## 3 Results and Discussion
### Why Do Students Plagiarize?
#### 3.2.3 Academic Pressures and Barriers  
The most significant category was about different types of personal and academic pressures, and different barriers. These themes were mentioned by 140 students. These pressures and barriers appeared to force the students to plagiarize, as they could not manage or find a solution. This category contained six themes generated with Nvivo: poor time management, workload, stress from competition, a fear of failure, a desire for good grades, and language abilities.  
Poor time management was the most frequently cited reason, as 49 students mentioned it. Time management substantially affects students across the world [47]. Many students have plagiarized to save time for other activities [2]. According to the participants, many students either wasted their time on other activities, or they simply could not manage their time properly. Therefore, they chose to plagiarize, as it would take less time to complete their work. One student wrote, \"... poor time management skills [will] in turn leave [students with] no choice [but] to cheat or plagiarize\".  
Another participant described the students' attitude in these words,  
_\"They do not manage their time very well and handle situations poorly. They focus on their [assignments] at [the] last moment [and work over a] very short time;] it is very hard for students to do excellent work. So they try to get material online and finish their tasks.\"_Another determinant mentioned by five students was workload. Students said that their academic workload was too much to handle, so in order to manage heavy workload, they had to plagiarize. This has also been found in the literature [48]. Two students further indicated that a heavy workload was also related to time management. One student wrote that, even if they work hard, they cannot finish their workload on time. They had to cheat.  
Sixty-three students mentioned stress from competition (10), a fear of failure (33), and a pressure to receive grades (20). This is understandable, as the education system in Pakistan measures students' performance in terms of marks and exam scores [49]. Those who receive higher marks tend to thrive in their professional life. This forces the students to aim for higher marks rather than cultivate their abilities. In order to compete with their fellow students, and to meet the required standards, some students decide to plagiarize. One student wrote, _\"There is tough competition... we have to get high marks, [and that is it].\"_ Many students admitted that, in higher education, the fear of failure was one of the more important determinants for plagiarism. One of them wrote, _\"If a student does not pass in an exam, people make fun of him. It is [shameful] for [a] student to get low grades. Many are afraid to fail. So they find other ways [such as] cheating to pass.\"_ The literature also indicates the stress of competition, a fear of failure, and a pressure to receive good grades as more significant factors [13; 15; 18].  
In addition to the themes mentioned above, 23 students mentioned the language barrier as one of the determinants. This seems to be a serious problem in countries such as Pakistan, where the language of the curriculum, instructions, and examinations is different from the daily language of communication [50]. This points to the fact that mostly books, assignments, and exams are in English. However, students communicate with each other in Urdu (the national language of Pakistan) or in a regional/ethnic language. As one student wrote, _\"Students face difficulty in translating their thoughts from their mother tongue to English. So they use [a] 'copy-paste' method. It is not because we don't have ideas or knowledge [; rather,] it is because many cannot write their ideas in English.\"_ English language writing is especially troublesome for nonnative speakers [50; 51; 52]. While conducting a study about Japanese students, [PERSON] also found that a foreign-language-induced fear of failure was one of the main causes for plagiarism [53].