To Copy or not to Copy: Knowledge and Reasons for Plagiarism

Abstract

To copy or not to copy is not an option for students to choose from, as copying one’s work or ideas is plagiarism, which is an unethical act and will be subject to severe punishment. Although awareness of plagiarism is commonly provided in many ways, students still commit it. Hence, the study was conducted with two objectives which are to determine the source of students’ knowledge on plagiarism, and to investigate the reasons for students committing plagiarism despite having knowledge on this matter. This quantitative research employed an online survey using a Google Form, which was distributed to the students via WhatsApp. The sample was obtained through purposive sampling. It consisted of 143 undergraduate degree students from a public university in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The data gathered was analysed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) for the descriptive analysis. The findings revealed that majority of the students knew about plagiarism and the punishment for committing it. Most of them also disagreed that they plagiarised because of the reasons stated in the questionnaire. The findings suggest that they may not commit plagiarism, or they may commit plagiarism for other reasons that were not stated in the questionnaire. Therefore, a qualitative study should be conducted to provide more insights into why students commit plagiarism.