Ensuring Effective Student Support in Higher Education Alleged Plagiarism Cases

Abstract

Plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct are matters of great concern at all levels of study worldwide. This is especially so for students in higher education institutions, where higher degrees and publications are key focus activities. Ready access to internet based resources assist academic writing practices. However, the unintentional, or sometimes deliberate, lack of acknowledgment of intellectual property ownership by some students results in plagiarism allegations. In this article we explain how the Business School at Curtin University, Western Australia, currently handles plagiarism accusations; and we propose a model for making the University’s approach more transparent, supportive, and educative for students. We recommend this model to others.