical staff ATP in Pakistan. The study discovered that the majority of the studied subjects had moderate or high score of plagiarism attitude and the lower scores of their ATP were correlated with training sessions about scientific writing skills and research ethics.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Improving knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the nursing faculty members and postgraduate students towards plagiarism in academic writing

Mansour

Abusaad²,

Dosuky³

et al. 2017

JNEP

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Background and aim: Plagiarism is the use of concepts, words, manuscript and data without acknowledgment of the original source. It has become a worldwide problem, and a contentious matter in university education and research. The study aimed to improve knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the nursing faculty members and postgraduate students towards plagiarism in academic writing.Methods: A quasi-experimental (pre-post) design. Setting: The study was accomplished at the Nursing Faculty in Mansoura University. Sample: Convenient sample was used included 195 participants (100 nursing faculty members and 95 postgraduate students) of all nursing specialties who attended and completed the educational & training workshop. Tools: A structured Interviewing Schedule, Attitudes toward Plagiarism Scale and Plagiarism Scenario-Based Questionnaire.Results: The average score of the participants' knowledge and their practical scenario-solving scores about plagiarism were significantly increased after the training workshop compared to their levels before it. In addition, the average scores of the positive attitude, subjective norms and total attitudes score towards plagiarism were significantly decreased, while the average score of the negative attitude significantly increased after the training workshop in comparison to before it. Moreover, there was a statistically significant positive, moderate correlation between the participants' knowledge score about plagiarism and their practical scenario-solving scores (r = 0.346, p ≤ .001). In addition, there was a significant positive mild correlation between the total knowledge score and the negative attitude of the studied sample towards plagiarism (r = 0.254, p ≤ .001).Conclusions: It was evident that there was a statistically significant improvement in knowledge and skills of the nursing faculty members and postgraduate students with a significant change in their attitudes towards plagiarism after implementation of the workshop. Recommendations: Providing continuing educational and training programs for the newly faculty members and researchers to improve their scientific writing skills, and research ethics and for highlighting plagiarism and its consequences.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Improving knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the nursing faculty members and postgraduate students towards plagiarism in academic writing

Mansour

Abusaad²,

Dosuky³

et al. 2017

JNEP

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“…7 Rathore et al reported positive attitudes of the medical students towards plagiarism in their study conducted in Lahore, Pakistan in 2015. 18 In this study, we found statistically significant differences between the attitudes and practices of medical and non-medical students towards plagiarism with a generally negative attitude among medical students towards the act of plagiarism, possibly as a result of greater experience in the field. Thus, significant emphasis was laid on the detailed discussion of plagiarism in research ethics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Knowledge and attitude towards plagiarism: a comparative study of students from medical and non-medical fields

Memon¹,

Ali²,

Zafar³

et al. 2019

Journal of Global Health Reports

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Background Background Research has become a crucial part of restorative sciences. Yet, research ethics are sometimes bypassed. One of the research ethical misconducts, plagiarism has always been prevalent. Studies published on plagiarism have seen an increase recently but mostly they are from the developed part of the world and output from developing countries like Pakistan is low. This study, therefore, aims to compare the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of students from medical and non-medical fields towards plagiarism from different institutions in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods Methods We conducted an eight-week cross-sectional study in January 2017 in Karachi, Pakistan with 412 undergraduate students of ages 18 and above, using convenience sampling to assess their knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding plagiarism. The questionnaire was divided into three parts, each focusing on knowledge and its source, attitudes, and practices of an individual towards plagiarism. Chi-squared tests were applied to compare the aforementioned factors of participants belonging to the medical field with those from non-medical fields. Results Results A majority of individuals (n=288, 74.6%) were aware of the research ethics and had heard about the term plagiarism (n=353, 91.5%). More than half of the individuals (n=235, 60.9%) had experience with researches. An overwhelming majority of individuals (n=365, 94.6%) considered it important to discuss issues like plagiarism in research ethics. Almost half of them (n=186, 48.2%) plagiarized unintentionally due to lack of knowledge and learned about it later. Majority of the individuals (n=332, 86%) thought plagiarism could be avoided and many (n=303, 78.5%) believed that authors who plagiarize deserve punishment. Statistically significant differences were found to exist when knowledge, attitude, and practices were compared between medical and non-medical students. Medical students were more aware of the research ethics than non-medical students (P=0.001). Significantly more medical students considered it important to discuss issues like plagiarism in research ethics than non-medical students (P=0.011) and did not believe that plagiarism is justified for short deadlines (P<0.001). More medical students had experience with research than non-medical students (P=0.003) and a majority of medical students considered plagiarism as stealing (P<0.001). Conclusions Conclusions Majority of the individuals were aware of plagiarism and showed a negative attitude towards its practice. The practice of plagiarism was associated with a lack of knowledge and awareness regarding this misconduct. Medical and non-medical students had differing opinions with medical students having a more negative attitude towards plagiarism owing to their greater knowledge and experience with researches. Academic integrity, provision of plagiarism detection tools and emphasis on research ethics are some of the areas that institutions should work on to reduce plagiarism. Recently, a number of studies have been publis...

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“…Although the study included a relatively small number of participants, it points to knowledge gaps and attitudes that could affect the quality of scientific writing. The survey used an educative approach whereby participants learned definitions and aspects of referencing as they progressed in the survey, which is different from other previous used validated tools for evaluating attitudes towards plagiarism, both in high-income and low- and middle-income countries [ 14 – 16 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the field of correct referencing is not always a clear-cut matter of wrong and right, and also, academics may have different views on issues such as appropriate referencing, what is common knowledge, and self-plagiarism. Self-plagiarism is generally viewed as a lesser offense, especially when the views on plagiarism are lenient [ 14 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Students’ and supervisors’ knowledge and attitudes regarding plagiarism and referencing

Lindahl

Grace

2018

Res Integr Peer Rev

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BackgroundReferencing is an integral part of scientific writing and professional research conduct that requires appropriate acknowledgement of others’ work and avoidance of plagiarism. University students should understand and apply this as part of their academic development, but for this, it is essential that supervisors also display proper research integrity and support.MethodsThis study used an online educative questionnaire to understand the knowledge and attitudes of students and supervisors at two institutes in Europe and Africa. The results were then used to create discussion around education of students and faculty in workshops and lectures.ResultsOverall, 138 students and 14 supervisors participated: most were Swedish (89) and Kenyan (11). Overall, 98% had heard about plagiarism, and 35% believed it was common. Only 45% had heard about self-plagiarism, and when explained what it was, 44.5% considered it morally wrong. Europeans and North Americans had more knowledge than other nationalities. Most (85%) had received some training on referencing, but there was little consensus about principles, with more than 30% considering it acceptable to cite a reference in a paper they had not read. Discussing these results and the questions in workshops was helpful; it was also clear that there was no consensus among supervisors on what constituted correct behavior.ConclusionsThis survey shows a need for greater consensus on appropriate referencing, and that there is need for more discussions and training on the topic for both students and faculty.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s41073-018-0054-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Exploring the attitudes of medical faculty members and students in Pakistan towards plagiarism: a cross sectional survey

Cited by 26 publications

References 17 publications

Improving knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the nursing faculty members and postgraduate students towards plagiarism in academic writing

Improving knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the nursing faculty members and postgraduate students towards plagiarism in academic writing

Knowledge and attitude towards plagiarism: a comparative study of students from medical and non-medical fields

Students’ and supervisors’ knowledge and attitudes regarding plagiarism and referencing

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