Aim : To create awareness of plagiarism among dental students. Background : Plagiarism is defined as an unauthorized appropriation of another’s work,ideas,methods,results or or words without acknowledging the source and original author. Plagiarism seems to have increased with the availability of internet access, simply because so much matter is readily available, and it is so easy to copy. Despite an increased awareness of the dangers of plagiarism in academic circles and the media, plagiarism is present in scientific writing. Materials and methods : Self administered questionnaire was based on the awareness of plagiarism . The questionnaire was distributed through an online survey google form. The study population included 127 college students. The questionnaire was carefully studied and corresponding answers were marked by the participants. The data was collected and statistically analysed using SPSS software. Result : 80.31% of the participants were aware about plagiarism. When asked if plagiarism is an act of malpractice in academics 77.95% responded yes. When asked if they practised plagiarism 48.82% responded yes and 49.61% responded no. Conclusion : This study shows us the knowledge and awareness of plagiarism among dental students. More awareness has to be spread in order to restrict the practice of plagiarism in the upcoming years.

Plagiarism; Scientific writing; Academic misconduct; innovative dental survey