STRATEGIES FOR COMBATING ACADEMICPLAGIARISM IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS FOR QUALITY EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Academic plagiarism is a growing concern among academic staff and students in Nigeria, posing a significant threat to the academic integrity of educational institutions driven by the slogan “publish or you perish”. This paper examines Strategies for Combating Plagiarism Among Academic Staff in Tertiary Institutions for quality education and national development in Nigeria. It defined the concept academic plagiarism, listed the various types and forms of academic plagiarism such as ghost-writing, collusion, internet plagiarism/copying and pasting, paraphrasing, self-plagiarism, patch-writing and intersexuality/mosaic plagiarism, accidental plagiarism, and lazy plagiarism/verbatim plagiarism. The paper further explores the consequences of academic plagiarism, for individual students, academic institutions, and the larger community as a whole such as Destruction of academic staff personal Reputation, Professional Reputation, Academic Reputation and Legal Repercussions among others. Furthermore, the paper discusses general strategies and interventions that can be implemented to combat plagiarism, such strategies include; education and awareness, encouraging originality, use of plagiarism detection tools, clear academic integrity policies, support for time management and research skills, encouraging collaboration and peer review, collaboration among academic institutions, regulatory bodies, and government agencies. The paper concludes that Understanding the various types of plagiarism is essential for maintaining academic integrity and ethical writing practices. By comprehending these different forms and learning how to avoid them, academic staff can guarantee that their work is original, properly attributed, and free from ethical violations.