Those following the school cheating scandals in this country can take some comfort in the fact no nation seems free of this problem.

Further comfort can also be had in the fact that at least American kids know they are cheating and can turn a profit.  European students are a little less informed.

Many students do not understand what plagiarism is, according to a Europe-wide study.

Asked about a situation where 40 percent of a submission is copied word for word without using quotations, citations or references, 91 percent of respondents accurately identify this as plagiarism.

However, in the same situation where “some changes” have been made to the copied text, almost 40 percent say they do not think it is plagiarism or are unsure whether it is. Among British students the figure is 31 percent, compared with just 6 percent in the “word for word” scenario.

“It’s surprising how many students are not sure whether that’s plagiarism or have changed their minds from a previous question, when actually it’s the same,” said Irene Glendinning, a member of the Impact of Policies for Plagiarism in Higher Education across Europe project.

“You’ve still taken the idea and almost the same words, and used them without acknowledgment. You could even say it is worse, because the student is trying to deceive that it is their work or avoid detection software.”

The study is the result of a three-year project led by Coventry University, based on an anonymous and voluntary survey of almost 5,000 students, teachers and senior managers across Europe.

Data from the survey also show that almost a third of British students think they have plagiarized either deliberately or accidentally. This compares with 65 percent in Lithuania, 46 percent in France and only 10 percent in Germany.

However, Glendinning, academic manager for student experience at Coventry’s Faculty of Engineering and Computing, pointed out that the results had to be understood with reference to students’ understanding of what plagiarism is. “Some people believe they have never plagiarized. It might be because they haven’t, but it might also be that they don’t understand what it is,” she said.

The results showed that students need more education on the subject, she added.