Abstract:

Plagiarism remains a persistent challenge in higher education, particularly among first-year students transitioning into academic writing and research conventions. Many students begin university with limited understanding of intellectual integrity policies, referencing methods, and the technical components required to correctly acknowledge sources. As a result, plagiarism offences often occur due to misunderstanding rather than deliberate misconduct. While plagiarism detection software is commonly used, fewer studies explore the impact of proactive classroom interventions that explicitly teach referencing practices early in the academic journey.

This paper presents an autoethnographic reflection on a structured referencing refresher session conducted with first-year undergraduate design students at a private higher education institution in South Africa. The intervention aimed to clarify the institution’s intellectual integrity expectations, introduce the required referencing style, and demonstrate common technical errors that lead to plagiarism flags. The hypothesis underpinning the intervention was that explicit instruction, supported by practical application, would improve referencing accuracy and significantly reduce plagiarism offences.

Following the workshop, students completed a short introductory research activity linked to their Design Studies module. The task required students to produce a 350-word research paragraph incorporating key referencing components, including image in-text referencing, text-based in-text citations, a list of figures, and a correctly formatted reference list. This activity formed the students’ first Integrated Curriculum Engagement (ICE) task, ensuring participation and engagement with the referencing process. Written feedback was provided with a specific focus on the accuracy and application of referencing conventions before students submitted their first formal formative assessment.

The study adopts an autoethnographic methodological approach, drawing on reflective teaching practice, classroom observations, student artefacts, and assessment feedback patterns over several cohorts. Rather than collecting formal student data, the analysis focuses on the educator’s reflective insights into teaching interventions and observable shifts in student performance.

Findings indicate a substantial reduction in plagiarism cases over time, with the number of flagged students decreasing from approximately fifteen per cohort to one or none following the introduction of the session and follow-up activity. This improvement suggests that early, explicit instruction combined with scaffolded practice can significantly reduce unintentional plagiarism among first-year students. Students demonstrated improved technical accuracy in citation practices and greater awareness of academic integrity expectations.

The study concludes that early, explicit referencing instruction combined with low stakes applied practice can significantly improve academic literacy and reduce unintentional plagiarism. It is recommended that higher education institutions embed structured referencing workshops and scaffolded practice activities within first-year curricula to support students’ transition into academic research and writing practices.

Keywords:

Academic integrity, plagiarism prevention, referencing instruction, academic literacy, first-year students, autoethnography.