Causes of Plagiarism

The causes of plagiarism are many and varied, but can be broken into the following two categories:

1. Students being unfamiliar with the academic culture and not possessing the skills to work in that culture
2. Students with an intent to deceive.

The causes may be related to academic or personal cultural issues, the ability to read, think and write at a university level, knowledge of academic research and referencing skills, or the ability to manage time.

There are a range of strategies to minimise plagiarism and enable staff to address some of these causes.