Assessment of the attitude towards Plagiarism among dental postgraduate students and faculty members in Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere – A cross sectional survey

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the attitude of dental postgraduate students and faculty members towards plagiarism in Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere. Materials and methods: A closed ended, standard questionnaire containing 29 statements on a 5 point Likert scale for each statement was used to collect data which measures three attitudinal factors (positive and negative attitude and subjective norms) towards plagiarism. The positive attitude towards plagiarism reflects approval and justification of such behaviour. Negative attitude towards plagiarism expresses condemnation and disapproval of plagiarism. Subjective norm expresses common thinking about the prevalence of plagiarism and the acceptance of such behaviour in the academic and scientific communities. Results: with respect to dental postgraduate students, the mean of the scores for the questions under : positive attitude was 36.5± 6.7,negative attitude was 22.53± 3.3, subjective norms was 29.31± 4.9. All these scores fall under moderate category. With respect to the faculty members mean of the scores of the questions under: positive attitude was 34.11± 7.7, negative attitude was 21.9± 3.5 and subjective norms was 27.28± 4.8.These values also fall under moderate category. Conclusions: The attitude of the postgraduate students and faculty member reflect insufficient level of seriousness and awareness with which plagiarism is perceived. Awareness about plagiarism should be improved among postgraduate students and faculty members.