Abstract

Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty that affects the academic integrity of educational institutions worldwide. However, the need to curb plagiarism is immensely influenced by the lack of student understanding of what actually constitutes plagiarism. Thus, this study aims to explore Malaysian public university students' attitude towards plagiarism through a questionnaire survey among public university students in Malaysia. The findings highlight that the students were not aware that certain activities they considered as non-plagiarism actually constitute some form of plagiarism and vice versa. The study provided evidence that a significant proportion of the students had engaged in plagiarism activities to a certain degree. Students also looked forward for more lenient penalties by the university if they were found to have plagiarized. The findings have significant implications for educators if they intend to improve the detection and punishment of plagiarism to educate potential perpetrators.