Assessment of Plagiarism in Undergraduate Projects in the Department of Library and Information Technology, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State

Abstract

The study examined students' plagiarism in undergraduate final year projects for the 2014/2015 academic session in the Department of Library and Information Technology, Federal University of Technology, Minna. Turnitin anti-plagiarism software was used in checking the similarity index and percentage of plagiarized content in the students’ projects. The acceptable benchmark for similarity index was 20% in line with the University policy. All the cases of plagiarism are treated as a case of examination misconduct by the University. The study utilized the analysis of Turnitin anti-plagiarism software as the method for determining the rate of plagiarism. The total population of 42 students for the 2014/2015 was considered, of which 31 (73.8%) successfully trained in their work and graduated with percentages ranging from 14% to 20% similarity indices. The study determined different tricks and methods adopted by students in manipulating the results of Turnitin in order to get the acceptable percentages. Findings revealed some of the challenges faced by students while using Turnitin for plagiarism check. These included students’ lack of paraphrasing skills, time constraints, and lack of continuous monitoring of students’ progress by faculty instructors. The study concluded that Turnitin has helped improve students’ work integrity among students and staff and has also ensured integrity in intellectual outputs emanating from the university. This has led to the increased research visibility and academic ranking of the Federal University of Technology, Minna on the Web. The study recommended that the University should encourage all students to start turning in their work early and not at the end of the project, as this would give them time to paraphrase their work before submission deadlines. The need for comprehensive training on how to paraphrase contents was also recommended.