Level of awareness among veterinary students of GADVASU towards plagiarism: a case study

Purpose - Plagiarism is wrecking the academic spheres all around the world. The internet is accused for causing exponential increase in plagiarism. This paper aims to examine the prevalence of plagiarism among veterinary students and assess the impact of the internet on their plagiarism practices, so that the corrective measures can be suggested to ensure the originality of academic and research work. Design/methodology/approach - A survey of undergraduate and postgraduate students of veterinary science was conducted at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana using questionnaire as data collection tool. The responses of total 147 students have been analysed using percentage calculations and mean values. The t-test has been applied using SPSS-16 to find the significance of difference in the plagiarism practiced by students using the internet and print sources of information. Findings - Results revealed the prevalence of plagiarism among both groups of students. There was no significant difference in the frequency level of plagiarism among UG and PG students using both the internet and print sources of information, advocating that the internet has not influenced the plagiarism frequency of students. Originality/value - This is the first known attempt to examine the plagiarism habits of veterinary students.