Students’ and Instructors’ Perceptions of Turnitin: A Plagiarism Deterrent?

Abstract

Academicians consider plagiarism a major threat to academia. To combat that threat, a lot of universities, including the researcher's university, have been using Turnitin. It is believed that this software is likely to deter students' plagiarism. The aim of this study is, therefore, to investigate 1) the impact of Turnitin on students' plagiarism from the perspectives of both students and instructors in a private Lebanese English-speaking university and 2) the reasons that push students to plagiarize. A concurrent mixed-methods design is employed, and different data collection methods are used. The data are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Findings reveal that although a lot of the participants perceive Turnitin as a good deterrent to plagiarism, it did not completely inhibit it. The findings also reveal that not all instructors were committed enough to use Turnitin in their courses. Some of the reasons for plagiarism that the participants named are lack of citation skills, laziness, and indifference among students to abide by ethical writing norms. Besides reinforcing the use of Turnitin among all instructors, the researcher recommends that students' writing and citation skills be improved and that students be helped to become more ethical writers.

Faculty Members’ Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Anti-Plagiarism Detection Tools: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior

“…The behavioral beliefs that were significantly associated with intentions to use APTs included the belief that these tools are valuable for preventing plagiarism, improving writing skills, and promoting academic integrity and personal responsibility. Similar studies have reported that faculty members' support the use of APTs to detect plagiarism and have positive attitudes toward these tools (Adekannbi & Megwaonye, 2020;Ayon, 2017). Further, they considered these tools to be valuable educational tools that can help students to engage in the writing process, avoid plagiarism, and improve their writing skills.…”

“…Further, they considered these tools to be valuable educational tools that can help students to engage in the writing process, avoid plagiarism, and improve their writing skills. However, many studies have concluded that APTs alone are not be effective in for preventing and detecting plagiarism unless they are coupled with faculty members and students' positive attitudes and support towards the use of these tools (Ayon, 2017).…”

“…The survey questions were developed in accordance with the theory of planned behavior and included items to assess beliefs, attitudes, perceived social norms, perceived behavior control, and intentions regarding APT use. The survey items were developed based on a literature review of studies that have examined plagiarism and APT use, especially studies with a theoretical framework (Ayon, 2017; Camara et al, 2017;Chudzicka-Czupała et al, 2016;Curtis et al, 2018;Kim & Wise, 2009;Zigmond & Fischer, 2002). The items included in the survey aimed to measure demographic variables, previous use of APTs, the most commonly used APTs, and reasons for APT use.…”

“…The effectiveness of APTs in detecting plagiarism has been investigated by several studies. For example, an analysis of papers examined via Turnitin® over a period of five years led to the conclusion that in universities where Turnitin® was used, the level of plagiarism dropped significantly (Ayon, 2017). An experimental study that compared two groups of students one with access to Turnitin® and one without, showed that the rate of plagiarism was significantly lower in the Turnitin® group (Baker, 2012).…”

Exploring University Students’ Perceptions of Plagiarism: A Focus Group Study

“…However, the literature on technological detection tools for plagiarism suggests that these be viewed with some caution. In a study conducted by Ayon (2017) among students and instructors in Lebanon, the participants revealed that Turnitin deters plagiarism but does not inhibit it. Similarly, Mphahlele and McKenna (2019) caution universities not to see Turnitin as a tool to detect and punish plagiarism.…”