Copy cats

Updated on: Thursday, August 06, 2009

Even as the alleged racist attacks on Indian students in Australia are fresh in one's mind, Indian students are back in the news. This time it's plagiarism. More than 100 international students at the University of New England (UNE), Australia, not only submitted plagiarised versions of their Masters theses, but also managed to graduate without hassle. Most of the students are believed to be from India.

According to a report published on July 29 in The Australian, "Some students were allowed to graduate after UNE began an investigation that remains unfinished after more than two years." The Masters programme, apparently churned out '220 plagiarised theses of the 230 that were checked.'

This is not the first instance of plagiarism in recent times involving Indian students. A recent Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) audit report on a collaborative academic venture between the UK and India addressed issues of plagiarism and academic standards at the Masters level.

Plagiarism, in fact, is one of the darker caverns of the academic world. Literally, the word plagiarism is defined as the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work."

Unfortunately, most students are unaware of the varied implications of the word and believe that 'only' a 'verbatim copy-paste' constitutes an act of plagiarism . Most fail to realise that unauthorised reproduction of another person's idea is equally offensive.

Timesofindia.indiatimes

Copy cats

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