A Brief Note on Plagiarism in Higher Education: Challenges, Detection, and Prevention
Marc Jacquinet
October 2024
Working document
uc 43018, 61041, 61049, 62031, 62021, 23002; 61068
Previously appearing in a different form in:
Marc Jacquinet (17 décembre 2023). Breve Aviso Importante Sobre Integridade Académica. Critique du management. 16 novembre 2024 à l’adresse https://critiquema.hypotheses.org/1950 (bilingual version).
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Introduction
Plagiarism represents one of the most significant challenges to academic integrity in higher education, and the problem has reached unforeseen proportions. The digital age and artificial intelligence have complicated the nature of plagiarism and improved our ability to detect it, creating a complex scenario that requires sophisticated responses from educational institutions (higher, beyond all primary and secondary education), and in particular teachers.
The changing nature of plagiarism
The traditional concept of plagiarism has evolved significantly with technological advances. As Howard and Robillard (2018) argue in a recent paper, digital technologies have created new forms of academic dishonesty, such as code plagiarism in computer science, the use of artificial intelligence for content generation and the manipulation of digital texts through spinning and paraphrasing tools.
In addition, different cultural understandings of intellectual property have a significant impact on plagiarism. As discussed by Pennycook (2016) in “Borrowing Others’ Words: Text, Ownership, Memory, and Plagiarism”, what constitutes plagiarism varies across cultures, particularly with regard to concepts of knowledge ownership and textual borrowing. This presents unique challenges in increasingly internationalized yet regionalized higher education contexts. However, a certain consensus in academic work has emerged and recognized various dimensions as well as various modalities of identification or detection.
Detection and technology
Modern plagiarism detection tools have become increasingly sophisticated. According to Weber-Wulff’s (2019) comprehensive study in “False Feathers: A Perspective on Academic Plagiarism”, although tools such as Turnitin and iThenticate have improved detection capabilities, they also have limitations and can produce false positives. The effectiveness of these tools depends to a large extent on the correct interpretation of the results by experienced educators.
The rise of artificial intelligence and language models presents new detection challenges. Research by McCabe et al. (2017), Harper, Bretag and Runble (2020), Bretag et al. (2018), Harper and Saddiqui and Bjelababa et al. (2022) highlights how AI-generated content can bypass traditional plagiarism detection methods, requiring new approaches to assessment design and verification.
Prevention strategies
The effective prevention of plagiarism requires a multi-faceted approach, including pedagogical approaches and institutional policies.
Pedagogical approaches should emphasize the writing process, rather than focusing only on the final product. Murphy and Stay (20170) in their book “The Writing Center Director’s Resource Book” advocate requiring multiple drafts, implementing peer review sessions, holding individual writing conferences and explicitly teaching proper citation practices.
In addition, designing a strategic assessment can significantly reduce the opportunities for plagiarism. Bretag (2020) in “A Research Agenda for Academic Integrity” suggests creating unique and contextualized assignments, implementing staged assessment tasks, using authentic assessment methods and regularly updating assignment topics.
Institutional policies play a crucial role in preventing plagiarism. Research by McCabe, Butterfield and Treviño (2017) in “Cheating in College: Why Students Do It and What Educators Can Do About It” emphasizes the importance of establishing clear academic integrity policies, ensuring consistent enforcement, implementing fair appeals processes and providing opportunities for remediation. Effective prevention also requires comprehensive support systems, such as writing centers, academic integrity tutorials, citation management workshops and ESL support services.
The role of the faculty
Faculty members are the main mentors in developing students’ academic integrity. This includes modeling proper citation practices, regularly discussing academic integrity, providing formative feedback and creating supportive learning environments. In addition, faculty members need ongoing training to deal effectively with plagiarism, as several authors point out (Bretag 2020; Davis 2023; Holmes et al. 2023) .
Final considerations
Higher education institutions must continually adapt to technological changes to meet the emerging challenges of plagiarism. This includes developing new detection methods, updating policies for AI-generated content, implementing blockchains for academic verification and creating adaptive assessment systems. In addition, institutions need to evolve their policies to incorporate AI usage guidelines, develop cross-border plagiarism protocols, implement universal academic integrity standards and create collaborative detection networks.
References
Bjelobaba, S.; T. Foltýnek, I. Glendinning, V. Krásnican, and D. H. Dlabolová, (Eds) (2022). Academic integrity : broadening practices, technologies, and the role of students : proceedings from the European Conference on Academic Integrity and Plagiarism 2021, Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16976-2
Bretag, T. (2020). A Research Agenda for Academic Integrity. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=2508928
Bretag, T., Harper, R., Burton, M., Ellis, C., Newton, P., van Haeringen, K., Rozenberg, P. (2018). Contract cheating and assessment design: exploring the relationship. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(5), 676-691. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1527892
Davis, A. (2023). Academic integrity in the time of contradictions. Cogent Education, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2289307
Harper, R., and Saddiqui, M. S. (2019) Contract cheating and assessment design: exploring the connection.https://ltr.edu.au/resources/SP16-5383_BretagandHarper_FinalReport_2019.pdf
Harper, R., Bretag, T., and Rundle, K. (2020). Detecting contract cheating: examining the role of assessment type. Higher Education Research & Development, 40(2), 263-278. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1724899
Holmes, W. et al. (2023). AI and Education. A View Through the Lens of Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law. Legal and Organizational Requirements. In: Wang, N., Rebolledo-Mendez, G., Dimitrova, V., Matsuda, N., Santos, O.C. (eds) Artificial Intelligence in Education. Posters and Late Breaking Results, Workshops and Tutorials, Industry and Innovation Tracks, Practitioners, Doctoral Consortium and Blue Sky. AIED 2023. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1831. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36336-8_12
Howard, R. M., and Robillard, A. E. (2018). Pluralizing Plagiarism: Identities, Contexts, Pedagogies. Heinemann.
Levy, D. M. (2021). Teaching effectively with Zoom a practical guide to engage your students and help them learn (2nd edition). [Dan Levy].
McCabe, D. L., Butterfield, K. D., and Treviño, L. K. (2017). Cheating in college: Why students do it and what educators can do about it. JHU Press – Johns Hopkins University Press.
Murphy, C., & Stay, B. (2012). The writing center director’s resource book. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203933114
Pennycook, A. (2016). Borrowing Others’ Words: Text, Ownership, Memory, and Plagiarism. Applied Linguistics.
Sand, N. (2016). Minds online: Teaching effectively with technology [Book Review]. Open Praxis, 8(4), 359-360
Weber-Wulff, D. (2019). False Feathers: A Perspective on Academic Plagiarism. Springer.
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Marc Jacquinet (1 octobre 2024). A Brief Note on Plagiarism in Higher Education: Challenges, Detection, and Prevention. Critique du management. Consulté le 29 avril 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/12zvs