Eliciting the Insights of Academics and Postgraduates on Academic Ethics and Plagiarism: A Study of Metaphor

Abstract Academic ethics and plagiarism research are typically handled separately, with these concepts examined from either the perspective of academics or students. In order to better understand these two interconnected phenomena, this study examined them through the eyes of both academics and postgraduate students, who are often referred to as the academy's unbreakable pair. The study's findings, obtained through interviews of participants' metaphorical perceptions of these phenomena, show that the themes shared by both academics and postgraduate students with regard to the concept of “Academic ethics” were “Principled”, “Guiding”, “Laborious”, “Solid foundation”, “Distinguishing between right and wrong”, and “Precious”, and the common themes created from metaphors generated by both groups for the concept of "Plagiarism" were “Pelf”, “A dead-end”, “Disclosure”, and “Cribbing”. Findings also demonstrate that postgraduates have a theoretical background in academic ethics but have a limited understanding of plagiarism. Academics demonstrate a more comprehensive understanding of academic ethics as well as plagiarism than students.