AWARENESS, PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS TOWARDS PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS IN ONDO STATE

Abstract

The rising spread of Information Communication Technology (ICT) has permeated all facets of human activities globally thus access to information has become much easier irrespective of its attendant negative results including plagiarism which is now rampant among most academic researchers across countries all over the world. However, it is observed that this academic crime has become more challenging to academic communities globally judging from the number of institutional faculty members that have been found guilty of the crime to humanity. Razera (2011) explained that plagiarism could be found in the root word called “plagiare” which simply means to “kidnap or abduct”(p.4). It is described as an academic crime which signifies a dishonest act in which other peoples intellectual work is copied and falsely presented as original work. However, plagiarism is not a local issue but a global trend which has been compromised by the advent of ICT and has dramatically changed our educational system now characterized by large volume of information accessed anytime and everywhere. The negative effect, however, has diminished significantly the integrity of the academic community in terms of skills and capabilities for research, analytical and writing as students can easily surf materials on the web by simply ctrl + c and ctrl + v without stress.