Bewertung des Arabian Journal of Business and Management

The Antecedents of Plagiarism in Higher Education: Support Tools for Teaching Staff

Abstract

Gustavo Lannelongue

Numerous studies have described the causes of plagiarism within higher education, either by focusing on contextual factors or on individual reasons. Few of these, however, help teaching staff when seeking to reduce or control this plagiarism. This paper analyses a series of factors of voluntary and involuntary plagiarism that may be taken into account in teaching strategies. Furthermore, it provides empirical evidence using data from antiplagiarism software and from a survey involving 92 university students. The study’s main conclusions are that the more straightforward a task is and the less information students have available to them, the less the likelihood of deliberate plagiarism. By contrast, it is shown that the greater students’ instruction regarding the citation system, the lower their propensity to involuntary plagiarism.