International Students and Plagiarism
David Taniar
Information Studies Department
School of Business and Information Systems
Swinburne University of Technology
Wenny Rahayu
Department of Computer Science and
Computer Engineering
La Trobe University
Abstract:
The issue of plagiarism by international students has roots in the basic problems they are facing, particularly cultural,
writing and language problems. Plagiarism is basically caused by lack of confidence, which is a natural consequence of
those three problems. This paper describes simple guidelines to overcome these problems with an expectation that when
the problems become minimised, confidence will be gained. Therefore plagiarism can be reduced. Other alternatives
for building up confidence are constructive feedback, giving trust, and reaffirming that trust in the students. We also
define a systematic approach to preventing plagiarism-warning the students not to do it, telling them how to avoid
doing it (guiding), and monitoring them so that they will not do it. Solving the problem of plagiarism that occurs among
international students during their first year of study in the university is very important as the first year experience is
the foundation for the following years.
1. Introduction
During the last ten years, the number of international students in Australia has dramatically
increased. This is not only because of the new policy on international students announced in 1985,
introducing a new era of full-fee international students, but also because these students really
believe that Australia can offer a much better quality of education compared to the countries from
which they come.
Offering these students a good education is not only about providing a good course structure, a team
of supportive academic professionals, and good facilities. An important part of a good education
system is also to develop students' confidence in presenting their own analyses and judgements, so
that plagiarism will no longer become an issue.
We believe that plagiarism is not only a problem for international students, however, our main
concern in this paper is to explore the reasons for plagiarism among international students and to
derive simple guidelines to overcome it. We also believe that the plagiarism problem has to be
solved in the first year of study, as the first year will serve as a transition point from an education
system in their own country to the Australian education system and as a base for the following
years.
We put more emphasis on the problems of Asian students as this group represents the highest
percentage of all international students in Australia (Auditor, 1993) and they are also at somewhat
higher risk of not understanding or in their own writing being understood than students from other
countries.
For the purpose of this paper, firstly a definition of plagiarism is examined. The definition by
Finegan (1991) states plagiarism to have occurred when students, writers, or researchers use
someone else's ideas or words as their own without acknowledgment of the source. This includes
paraphrasing and borrowing someone else's phrases, terminology, or statistics without identifying or
acknowledging the source.
The next section presents the problems faced by international students that could lead to plagiarism.
Section 3 discusses some alternatives to overcome or at least minimize the problems. Section 4
explains how to build up confidence so that plagiarism can be avoided naturally. Section 5 describes
methods to prevent plagiarism. Finally, section 6 concludes that confidence is the factor.
2. Problems behind plagiarism
The reasons why international students plagiarise are quite complex. It is important to understand
their reasons before we can draw a conclusion about how to solve the problem. We have identified
that international students particularly are facing three problems: cultural, writing, and language
problems as shown in Figure 1. These problems lead to lack of confidence, and consequently to
plagiarism. Figure 1. Problems leading to plagiarism (Figure missing)
2.1. Cultural problems
The cultural problem is one of the biggest problems to overcome. International students are not
trained to have their own opinion or to exercise their own judgement on the materials of a course,
the contents of a book or the quality of a paper. It is also common for them to see their lecturers as
people who will never make mistakes and importantly people who should never be criticised. They
are unprepared for analytical thought and expect to be spoon-fed in every problem and assignment
which they have to address. Especially in technical subjects, international students tend to have
learned in a very theoretical and book-centred way, whereas in Australia they are expected to have a
practical feel for the subject.
Most international students are educated to believe that there is only one solution to most problems.
This is certainly true in some "hard" disciplines of study, ie, mathematics, physics, etc. However, in
presenting assignments, it is also true that Australian lecturers are looking more at how the solution
is obtained rather than the solution itself. In some "soft" disciplines, ie, sociology, psychology, etc,
this situation is expected even more by the lecturers. As a result, when students find any solution to
questions, they do not think about, judge or test the solution. They tend to accept it blindly.
Besides lacking analytical judgment, international students have been living in an environment that
allows quoting without noting. Not only was copying allowed, it was also encouraged and many
students were doing so and were receiving good marks. Coming to Australia, where the plagiarist
receives a heavy penalty, is a shock, when they realise what the penalty is. Unfortunately, some
students do not even know that plagiarism is unacceptable.
Education resources in some countries are limited. Libraries, for example, are sometimes not
adequate. It is not uncommon to find libraries of Indonesian universities occupying a small room,
just big enough for a tutorial in Australian universities. Libraries are also not common to most high
school students, since many schools do not provide this facility. Therefore, there is no chance for
students to compare and to analyse works from various authors. It is often assumed that there are no
different ways of solving the same problem. These realities make international students feel that
their own opinions are not comparable with the "existing" solution.
However, understanding their cultural problems does not mean that the Australian education
standard has to be compromised if there are international students in the class. Nor must we use a
separate standard for them. Rather educators are entitled to point out the techniques of assessment
which are used in Australia and the styles of teaching and learning which we adopt.
2.2. Writing problems
Many International students are not used to writing even in their own language (Ballard, 1991). In
many Asian countries, the only writing assignment is an honours-level thesis. Even at this level,
students are not expected to produce or to write an original thought. An honours thesis is sometimes
just a compilation of someone else's work. Students are not expected to criticise references. They
are taught to present the best findings they have, without their own comments.
Writing is actually a process rather than just a final product. International students have great
difficulty even at drafting stage. Time spent for the first draft maybe twice as long as that of local
students. Most of the time, revising is not possible, since they take so much time just to produce a
reasonable output. The consequence is that they prefer to blindly copy what they read. Writing is
then just a matter of compiling. Such compiling is not too bad an idea, if they do it properly.
However, this is often not the case. In many written assignments, they are often requested to insert
their own judgment or comments on the material. This is certainly difficult if they copy and
combine the source materials carelessly. They will find difficulties even in putting the summary or
conclusion.
Writing problems are often caused by not reading widely and critically. After finding some material
for their work, they are often not aware of any other materials. Some of them think that the material
found is adequate. Others do not bother to find additional information.
Essays written by international students sometimes do not focus on the main topic. There are
several reasons for this. Students are afraid of the number of words required for their written work.
A sentence is a precious thing. Adding new sentences is regarded as getting closer to the completion
of their tasks. They judge their written works quantitatively as opposed to qualitatively. Not
focusing on the main issue is also a result of quoting material that, although closely related to the
area, is not suited in the context of this essay.
Writing essays has never been accepted as a worthy piece of achievement by many international
students. For example, computer science students often consider that computer programs are the
most important method of assessment, while art students often see their designs as the most
significant pieces of work. However, documentation in the form of writing is equally important.
Without this belief, students will not improve their writing skills, and writing will still be a problem.
2.3. Language problems
The language barrier has often been blamed as the main cause of student failures. The level of
language competency plays a significant role in plagiarism. If the skills for constructing sentences
and paragraphs are low, international students will tend to copy rather than to write. Poverty of
language skills subsequently leads to poverty in restructuring or rephrasing sentences. Students
become lazy about producing their own sentences, since perfect sentences are in front of them ready
to be copied.
The language training that international students have received in their own country does not
emphasise very much how to express the same thing or situation with different sentences. They
mainly concentrate on one way of expressing things using correct grammatical rules. Students are
not used to playing with active and passive voice conversion. Synonyms and antonyms are also
seldom taught.
3. Overcoming the problems
In order to overcome the three problems outlined in the previous section, we have compiled simple
guidelines which are divided into four categories: Lecturer-Student Relationship, Changing
Students Learning Style, Teaching Strategy and Assessment Method (Channel, 1990. June, 1992).
Using these guidelines the differences between the education system in Australia and the countries
where the international students come from can be bridged. It is then expected that after bridging
these differences the students will develop confidence in their abilities and judgments, and therefore
reduce the motivation for plagiarism.
The following table (Figure 2) shows the guidelines which can help reduce the effects caused by the
three problems mentioned in the previous sections.

