Attitude of final year physical therapy students towards plagiarism studying in Peshawar; a cross sectional survey

Abstract

Introduction: Plagiarism is obtained from Greek word 'PLAGIARIUS' which stands for word 'KIDNAPPER'. Plagiarism is o????en described as an unauthenticated use of someone else's words, beliefs, ideas and methods without giving the due credit to actual writer or author. Many scientific researchers are of the view that plagiarism is expanding and becoming common from the last decade. Amid different reasons of plagiarism, the perception of plagiarism among students is significant on their plagiarist behavior. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the perception of final year physical therapy students towards plagiarism.

Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of 126 final year students of total population 186 in five physical therapy institutes in Peshawar through simple Random Sampling technique during the months of November 2018 to April 2019. A validated version of ATP questionnaire was used to collect data. Permission was obtained from all heads of institutes and a consent form was also signed by students. There was no exclusion criterion. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22.

Results: A total of 126 students were enrolled in this study among which 73(57.9%) were females and the rest 53 (42.1%) were males. More than half of the students 106 (84.1%) had not taken any class or seminar on plagiarism. Majority of the respondents 100 (79.4%) had never been involved in research writing before. On ATPQ scoring, 63 (50.0%) students had high score, 33 (26.2%) had moderate score and 30 (23.8%) had low score.

Conclusion: The current study results show positive and approving attitude of most of physical therapy students towards plagiarism. This suggested their lack of complete awareness and knowledge about plagiarism and its consequences that can effects them in future as professionals.