Abstract
The aim of the study was to explore the incidence and causes of plagiarism amongst academics from higher education institutions in Zimbabwe. A case study approach was used to examine 267 manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Zimbabwe Studies in 2014, by subjecting them to Ithenticate anti-plagiarism software. Interviews were carried out with 105 academics and two editorial staff members to obtain information on reasons for plagiarising. The results showed that 26% fell within the journal’s acceptable similarity index (0-10%), 20% had 11-15% whilst 54% had similarity indexes of 16-99%. The major reason for plagiarism was the pressure to satisfy the requirements tenure and promotion. Some academics took advantage of the non-electronic nature of the journal, which reduced the chances of detection. Others argued that the call for manuscripts had not indicated that they would be subjected to plagiarism detection software. Interestingly, when some authors were notified of their plagiarism offences, they indicated that the papers had already been published elsewhere showcasing yet another breach of publication ethics - multiple submission of articles to different journals. These findings raise alarm considering that academics are the torch bearers who ought to exude ethical and academic leadership. Higher education institutions should to take action on this severe violation of ethical, academic and professional standards, fuelled partly by the insistence on publications in a ‘publish or perish’ profession.
Highlights
The requirement for academics in higher education institutions to carry out scholarly research has gathered momentum over the past years
Higher education institutions place more prominence on academic research that culminates in conference and poster presentations as well as articles published in refereed journals, books, and book chapters (Bentley & Blackburn, 1991; Hearn, 1999)
In addition to the case study approach, this study used interviews with academics and editorial staff members to obtain an insight into the mitigating factors for plagiarism amongst academics in higher education institutions
Summary
The requirement for academics in higher education institutions to carry out scholarly research has gathered momentum over the past years. Research is the pursuit of objective truth through carrying out systematic studies necessary for generating new knowledge in a particular discipline (Bordens & Abbott, 2007; Graziano & Raulin, 2009; Hockey, 2000). Higher education institutions place more prominence on academic research that culminates in conference and poster presentations as well as articles published in refereed journals, books, and book chapters (Bentley & Blackburn, 1991; Hearn, 1999). Publications are the outcomes of research work that contributes to the dissemination and archiving of important results through academic, scientific and professional literature and brings credibility and acclaim to researcher(s) and the host institution (Plucker, 1988; Tien & Blackburn, 1996).
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