Academic writing : Citation is troublesome and plagiarism is no big deal

Ting, Su Hie (2013) Academic writing : Citation is troublesome and plagiarism is no big deal. In: Proceedings of International Conference on Social Science Research, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.

[img]
Preview
PDF
Academic+writing+citation+%28abstract%29.pdf

Download (656kB) | Preview

Abstract

The study examined the seriousness of plagiarism in university students’ written assignments. The specific objectives of the study were to: (1) identify the plagiarism behaviours used by students to complete their written assignments; (2) determine students’ attitudes towards penalties of plagiarism; and (3) determine reasons for the occurrence of plagiarism. Questionnaires were distributed to students enrolled in an academic reading and writing course at a non-research intensive Malaysian university. Analysis of 169 questionnaires showed all the students had been involved in some plagiarism behaviours to complete their assignments, primarily use of materials without properly acknowledging the source of the information. The students did not treat plagiarism as a serious act of academic dishonesty as shown by their preference for light penalties for students caught for plagiarism. It seems that the students’ lack of awareness on the severity of plagiarism may be due to the lack of emphasis on inclusion of citations in assignments by lecturers. The findings suggest that it is not enough to teach students the conventions of citation and referencing but they need to be educated on the practices of academia, particularly pertaining to research, publications and academic honesty in use of materials.

Item Type: Proceeding (Paper)
Additional Information: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, UNIMAS
Uncontrolled Keywords: academic writing, plagiarism, academic integrity, academic dishonesty, UNIMAS, university, universiti, Borneo, Malaysia, Sarawak, Kuching, Samarahan, IPTA, education, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Subjects: A General Works > AC Collections. Series. Collected works
L Education > LB Theory and practice of education
Divisions: Academic Faculties, Institutes and Centres > Centre for Language Studies
Faculties, Institutes, Centres > Centre for Language Studies
Academic Faculties, Institutes and Centres > Centre for Language Studies
Depositing User: Karen Kornalius
Date Deposited: 27 Feb 2014 06:42
Last Modified: 12 May 2022 08:31
URI: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/717

Actions (For repository members only: login required)

View Item View Item