Psychometric Analysis Scale of Attitude toward Plagiarism Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior in the Students of Iran University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background & Objective: Plagiarism is a growing phenomenon that could damage the reputation of educational institutions and the relationship between professors and students, thereby causing barriers to learning. The present study aimed to psychometrically evaluate the scale of attitude toward plagiarism. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 200 students at Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran in 2016. Research tool was a 29-item scale adapted from previous studies, which was translated to Persian after the permission of the author. Item impact score, content validity index, construct validity, and content validity ratio were confirmed by 10 experts using exploratory factor analysis. In addition, the reliability and stability of the research tool (internal consistency) were assessed using the Cronbachs alpha and test-retest method, respectively. Results: In total, 22 items were maintained in the research instrument based on the coefficient of the impact index ( greater-than 1.5), content validity index ( greater-than 0.62), and validity ratio ( greater-than 0.7). Moreover, all the items remained in the research tool based on the exploratory factor analysis. The four factors of ‘positive attitude toward plagiarism, ‘negative attitude toward plagiarism, ‘subjective norms, and ‘perceived behavioral control were extracted considering the special value of more than one. The instrument could predict 55.847% of the total changes in the scale. Conclusion: According to the results, the strength in the factor structure and reliability of the attitude toward plagiarism could be used to evaluate the attitudes of university students and other educational institutions toward plagiarism.