Abstract:

Plagiarism issues in transnational higher education are often quite complex and some of these may not be readily understood by students. A study was conducted of four Australian universities operating in Singapore in order to investigate their plagiarism policies and the views of their students on plagiarism. The 574 students surveyed were from Singapore and neighbouring countries, and differed in a number of ways, including study area, year of study, and educational background. The survey asked students about their views on a variety of plagiarism cases, with further questions probing their understandings and reactions in more detail. Responses were quantified and analysed statistically using SPSS. Survey results show that whilst the majority of the students were aware of clear-cut examples of plagiarism (e.g., copying of someone’s work with no in-text citation or references) they disagreed on more complex examples (such as collusion within group work or re-use of their own work). The introduction of an academic integrity module as an online self-learning exercise in some universities appears to have had minimal impact on students’ understanding of plagiarism. Some students openly stated that they would plagiarise if they could evade detection. It seems that although higher education institutions often provide clear plagiarism policies, comprising rigorous sets of rules and procedures, there is a need to carefully monitor the effectiveness of these policies as they are applied in transnational programmes.

Keywords:

Plagiarism, transnational higher education, South East Asia.