Plagiarism in master of education studies at selected East African Universities

Plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct and is a problematic phenomenon which affects academia globally. Even though the origins of the concept of plagiarism can be traced back throughout history, the term has come to carry many varying implications. This may affect the ways in which plagiarism is understood, detected and prosecuted by the parties it involves, such as students, academics and in policies. Despite its origin in Western tradition, this form of academic malpractice is prominent in African universities. In its most basic definition as theft of intellectual property, plagiarism is intertwined intricately with ownership of knowledge, which is culturally specific. This study situates itself within the context of three African universities, namely Moi University (Kenya), Makerere University (Uganda) and the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), and aims to explore anti-plagiarism strategies implemented at these institutions. More specifically, this study focuses on Master of Education students’ perceptions of plagiarism, the supervisors’ role in preventing and detecting such malpractice and the institutional disciplinary practices in place. This study analyses the possible reasons for the continuous occurrence of plagiarism at these institutions and aims to explore the potential of further strategies to prevent the various forms of malpractice. This research is a qualitative study and uses the constructivist paradigm. The research design is a multiple case study because the data collected originates from the contexts of the three selected universities. The data generation was conducted through triangulation of personal interviews with the students, lecturers and policy-makers as well as through focus group discussions with students and document analysis. Three methods of sampling were employed. The student participants were selected through convenient sampling, the supervisors were chosen through purposive sampling and snowballing was used to identify policy-makers. The data analysis was conducted thematically. In discussing the methodology and findings, Vygotsky’s Socio-cultural theory (1978) is employed. The introductory chapter provides an overview of the complexities of plagiarism and problematizes its implications. Chapter two outlines the relevant literature and contextualizes the research topic. The third chapter introduces the methodology. Chapter four presents the data collected. Thereafter, chapter five focuses on the interpretation and the discussion of the data. The last chapter draws conclusions in relation to the research questions and suggests areas for further research