Plagiarism detection and prevention. Pedagogical implications for lecturers of first year university students

Abstract

Plagiarism detection and prevention is becoming an urgent issue in tertiary education, at a time when the internet provides students with access to an ever increasing variety of sources to incorporate into their assignments. As universities explore the use of electronic plagiarism detection systems, there is a need to consider the implications of a possible blowout in successful detection. The most obvious implication is to review the effectiveness of existing policies that are aimed at prevention. Taking into account the confusion with which many first year students view the concept of plagiarism, it is unlikely that more forceful reminders of the punitive powers of the policies will be sufficiently effective. It is suggested that a mainstream learning and teaching focus, not only on referencing conventions, but also on discipline-specific language development, may be needed in order to reduce the incidence of unintentional plagiarism by confused first year students.