Guidelines to overcome the problems

Lecturer – Student Relationship

Changing Students

Learning Style

Teaching Strategy

Assessment Method
Cultural Problems
Create an atmosphere in class of how you expect everybody to express opinions and ask questions.
Encourage students to understand the central issues in every text they read, and to derive their own
conclusions, not solely to memorise information. Pose questions like: why? how? how important?
compare and contrast, rather than what?. Emphasise that "originality" is as important as
"correctness".
Writing Problems
Spend some time with individual students asking questions related to the assignment, requesting to
somehow include his/her own ideas in the assignment. Encourage students to read more, to write
more and to use facilities of the library more often. A lot of reading will enable them more easily to
create their own opinions and sentences. Emphasise that original, clear, and understandable
sentences are better than someone else's complex and perfect sentences. Unsophisticated originality,
such as evaluation or conclusion of a set of information, is more important than simply reproducing
and memorising.
Language Problems
Make every effort to read the draft and give feedback. Encourage students to present and defend
arguments. At the end of each session, randomly ask students to describe in his/her own words the
important points that have been discussed in that session. Be straight forward commenting on
student's work. Figure 2. Simple guidelines to help overcome the problems (Figure missing)
4. Building up confidence
Confidence is certainly one of the most valuable things an educator can give to his/her students. It is
not concerned with the amount of knowledge transferred to the students, but is a matter of the ways
the knowledge is transferred.
Below are some guidelines to help first year lecturers in building up students' confidence:

Give trust to students so that they will feel they are able to accomplish what is expected from the
assignment. Because of this trust, they will also feel responsible to fulfil the given trust.

