Awareness and perception of plagiarism of postgraduate students in selected universities in Ogun State, Nigeria

Plagiarism undoubtedly constitutes a seemingly imperceptible threat to the growth of genuine global scholarship. The understanding of various perspectives of the phenomenon is critical to finding a lasting solution. It is against this background therefore, that the study investigated awareness and perception of plagiarism of postgraduate students in selected Universities in Ogun State Nigeria. Survey research design was used while adopting stratified and random sampling methods to select 338 respondents from federal, state and private Universities for the study. The findings revealed average level of awareness of plagiarism among postgraduate students, level of training influenced their level of awareness; pressure to meet deadlines, inadequate writing skills and lack of knowledge of what constitutes plagiarism were found to be responsible for the malaise. The study also revealed a significant positive relationship at r = 0.294 and p < 0.05 implying that as awareness increases, the positive perception of plagiarism would also improve. However, it revealed a significant difference in perception of plagiarism at f(2,327) = 25,000 and p < 0.05 implying that what postgraduate students perceived as plagiarism differ across the types of institution. The paper concluded that plagiarism is a heinous academic crime which negates the main objective of research to discover new facts and expand the frontiers of knowledge. The paper recommended the intensification of awareness and sensitization programmes on plagiarism by various institutions; that the National Universities Commission should enforce the use of Turnitin in all Nigerian Universities and the introduction of information ethics as a compulsory course of study in the tertiary institutions.