SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF PERUVIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ABOUT PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WRITING

The objective of this study is to describe the social representations of university students about plagiarism in academic writing at a private university in Arequipa, Peru. A mixed approach to descriptive non-experimental design research was proposed for its realization. A survey of 340 students was applied and a discussion group consisting of ten students was conducted. The content analysis technique was used with support from NVivo software. The results were grouped into three categories: Knowledge about plagiarism, Acts in which there is plagiarism and Behaviors about plagiarism. Regarding knowledge, it was found that students describe plagiarism as a dishonest act in which there is appropriation of ideas. Regarding the acts in which plagiarism is committed, the appropriation of ideas taken from the Internet stands out as one of the most common activities. Likewise, students claim to have incurred dishonest behaviors and, although they disagree with it, they perceive plagiarism as a normal practice in the university and allowed.