Abstract:
The aim of the study was to explore the incidence and causes of plagiarism amongst
academics from higher education institutions in Zimbabwe. A case study approach was used
to examine 267 manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Zimbabwe Studies in 2014, by
subjecting them to Ithenticate anti-plagiarism software. Interviews were carried out with 105 academics and two editorial staff members to obtain information on reasons for plagiarising. The results showed that 26% fell within the journal’s accept ble similarity index (0-10%),
20% had 11-15% whilst 54% had similarity indexes of 16-99%. The major reason for
plagiarism was the pressure to satisfy the requirements tenure and promotion. Some
academics took advantage of the non-electronic nature of the journal, which red ced the
chances of detection. Others argued that the call for manuscripts had not indicated that they would be subjected to plagia ism detection software. Interestingly, when some authors were
notified of their plagiarism offences, they indicated that the papers had already been
published elsewhere showcasing yet another breach of publication ethics - multiple
submission of articles to different journals. These findings raise alarm considering that
academics are the torch bearers who ought to exude ethical and academic leadership. Higher education institutions should to take action on this severe violation of ethical, academic and professional standards, fuelled partly by the insistence on publications in a ‘publish or perish’ profession
