"Everything is plagiarism": An exploration of novice writers' perceptions of plagiarism in the university context
Date
2018
Authors
Crook, Stephanie Katherine Diane
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the following research question: how do novice writers understand and experience the phenomenon of plagiarism? Novice writers were defined as those who are new to writing within the university context. The study employed a parallel mixed-methods design, enabling an analysis of quantitative questionnaires as well as of semi-structured interviews. A total of 350 novice writers participated in the questionnaire, and three novice writers were interviewed. The results indicated that there is a dissonance between: (1) novice writers’ certainty in recognizing plagiarism in the abstract; and, (2) the persistent hesitation present in their explorations of the concept. In short, the findings indicate that novice writers believe that they can define plagiarism in spite of the fact that they are unsure of how to proceduralize it. Implications of this study for policy and pedagogy are explored, as well as are suggestions for future research.
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Plagiarism, Academic integrity, Writing instruction, Novice writers, First-year pedagogy, Discipline policy