Search Page

A plagiarism scandal is putting at risk Australia's $2 billion education export industry. In fact, a plagiarism cover-up scandal involving 15 of the students' Malaysian classmates is threatening to damage Newcastle University's international reputation and its lucrative relationship with Asia.

The ministry of Higher education and research entrusted to the national Centre of scientific research (CNRS) a mission on scientific integrity. Scientific fraud is varied: biased manufacturing or forgery of results, biased interpretation or selection of data, alteration of curves or images, plagiarism, theft of ideas, financial profit-sharing's ... The increasing pressure which practices on the researchers (among which the career and the credits depend strictly on the quantity of articles and on produced results) tend to multiply the fraudulent practices.

Different rules in different countries often make it harder for international students to understand what is and what isn't allowed. While a student may understand plagiarism, it can be difficult for them to grasp the concept of cheating.

Could student plagiarism actually be reduced? And could it be reduced not through fear of being caught, but through... education? The evidence in a study released earlier in January suggests that the answer to both questions is 'yes' - which could be welcome news to academics who constantly complain about students who either don't know what plagiarism is or do not follow the rules about the integrity of assignments.