Academic Plagiarism in the Artificial Intelligence Era: The Practices of University Students in Iraq
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23918/ijsses.v11i3p48Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence, Academic Integrity, Academic Plagiarism, Egregious Plagiarism, Inappropriate Referencing, Ghost-WritingAbstract
In the era of artificial intelligence, concerns about academic plagiarism are on the rise in higher education. This study aimed to identify the key components of academic plagiarism and validate a developed questionnaire addressing its prevalence, common practices, and differences based on gender and discipline. A convenience sample of 496 students from humanities and sciences at various universities in Iraq participated. The questionnaire demonstrated good construct validity and reliability, identifying three key components of plagiarism. Results indicated a moderate inclination towards plagiarism, with ghost-writing as the most common practice, followed by inappropriate referencing. Egregious forms of plagiarism were less frequent. While no significant gender differences were observed, science students M=12.03 compared to humanities students M=11.71 exhibited a higher tendency for egregious plagiarism (p<0.04). These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to address plagiarism and uphold ethical standards in higher education, particularly in regions with limited research on this issue.
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