Plagiarism and text-matching software: awareness, attitude and knowledge of research students in India

Higher educational institutions in India actively address plagiarism through policies, training, and library initiatives. Despite efforts, frequent plagiarism incidents leading to retractions suggest gaps in understanding policies or their effectiveness. This study explores research students' awareness of anti-plagiarism norms and differences by gender. Findings reveal misconceptions about unintentional versus intentional plagiarism. Notably, 31.1% of respondents didn't recognise content similarity as plagiarism. Interestingly, gender showed no significant difference in intentional plagiarism incidents. Awareness of policies correlates with text-matching software use. The role of university libraries in educating students on ethics and plagiarism prevention is crucial for fostering integrity in research and education.