Developing Plagiarism Policies in EFL Contexts: A Saudi Arabian Focus

Abstract:

This commentary responds to the approach used in establishing a plagiarism policy for preparatory year students at a medical university in Saudi Arabia. While appropriating others’ ideas and passing them off as one’s own is considered unethical in Western academia, the concept of textual ownership varies from culture to culture. Thus, this paper investigates the pedagogical and academic currency of establishing plagiarism policies in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts (and Saudi Arabia specifically) without accounting for the role local writing traditions and culture play in academia. Whereas much previous literature has examined plagiarism policies situated in English as a second language (ESL) contexts, this paper examines challenges that may be particular to EFL contexts and lays out a framework for establishing plagiarism policies therein.