OBJECTIVES: To assess undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students' perceptions of plagiarism and academic honesty. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students to determine their levels of awareness of university policy concerning academic honesty; attitudes to plagiarism by rating the acceptability of a range of plagiarizing and cheating practices; and choice of appropriate penalties for a first and second occurrence. The choice of behaviors in response to a scenario about the preparation of a reading-based written assignment and the strategies that students would be prepared to use in order to submit the assignment on time were also assessed. RESULTS: Findings indicated widespread deficiencies in student knowledge of, and attitudes towards, plagiarism. Students did not perceive plagiarism as a serious issue and the use of inappropriate strategies for sourcing and acknowledging material was common. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights the importance of achieving a balance among the 3 dimensions of plagiarism management: prevention, detection and penalty.
OBJECTIVES: To assess undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students' perceptions of plagiarism and academic honesty. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students to determine their levels of awareness of university policy concerning academic honesty; attitudes to plagiarism by rating the acceptability of a range of plagiarizing and cheating practices; and choice of appropriate penalties for a first and second occurrence. The choice of behaviors in response to a scenario about the preparation of a reading-based written assignment and the strategies that students would be prepared to use in order to submit the assignment on time were also assessed. RESULTS: Findings indicated widespread deficiencies in student knowledge of, and attitudes towards, plagiarism. Students did not perceive plagiarism as a serious issue and the use of inappropriate strategies for sourcing and acknowledging material was common. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights the importance of achieving a balance among the 3 dimensions of plagiarism management: prevention, detection and penalty.
Authors: Michelle Degeeter; Kira Harris; Heather Kehr; Carolyn Ford; Daniel C Lane; Donald S Nuzum; Cynthia Compton; Whitney Gibson Journal: Am J Pharm Educ Date: 2014-03-12 Impact factor: 2.047