Plagiarism is approached with a zero-tolerance policy around the world, but in the Czech Republic, things are a little different. Generally, while it isn’t always punishable by law in universities, several institutions will take disciplinary action against the practice, ensuring that students learn their lesson and stop plagiarising work in the future. Detecting plagiarism is easier than ever in today’s digital age, as we now have access to the best plagiarism checker on the market, detecting even the most concealed plagiarism, so why are Czech universities so lenient?
An Insight Into Czech Universities
Universities in the Czech Republic are currently thriving, as the annual report outlined that there are currently 74 HEIs providing education to over 410,000 students in the country. There are 28 public and 46 private HEIs, with student numbers consistently rising ever since the year 2000. Amongst these universities, the most popular field of study is economics, closely followed by technical sciences, social sciences, and pedagogy. From this information alone, we can see how detrimental the effects of plagiarism could be, as science courses are highly crucial for developing life-saving careers in hospitals and veterinary practices.
The Current Attitude Towards Plagiarism
The academic integrity and plagiarism in Czech Republic universities need to be seriously revised to ensure that it is put to a complete stop. Across the board, some behavior in these universities may be considered as immoral compared to others, and generally, any behavior is accepted unless the person is actually caught, which heavily applies to plagiarism.
Often, those who actually refuse to allow their classmates to plagiarise their work are considered as bad and unhelpful, meaning that the action isn’t seen as immoral, but actually, the decision to prevent it is instead. Generally, leading research has concluded that there are no statistics available on plagiarism within Czech universities, as they just don’t view it as an issue that they need to address.
Policies On Plagiarism
It’s been highlighted that very few institutions across the country actually enforce a detailed policy to combat and prevent plagiarism from occurring, but the issue is wider than that, as there is simply no national policy at all. Often, due to the lack of national or university policies, it is then down to the teacher to decide whether or not it will be brushed over or not. Usually, the most common disciplinary action that’s taken in Czech universities is that the student will need to rewrite their piece. They may receive a verbal warning or if they continue to plagiarise, a suspension from the institution.
Plagiarism Detection System In Place
While plagiarism is widely ignored across Czech universities, there are still some establishments that will use a plagiarism detection system to ensure the work written is entirely bespoke to the student who wrote it. Masaryk University in Brno will provide a detection system to other universities across the country, using an algorithm to scan internet sources and the university database to see whether or not the work has plagiarised content within.
Generally, things are slowly changing within Czech universities to ensure that plagiarism is tackled better to reduce its appearance in student’s work. The fact that institutions are beginning to recognize the issue is a good start, but we can only wait and see how this is going to progress in the future.
