Perception of Undergraduates on Use of Turnitin Plagiarism Checker in Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria

Abstract

Projects, theses and dissertations submitted to the library form the highest number of collections in most academic library holdings in Nigeria. Ensuring that such works are free from plagiarism becomes imperative for future use and reuse. In an attempt to help stem this ugly trend of plagiarism, the Nigerian Universities Commission directed that all Universities in Nigeria should adopt the use of Turnitin plagiarism checker. This study seeks to determine the perception, challenges, and support systems available for students regarding the use of Turnitin in Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUTMin). There are 3,033 final year undergraduate students in the 2017/2018 academic session. Using Krejcie & Morgan sample size table, 341 undergraduates and eleven (11) Turnitin Officers were randomly sampled across Departments and Schools (Faculties) in FUTMin. Structured questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. A total of 338 (99%) copies of questionnaire from undergraduates and 11 (100%) from Turnitin Officers were filled, returned and found valid for this study. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data from which the results were presented in tables. Findings revealed that students were relatively unaware of what constitutes plagiarism. Recommendations included the need for awareness and orientation on what constitutes plagiarism, citation and referencing education. Keywords: Academic integrity, Perceptions, Plagiarism, Undergraduate projects, Turnitin, FUT Minna, Nigeria.