CAUSES OF AND MEASURES TO REDUCE PLAGIARISM IN RESEARCH WORK AT POST GRADUATE LEVEL

Abstract

The study explored causes of plagiarism in research work and the remedial measures in the context of the Punjab, Pakistan. The participants of this study were students (research scholars) and research supervisors of public and private universities of Punjab. The data were collected from 146 research supervisors through a semi-structured interview schedule. Moreover, focus group discussions were arranged with 60 groups of MPhil/PhD students. Findings of the study revealed that commonly the students commit plagiarism due to several reasons that include: lethargic behaviour of students and the supervisors; being habitual of using shortcuts; poor research and academic writing skills; poor supervisory skills of research supervisors; investing insufficient time to research work due to job obligations; absence of any mechanism for developing academic writing and research skills. The study suggested that the university teachers and research supervisors should aware of the students during course work at the postgraduate level about plagiarism and its consequences. The checking of similarity of students’ assignments through Turnitin should be made obligatory. Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and the universities should organise training, workshops, seminars, and orientation sessions for research students and supervisors highlighting plagiarism penalties, demerits and consequences of producing plagiarised research work.