THE ROLE OF LIBRARIANS AND FACULTY IN PREVENTING PLAGIARISM AMONG STUDENTS AT STRATHMORE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

There is a growing concern over the rising incidences of plagiarism among students in institutions of higher learning both in Kenya and globally from the reports extracted using the similarity checker softwares on final submission of reseachers’ work. Evidence of plagiarism is often uncovered by both the faculty when reviewing students’ works and by librarians in the process of preparing such works for archival in institutional repositories. This study aimed at investigating the role of librarians and faculty in preventing plagiarism among students and proposes a framework for harmonization of various role at Strathmore University (SU), in Nairobi, Kenya. The specific objectives were to: examine the nature and extent of plagiarism in academic research at SU; investigate the influence of the internet on plagiarism; identify the challenges encountered by librarians and faculty while enforcing anti-plagiarism regulations at SU; and propose a framework for harmonizing the role of librarians and faculty in preventing plagiarism among students at SU. The General Theory of Deterrence (GTD) underpinned this study. This study applied the convergent mixed methods research design. Purposive sampling was used to select respondents from students, faculty and administrators, while census sampling was used for all librarians. The study population was 472. A sample of 189 respondents was drawn from the 4th year undergraduate and 2nd year postgraduate students, the faculty members, Directors of Research & Innovation and the main university library staff. Qualitative data was collected using interviews and quantitative data through questionnaires and analysed using ATLAS.ti software and SPSS software respectively. The study revealed four main forms of plagiarism including unintentional, casual, intentional and self-plagiarism which are committed via CTRL-C, Find-replace and recycling methods. Second, that the availability of the internet and the campus WI-FI and alternative connectivity options (such as use of data bundles), e-resources and negative use of electronic devices have fuelled plagiarism. Third, that the challenges faced by the librarians and faculty in preventing plagiarism included a lack of clear institutional policies on plagiarism, clarity on the role for all players involved, and lenient penalties for plagiarists. This study recommends strategies like collaboration, training and policy adoption as ways of tackling the challenge. It further proposes a framework for harmonizing the role of librarians and faculty as one way of preventing plagiarism at the SU.