You are here:

"Not Necessarily a Bad Thing ...": A Study of Online Plagiarism amongst Undergraduate Students
ARTICLE

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education Volume 33, Number 5, ISSN 0260-2938

Abstract

Whilst the copying, falsification and plagiarism of essays and assignments has long been a prevalent form of academic misconduct amongst undergraduate students, the increasing use of the internet in higher education has raised concern over enhanced levels of online plagiarism and new types of "cyber-cheating". Based on a self-report study of 1222 undergraduate students, this paper explores the nature and patterning of online plagiarism amongst students in UK higher educational institutions. The data find around three-fifths of students self-reporting at least a moderate level of internet-based plagiarism during the past 12 months, with significant differences in terms of gender, educational background and--most notably--subject discipline. Students' online plagiarism was also found to correlate strongly with their self-reported levels of offline plagiarism. The data therefore highlight the need to contextualize online plagiarism in relation to the wider "life-world" of the contemporary university student and, in particular, the role of the internet in their everyday non-academic lives. The paper concludes by discussing how university authorities may go about addressing internet-based plagiarism in the contemporary university setting. (Contains 5 tables.)

Citation

Selwyn, N. (2008). "Not Necessarily a Bad Thing ...": A Study of Online Plagiarism amongst Undergraduate Students. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 33(5), 465-479. Retrieved August 10, 2024 from .

This record was imported from ERIC on April 18, 2013. [Original Record]

ERIC is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education.

Copyright for this record is held by the content creator. For more details see ERIC's copyright policy.

Keywords