Revisiting plagiarism in Nigeria in the 21st century: Issues arising

Abstract

Research is being put under greater scrutiny by the day and unethical behaviour such as plagiarism is generally frowned upon when noticed especially in academia. This issue has become so widespread all over the world that technology has been developed to counter it and this is what has brought about the development of several plagiarism software detectors such as Turn-it-in and authenticate. Nigeria is not left out in this search for transparency in research and plagiarism is so widespread not just among students but also among members of faculty who are expected to not just know more but also instil ethical behaviour in students, that it has prompted the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities to adopt the use of the online software turn-it-in to catch plagiarist. This paper argues however, that so many other issues need to be deeply scrutinised in order to make the software work. Punishing an offender should only happen after the offender wilfully breaks the law despite being fully aware and taught otherwise. The thrust of this paper is that plagiarism should not just be on detecting violators and punishing them alone but should also be more holistically looked at and emphasis placed on prevention. The study focuses on those factors that are peculiar to Nigeria and may not make detection realistic and it proffers recommendations on steps to take to curb the trend.