Detecting and Preventing Plagiarism in Final Year Projects Report: The Role of The Electrical Engineering Department at POLIMAS

Abstract

Plagiarism in final year projects poses a serious challenge in technical education, particularly in diploma-level Electrical Engineering (EE) courses. Faculty members play a crucial role in detecting and preventing plagiarism through structured academic policies, technological tools, and pedagogical approaches. This paper explores the methods used by POLIMAS’s Electrical Engineering Department to ensure originality in final year project reports carried out by the final year students in three (3) programs: Diploma in Electrical Engineering (DET), Diploma in Electrical & Electronic Engineering (DEE), and Diploma in Electronic Engineering (Communication) (DEP). This paper discusses various common types of plagiarism among EE students, analyzes the effectiveness of plagiarism detection tools employed to assess plagiarism trends, as well as explores the challenges of enforcing academic integrity. Findings indicate that inadequate awareness, time constraints, and ease of access to online resources contribute to plagiarism. By utilizing detection software tools, variations in similarity percentages can be identified. For those exceeding the similarity threshold percentage, revisions are required. The challenges faced by the EE Department in enforcing academic integrity are that students use AI-based tools to generate seemingly original content, making detection difficult. Furthermore, most of the students are unaware of proper citation practices, as well as the lack of enforcement of plagiarism policies introduced against plagiarism. The study recommends enhancing the academic writing practice workshop to strengthen academic integrity in POLIMAS’s EE Department. Additionally, institutional interventions should be implemented as a key factor in preventing plagiarism among EE students.

Keywords: Plagiarism, Plagiarism Detection, Plagiarism Prevention, Project Report