Types of plagiarism in EFL undergraduate theses: Discrepancy between knowledge and practice

Plagiarism, a serious academic misconduct, is common in undergraduate students’ theses. This study aims (a) to determine the types of plagiarism committed by EFL students in their undergraduate theses and (b) to see how they differ between students with high and low English proficiency. Data were collected from 45 theses in a well-established university in Indonesia. The theses were screened for plagiarism using Turnitin before each plagiarized sentence was analyzed. English proficiency was measured using a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The findings show two most frequent types of plagiarism: (a) verbatim copy, and (b) patchwriting. Missing citations are frequently found in the two types of plagiarism. Another type of plagiarism, which is rarely documented, is (c) running-on citations. Meanwhile, the types and amount of plagiarism slightly differ between students with high and low English proficiency. This paper concludes that many EFL students did not use sources and citations correctly in their theses.