Factors influencing plagiarism in higher education: A comparison of German and Slovene students

Abstract

Over the past decades, plagiarism has been classified as a multi-layer phenomenon of dishonesty that occurs in higher education. A number of research papers have identified a host of factors such as gender, socialisation, efficiency gain, motivation for study, methodological uncertainties or easy access to electronic information via the Internet and new technologies, as reasons driving plagiarism. The paper at hand examines whether such factors are still effective and if there are any differences between German and Slovene students’ factors influencing plagiarism. A quantitative paper-and-pencil survey was carried out in Germany and Slovenia in 2017/2018 academic year, with a sample of 485 students from higher education institutions. The major findings of this research reveal that easy access to information-communication technologies and the Web is the main reason driving plagiarism. In that regard, there are no significant differences between German and Slovene students in terms of personal factors such as gender, motivation for study, and socialisation. In this sense, digitalisation and the Web outrank national borders.

Perception of Teachers in Higher Education towards Ethical Issues of Information Technology Use

“…To prevent this problem, teachers need extensive training in the use of detection systems. From a normative perspective, the results of the present study reinforce the opinions of other authors (Jereb et al, 2018) regarding the fact that there must be clear policies regarding plagiarism and its consequences in the academic environment.…”

Preservice Teachers’ Perception of Plagiarism: A Case from a College of Education

“…Finally, in many cultures, grades and results receive more value than the learning process (Lahur, 2004), creating situations where students are more likely to plagiarize instead of learning to secure good grades. As for the social factors that lead might to plagiarism, Jereb et al (2018) found that family and societal pressures of getting high grades are essential factors that influence plagiarism. Additionally, peer culture and peer pressure can play a role in student plagiarism (Hosny & Shameem, 2014;Ma et al, 2008).…”

Perceptions of students and researchers of food technology towards plagiarism

“…al. 17 , busy schedule, easy accessibility of electronic resources, unwareness of plagiarism instructions, poor knowledge of research writing and lack of penalty are the perceived reasons of indulging in plagiarism by the students and research scholars of NIFTEM. The results of the study conveys that there is need of creating an academic integrity department and develop anti plagiarism policies at the institute level.…”

“…al. 17 revealed that busy schedule, easy accessibility of electronic resources, unwareness of plagiarism instructions, poor knowledge of research writing and lack of penalty are the reasons of indulging in plagiarism.…”