Editor’s Introduction

Abstract

Academic integrity is of great importance to insure a consistent determination of what constitutes plagiarism across regions of the world. Academic integrity research spans a global scale and regardless of where the researcher is from, they are building on a pool of research findings that have no physical boundaries. Basic agreed upon research standards and fundamentals must be established to ensure the validity and reliability of the body of academic research. Problematic to the situation are differences in cultural definitions of what constitutes plagiarism. Therefore, this study aimed to build the body of knowledge on the current condition of plagiarism levels as well as perform a sample comparison of some patterns in Eastern and Western culture. A document analysis was conducted for two universities, one in the USA and one in Saudi Arabia. In addition, a survey was conducted in an academic context in Saudi Arabia to investigate students’ and faculty’s understanding of what constitutes plagiarism. It was predicted that Saudi Arabia is shifting towards a Westernized definition of plagiarism; results partially supported this hypothesis. ت ع ت ب ر ا ل ن ز ا ھ ة ا لأ ك ا د ی م ی ة ذ ا ت أ ھ م ی ة ك ب ی ر ة ل ض م ا ن ت ح د ی د ث ا ب ت ل م ا ی ش ك ل ا لا ن ت ح ا ل ع ب ر م ن ا ط ق ا ل ع ا ل م . ت م ت د أ ب ح ا ث ا ل ن ز ا ھ ة ا لأ ك ا د ی م ی ة ع ل ى ن ط ا ق ع ا ل م ي و ب غ ض ا ل ن ظ ر ع ن ا ل م ك ا ن ا ل ذ ي ی ن ت م ي إ ل ی ھ ا ل ب ا ح ث ، ف ھ ي ت ع ت م د ع ل ى م ج م و ع ة م ن ن ت ا ئ ج ا لأ ب ح ا ث ا ل ت ي لا ت و ج د ل ھ ا ح د و د م ا د ی ة . ی ج ب و ض ع ا ل م ع ا ی ی ر ا لأ س ا س ی ة ا ل م ت ف ق ع ل ی ھ ا و ا لأ س ا س ی ا ت ل ض م ا ن ص ح ة و م و ث و ق ی ة ھ ی ئ ة ا ل ب ح ث ا لأ ك ا د ی م ي . ا لإ ش ك ا ل ی ة ف ي ا ل م و ق ف ھ ي ا خ ت لا ف ا ت ف ي ا ل ت ع ر ی ف ا ت ا ل ث ق ا ف ی ة ل م ا ی ش ك ل ا لا ن ت ح ا ل . و ل ذ ل ك ، ھ د ف ت ھ ذ ه ا ل د ر ا س ة إ ل ى ب ن ا ء ج س د ا ل م ع ر ف ة ح و ل ا ل ح ا ل ة ا ل ر ا ھ ن ة ل م س ت و ی ا ت ا لا ن ت ح ا ل و ك ذ ل ك إ ج ر ا ء م ق ا ر ن ة ن م و ذ ج ی ة ل ب ع ض ا لأ ن م ا ط ف ي ا ل ث ق ا ف ة ا ل ش ر ق ی ة و ا ل غ ر ب ی ة . ت م إ ج ر ا ء ت ح ل ی ل ل ل و ث ا ئ ق ل ج ا م ع ت ی ن ، و ا ح د ة ف ي ا ل و لا ی ا ت ا ل م ت ح د ة ا لأ م ر ی ك ی ة و و ا ح د ة ف ي ا ل م م ل ك ة ا ل ع ر ب ی ة ا ل س ع و د ی ة . ب ا لإ ض ا ف ة إ ل ى ذ ل ك ، أ ج ر ی ت د ر ا س ة ا س ت ق ص ا ئ ی ة ف ي س ی ا ق أ ك ا د ی م ي ف ي ا ل م م ل ك ة ا ل ع ر ب ی ة ا ل س ع و د ی ة ل ل ت ح ق ی ق ف ي ف ھ م ا ل ط لا ب و ھ ی ئ ة ا ل ت د ر ی س ل م ا ی ش ك ل ا لا ن ت ح ا ل . ك ا ن م ن ا ل م ت و ق ع أ ن ت ت ج ھ ا ل م م ل ك ة ا ل ع ر ب ی ة ا ل س ع و د ی ة ن ح و ت ع ر ی ف ا ل غ ر ب ی ی ن ل لا ن ت ح ا ل و ق د د ع م ت ا ل ن ت ا ئ ج ھ ذ ه ا ل ف ر ض ی ة ج ز ئ ی ا .