Abstract
Few words can inspire the same vitriol in scholars as plagiarism. It has been variedly
conceived as a crime (Suntherland-Smith, 2005), a disease (Petress, 2003), a deception
(Athanasou and Olasehinde, 2002) and a threat to general public (Marsden, Carrol and Neil,
2005). The study of plagiarism has thus spawned a vast and convoluted body of discussion and
research. Much of the existing literature has singled out University students as a particular group
of concern. As developing learners, they are often framed as culprits of plagiarism with a
growing rate of offence (Carroll, 2005). This mindset is likely the foundation of studies that
explore students’ reasons and methods for plagiarizing, and how Universities can use these
results to formulate preventive, or judicial, strategies to curb the offence of plagiarism (Whitley,
1998; Park 2003; Devlin, 2003). However, Howard (1999) recognized that the course of
mitigating plagiarism among students cannot be successful if their lived experiences are not
accounted for. It has been explicitly found that students from different cultures behave
differently in University, to the extent that stereotypes are engendered (Melles, 2003). One
cultural group that has been examined intensively, are students from ‘Confucian heritage
cultures’, a term first used by Biggs (1996) in a book by Watkins and Biggs (eds), which
explores issues concerning Chinese learners. More specifically, it is noted that students from this
culture do not readily view plagiaristic behaviors as improper. This paper explores a twist to this
cultural construct. A focus group study involved 15 students, organized in groups of 2-5, who are
from Asian societies that are identified as ‘Confucian heritage cultures’ (ibid) but matriculating
in an Asian University that practices the open and facilitative pedagogy that is more typical of
western institutions (Ramburuth and McCormick, 2001). The aim of the study is to explore the
perspectives on plagiarism of University students who are within an Asian culture, but are
undergoing an independent and discursive mode of education. An analysis of the results
demonstrated good understanding of plagiarism by the students, while echoing disillusion and
discontent about inconsistent standards of plagiarism imposed by instructors. Further analysis
debates upon the quality of culture’s impact on the students’ views. Lastly, the paper suggests
several strategies, which consider a circumstantial and customized approach to academic
integrity, providing instructor support and increased student engagement, as means to create a
student culture of moral academic awareness.
This paper was submitted to the International Integrity & Plagiarism Conference which ran between 2004-2014. The paper was peer reviewed by an independent editorial board and features in the conference proceedings.