Assessment of Knowledge and Practice of Plagiarism among post-graduate students and dental students who were members of the student research committee, in Kerman University of Medical Sciences

Plagiarism is defined as “the deliberate or reckless use of someone else’s thoughts, words or ideas as one’s own, without clear attribution of their source”. The aim of the present study was to assess the knowledge and practice on plagiarism among post-graduate and dental students, who were members of the student research committee, at Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2017. 

This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 70 post-graduate and dental students selected by the census method. The data were collected through a standard questionnaire including three sections of demographic information, knowledge (7 questions), and practice (12 questions) of plagiarism. The data were analyzed in SPSS 21 using independent t-test, ANOVA, and linear regression at a significance level of 0.05.

Participation in research method and scientific writing workshops were 81.0% and 65.7% respectively. 29.5% of the participants had never committed plagiarism. The mean and standard deviation of practice score was 37.12±8.06 out of 60, and that of knowledge was 13.60±4.67 out of 28. There was no significant relation between knowledge and education level. Attendance in ethics workshop (P=0.0001) and publication of papers (P=0.012) were significantly associated with knowledge.

In this study the knowledge and practice of plagiarism were moderate. It is recommended to hold workshops about plagiarism and its consequences in order to reduce this behavior.