Abstract:

The present research aims to highlight the seriousness of plagiarism amongst postgraduate students of Cyprus Universities. It explores the students’ perceptions of plagiarism as well as the reasons of plagiarism from the students’ point of view. A total of 1128 postgraduate students participated in this study. A questionnaire survey was used for collection of primary data. Major findings revealed that almost three quarters of postgraduate students believe that copying is a very serious or serious problem; while approximately half of them believe that the item ‘having a friend/a colleague do the work for them’ is a very serious or serious offence. Half of the students have admitted that they have intentionally plagiarized written materials and 18.7% of them have courageously admitted that they have paid someone to do his/her work. Findings have also revealed that plagiarism is happening frequently amongst students. Lack of time to complete assignment was seen to be the most probable reason for plagiarism. This paper offers some recommendations to combat plagiarism. These recommendations include raising awareness, clarifying the rules of disclosure, using plagiarism-detection software, and creating a strong culture that promotes academic integrity.