Plagiarism, a Critical Issue in Academic Research Integrity: Attitudes of Research Scholars

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the awareness and attitude towards plagiarism of research scholars at the Aligarh Muslim University, India. The researchers have applied a quantitative study based on the survey method along with the questionnaire as a tool for survey instrument to achieve the research objectives. The researchers have personally distributed the questionnaires to the fulltime Ph.D. scholars in the Faculty of Social Science. The collected data analysed by using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS), version 20, to know the frequencies, percentages and tabulations. The results of the study showed that the majority of research scholars are aware of plagiarism and they believed that it is wrong and immoral. The research scholars believed that the higher score, higher the chance getting a job at the university level, and because of this most of the research scholars produced their publications without keeping the research ethics and academic honesty in their minds and this lead to breaking academic integrity and cause of Plagiarism. However, it is suggested to the university authority to organize such workshops and orientation programs regarding plagiarism, so that scholars or neo-scholars will understand that it is a violation in academic integrity.