School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
One of the challenges I face routinely as a teacher is the plagiarism practised by the post- graduate as well as graduate students. There are two major factors contributing to this rampant practise. One is the fact that most of the students do not understand what plagiarism is. Most, if not all, believe that as long as they give reference to the source, they can copy verbatim from it. The second factor contributing to plagiarism is the poor communication skills. Many of the students, even if they have studied in the English medium schools, lack the ability to write a coherent sentence. The problem becomes even more acute for students who have studied in the vernacular language. Thus, when they have to write their project report or thesis, they copy verbatim from various sources because they lack the language skills necessary to write the same. Therefore, it is essential for us to develop courses that would address these lacunae. Our students should be required to do a course on research ethics. They should also be encouraged to develop their communication skills. A big responsibility also lies with the teachers, as we have to make it evident to our students that plagiarism in any form will not be tolerated.