Detection of levels of academic plagiarism by secondary school teachers: Analysis in relation to their fields of knowledge and measures adopted

Abstract

This work analyses and describes, from the teachers’ point of view, the phenomenon of academic plagiarism amongst compulsory secondary education students in Andalucía and Baleares. Firstly, the general frequency with which plagiarism is detected by teachers is described. Afterwards, data is presented relating to the association between the frequency and prevalence with which the phenomenon is detected according to the teachers’ branch of knowledge. A third block details the measures taken by teachers suspecting plagiarism. The research used a questionnaire given to 453 secondary teachers in both autonomous communities. The results threw up some significant figures, amongst which the differences in detection levels by teachers in different subjects stand out. This makes a proposal for specific actions and initiatives directed at combating the phenomenon.