Abstract:

Academic dishonesty, in various forms, is a significant problem at many of today’s higher education institutions (May & Loyd, 1993). Higher education institutions have drafted penalties for academic dishonesty however, this has not necessarily prevented plagiarism from occurring. Research findings indicate that between 3% and 98% of university students plagiarize in writing assignments (Bjorklund & Wenestam, 1999; Dawkins, 2004; Whitley, 1998). Although some students understand that it is plagiarism to copy information word-for-word from another source without providing the reference, plagiarism sometimes results from a genuine misunderstanding about the correct citation of sources or because many students are unclear or misinformed about plagiarism. In many cases, however, it is not so innocent. Educators today are concerned about access to online materials which can easily be edited or pasted into documents and which could increase the probability of plagiarised work (Ashworth et al., 1997).

Further to this, the lack of uniformity among faculty members in dealing with this issue has compounded the problem. Given that plagiarism can go undetected in some cases, it can lead to the perception of unfairness among students, as well as lead other students who might not otherwise do so, to plagiarise (Ashworth, Bannister, & Thorne, 1997; Mixon, 1996).

Therefore, it is important for instructors to understand students’ perceptions about what constitutes plagiarism before attempting to put in place effective means of addressing the problem. It is also important to note that material crafted on preventing plagiarism although is full of activities, quizzes, and homework to reinforce concepts of academic honesty, they are rarely tested for effectiveness (Culwin, 2006; Walden & Peacock, 2006; Willmott & Harrison, 2003).

This paper discusses the perception of students about plagiarism, why students plagiarise, the difference between academic staff’s understanding of plagiarism as compared to that of students, the mechanisms set in place by a British university established in Egypt in order to establish common understanding, the challenges faced, the remedies applied including the use of technology, the degree of the success of the academic staff in deterring academic dishonesty among students, lessons learned and the student support made available particularly for students in the preparatory year and the final year of graduation.

Keywords:

Academic Honesty, Plagiarism, Student Support, Academic Dishonesty, Preparatory Year.