University Students’ and Instructors’ Paraphrasing and Citation Knowledge and Practices

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/ajer.v59i3.55730

Keywords:

plagiarism, patchwriting, paraphrasing, higher education

Abstract

Plagiarism is a widespread concern at post-secondary institutions (Perry, 2010).  University students are expected to avoid plagiarism by citing sources and paraphrasing appropriately.  Their written work, however, often contains “patchwriting”, a developmental stage of writing that involves deleting/replacing words and/or altering structures in copied texts (Howard, 1995). Nine university instructors and 66 of their students responded to surveys addressing perceptions of paraphrasing and citation and recommendations for developing these skills. Responses revealed variations in perceptions of acceptable paraphrasing, particularly for patchwriting. Participants recommended paraphrasing workshops or online courses to provide more explicit instruction and guidance for both instructors and students.

Published

2014-06-30

Issue

Section

ARTICLES