Does Open Access Prevent Plagiarism in Higher Education?

Abstract

Plagiarism is a dilemma in higher education. However, it is no longer obscure and has grown easier to expose. This is possible due to the webbased e-publication environment where access to and the scrutiny and use of information content is escalating. The authors use their experential knowledge, observation, content analysis, and extant literature to argue that Open Access increases the detection of plagiarism and discourages it in higher education if the stakeholders' roles are known and fulfdled. This presentation is divided into five parts: 1) Conceptualising and contextualising plagiarism; 2) An overview of the Open Access concept; 3) Does Open Access avert plagiarism? 4) The role of stakeholders; and 5) A case study of the University of Zululand (UNIZULU).

Keywords: Plagiarism, Plagiarism Stakeholders, Open Access, Higher Education, University of Zululand, South Africa