Case Study on the Causes of Plagiarism in Some Higher Education Institutions in Syria

Abstract

Plagiarism in higher education system became a worldwide phenomenon among universities, so that a majority of teachers are failing to adequately respond to this unethical practice, due to the huge impact of the digital means of communication (Abou-Setta in Plagiarism: Is There a Solution?—A Case Study. PIXEL, Florence, pp. 1–6, 2011 [1]). Being a growing problem, plagiarism is generally defined as “literary theft” and “academic dishonesty” in the literature, and it is really crucial to be well-informed on this topic to prevent the problem and stick to the ethical norms (Eret and Gokmenoglu in Soc Behav Sci 2:3303–3307, 2010 [2]. Plagiarism is considered, among students in public and private universities in Syria within the higher education sector, a prevalent and growing phenomenon nowadays. In order to understand the causes of plagiarism, as a growing phenomenon, this case study has over scanned it, by using a random sample from some public and private universities in Syria. The exact causes of plagiarism are complex, but worth examining (Middle Georgia State University. Student Success Center Plagiarism Prevention Guide Why Students Plagiarize? [3]). The aim of this case study is to identify the main reasons why students plagiarize in some higher education institutions in Syria.