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Table 2 Perceptions about plagiarism and referencing among students and supervisors

From: Students’ and supervisors’ knowledge and attitudes regarding plagiarism and referencing

 

All participants

Students

Supervisors

Participants

152

98

53

Age

31.3 (SD 7.6)

30.2 (SD 6.6)

42.5 (SD 8.4)

In your opinion, should supervisors check for plagiarism?

Absolutely, always

100/135 (74.1%)

94/122 (77.1%)

6/13 (46.2%)

Maybe in suspected cases

35/135 (25.9%)

28/122 (22.9%)

7/13 (53.8%)

What do you think is the most common reason to why people plagiarize?

Because of time constraints

39/138 (28.3%)

38/125 (30.4%)

1/13 (7.7%)

Because they feel they cannot write as well as others

27/138 (19.6%)

24/125 (19.2%)

3/13 (23.1%)

Because they do not know it is wrong

26/138 (18.8%)

22/125 (17.6%)

4/13 (30.8%)

Other reasons

46/138 (33.3%)

41/125 (32.8%)

5/13 (38.5%)

Do you think this was a useful exercise?

Yes, it was somewhat useful

68/129 (52.7%)

61/117 (52.1%)

7/12 (58.3%)

Yes, I found it very useful

38/129 (29.5%)

35/117 (29.9%)

3/12 (25.0%)

I wish I had done it before

3/129 (2.3%)

3/117 (2.6%)

0/12 (0%)

No, this is nothing new

7/129 (5.4%)

6/117 (5.1%)

1/12 (8.3%)

Not useful for me, but I think others may benefit

13/129 (10.1%)

12/117 (10.3%)

1/12 (8.3%)

What paper is generally the best one to refer to, in your opinion?

A literature review

20/134 (14.9%)

18/121 (14.9%)

2/13 (15.4%)

The oldest original study I can find

51/134 (38.1%)

46/121 (38.0%)

5/13 (38.5)

The latest paper in a topic

63/134 (47.0%)

57/121 (47.1%)

6/13 (46.1%)

If you read B et al. 2006, you will find a reference to a book by B, 2004. B, 2004 refers to C et al.. 1964. C had actually done the research on this. How would you reference this?

The virus is economically important (A, 2012; B et al, 2006; B, 2004)

121/134 (90.3%)

108/121 (89.3%)

13/13 (100%)

The virus is economically important (C, 1964)

13/134 (9.7%)

13/121 (10.7%)

0/13 (0%)