Give constructive feedback so that students will feel able to overcome the initial mistakes they make.
For example, feedback like "The language is a bit awkward, but the content is very well structured"
is less constructive than "The content is very well structured, however, pay more attention to the
usage of articles and prepositions". In the case where students have to resubmit work, the former
feedback lets them down, since they realise that it is impossible to improve their language in a short
time. Therefore, students will become pessimistic when resubmitting work. However, the latter
feedback gives more hopes to students that they can improve the work if they concentrates more on
articles and prepositions. This kind of feedback encourages students to improve their language and
writing skills.

Reaffirm the trust even though the achievement is very tiny. This will help students to believe that
they are capable of achieving their ultimate goal.
5. Preventing plagiarism
It is important for lecturers to be aware that preventing plagiarism is part of education. Preventing
plagiarism is not only making sure that it will not occur, but also educating students how to analyse
facts, and to mine hidden and valuable information. It also gives international students confidence
to express their opinions.
Our definition of a systematic approach to prevent plagiarism is warning, guiding, and monitoring.
Each of these elements complements the others. Ignoring any one of them will increase the chance
that plagiarism will be put into practice.
5.1. Warning
Warning about plagiarism must be announced widely to international students. It must be explained
how harmful it is, since it is the conduct of stealing someone else's ideas and claiming them to be
one's own. Most universities in Australia include in their handbook a section about plagiarism. This
warning must be extended because many international students do not give much attention to their
handbook. They even have difficulty reading their textbooks. One way of getting the announcement
across is by lecturing. This can be done by each lecturer of the subject, or in a welcoming first year
students' session at the beginning of each year. Either way the warning must explain what
plagiarism is and what plagiarism is not. An example of each can be demonstrated. Once the
students have this issue stuck in their mind (especially in their first year of study in the university),
it might be expected that plagiarism would be avoided during their course of study.
An explanation of what is expected from the assignments or projects can also be included as part of
the plagiarism warning. Most international students have been trained in their home countries to be
directed by their superiors. Although it is not always a good idea, directing their work can prevent
them from being plagiarists. One example of what the lecturer might tell about the assignment or
project requirements is that the students must be able to show a deep understanding of the topic by
critically analysing the problems and producing new solutions, rather than by providing a perfect
answer from established sources. In this way, there is no way that the student will just take any
materials and reproduce them for their assignment or project without analysing and criticising, all of
which must come from their own minds.
5.2. Guiding
Warnings without guidance are not adequate. Guiding implies that we are not merely forcing them
not to plagiarise, but we are also telling them how not to do it. Guidance can be exercised by
providing individual assistance, small group tutorials, or even a series of lectures. One topic that can
be covered is referencing and quoting techniques. In this lesson the students can learn how to quote
phrases, ideas, etc, into their written work. They can also learn how to use standard referencing
methods. The Harvard system, for example, looks like this: (Grieg, 1994). In non-essay writing
different forms of quotation might be used. For example, in computer programming each module
program from the existing program-library must be clearly identified by source and author. For
example, in a Pascal program, the quotation looks like this: uses tools; {Taniar, 25/1/95}.
Other important and yet very useful guidance is to provide language assistance. International
students have a great problem in playing with sentences. Many of them lack sufficient vocabulary.
Language assistance will have a great positive impact in their language competency and therefore
they will develop their confidence. All these aspects of language assistance will lead to prevention
of plagiarism.
Guidance should also be given in order to improve international students' learning style.
Memorising is no longer the most important part of the learning process, rather they should also be
able to derive ideas, conclusions, and critical judgments from every topic and information they
receive. Most of the assessments should emphasise the student's ability to analyse and evaluate data,
and other independent points of view on matters of unresolved controversy. When students have
improved or progressed from the learning styles from their home countries to what they are
expected to display here, they will be more critical, and consequently be independent.
5.3. Monitoring
During the process of the assignment or project, lecturers should monitor the progress of the
students' abilities to avoid plagiarism. Several strategies can be used. In essay writing, one method
is to interview students. The questions must allow the interviewer to reflect on the level of students
ability to analyse and criticise the central problem, rather than just check the correctness of the
answer.
In cases where several parts are obviously obtained by reproducing without noting the source,
questions to check the students' understanding of the issues can be asked. Students can then be
asked either to put the original source, or to rewrite those sections with words which are the
student's original answers to the questions. In the latter case, we know that the student actually has
the ability to analyse and to present his/her own arguments, but cannot do so because of the
language problem.
6. Conclusion
The factors that may lead to plagiarism by international students have been explored in detail.
Through understanding of these aspects, we realise that attacking plagiarism by solely announcing
the consequences of plagiarism is simply inadequate. We should try to help students to overcome
their basic problems. Obviously every piece of strategy to help these students may require more
time and effort from lecturers. Nevertheless, it may also be seen as a challenging side of the
education system itself.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank Ms. M-L Ridsdale of Swinburne University of Technology for her encouraging discussions
and comments on an earlier version of this paper.
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Victoria, March 1991.
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Singapore, 1990.
the authors may be contacted:
email: d.taniar@swin.edu.au
email: wenny@latcs1.lat.oz.au