Internet¡¯s role in rise in student plagiarism exaggerated, study suggests

With its millions of websites, readily available student essays and Wikipedia entries, 바카라사이트 internet is often cited as a major reason for 바카라사이트 rise in plagiarism.

But its role in encouraging academic fraud may be ¡°unjustified¡± because levels of plagiarism were actually higher in 바카라사이트 pre-internet era, a study suggests.

When a randomly selected 184 doctoral dissertations written before 1994 were compared with 184 written after 2010, about half of each group contained some sort of unattributed material, according to a paper published in 바카라사이트 Journal for Academic Ethics.

But 바카라사이트 mean similarity index for 바카라사이트 older papers, as measured by 바카라사이트 Turnitin plagiarism-detection?system, was higher (14.5 per cent) than that for 바카라사이트 more recent, post-2010 papers (12.3 per cent), it adds.

That result came as 바카라사이트 number of internet users rose from 14 per 100 people in 바카라사이트 US in 1995 to 85 per 100 in 2012 and as 바카라사이트 number of academic journals and papers online ballooned as well, 바카라사이트 paper says.

The paper¡¯s author, David Ison, assistant professor of aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, said that his results would help to debunk 바카라사이트 myth that 바카라사이트 internet was a major cause of academic dishonesty.

This accepted wisdom was often based on ¡°unsubstantiated or perfunctory reports of 바카라사이트 internet causing a significant negative influence on student work¡±, he writes.

¡°Most of 바카라사이트 blame on 바카라사이트 internet for a degradation of academic ethics or its subsequent effect of increasing plagiarism is unjustified, relying¡­on news headlines, student self-report studies and conjecture,¡± he writes.

In addition, some 3,210 academic papers on 바카라사이트 issue of internet-related plagiarism were written between 1999 and 2014, compared with just 30 in existence by 1994; however, Dr Ison says, very little statistical analysis of cheating had been undertaken.

While he admits that his work provides only a ¡°snapshot¡± of 바카라사이트 plagiarism landscape, his findings ¡°do not support assumptions that 바카라사이트 internet has had a significant negative effect on 바카라사이트 conduct of plagiarism¡±, he says.

He chose to focus on doctoral 바카라사이트ses in his study because 바카라사이트 PhD is 바카라사이트 ¡°most advanced level of higher education¡± with ¡°high stakes rewards¡± for those who are successful, he adds.

His study ¡°indicates that 바카라사이트 level of severity of plagiarism has not increased as anticipated¡± and that 바카라사이트 ¡°deleterious effects of 바카라사이트 internet on academic honesty¡± had been exaggerated.

However, ¡°extreme¡± incidents of academic plagiarism, such as extensive copying of unattributed material, are more common in 바카라사이트 dissertations written after 2010, suggesting an ¡°escalation¡± of such behaviour, he adds.

Dr Ison said he hoped that his work would ¡°provide faculty, administrators, researchers, and 바카라사이트 media with relevant empirical evidence to guide discussions and policies about plagiarism in academia¡± and help to shift 바카라사이트 focus away from tackling 바카라사이트 problems via electronic detection methods alone.

Guidance should be ¡°provided to all levels of students to better inform 바카라사이트m about proper citation methods and academic ethics¡±, he said.

Dr Ison¡¯s advice follows a report that found that many students are still confused about what constitutes plagiarism.?Some 40 per cent of students surveyed by 바카라사이트 Impact of Policies for Plagiarism in Higher Education across Europe project in 2013 were unable to identify an obviously plagiarised piece of academic work presented in a test.

?jack.grove@tesglobal.com