Research Ethics and anti-plagiarism software. A study on turnitin users of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU)

Abstract

After the influence of digitization of reading materials and web usage plagiarism became a destructive academic phenomenon. It is a serious negative effect on intellectual capital and a threat to genuine academic work. As a solution, anti-plagiarism software such as turnitin and SafeAssign have been in introduced. KDU has subscribed to turnitin anti-plagiarism software. However, the users’ involvement in using this software is limited This study aims to measure the amount of usage of the software by KDU academic staff through a survey in order to propose measures to enhance its usage to improve the quality of research and knowledge of research ethics by both academics and students of KDU. Random sampling method and survey strategy was used by issuing structured questionnaires among 120 staff members, and 70.8% had responded from all level of academic staff. Microsoft Excel was used to analyze the data. Among the respondents 86% are aware that an anti-plagiarism software is available and out of that 32% of the staff got user names and passwords from the library. Even though the library has organized a few training sessions, the research identified that the majority of the users’ ability to use it is inadequate. Therefore, it is suggested that a proper training programme is to be given to all those who need training through the Staff Development Centre (SDC) of the university, which will eventually enhance the overall quality of research in the university