Dealing with Student Plagiarism

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Dealing with Student Plagiarism

• Or
• If Stephen Ambrose can do it, why cant I?

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Presented by

• F. Bartow Culp
• Chemistry Librarian
• Mellon Library of Chemistry

• Song Yu
• Chemical Information Specialist
• Purdue Libraries

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Plagiarize, Let no one else's work evade your
eyes, Remember why the good Lord made your
eyes, So don't shade your eyes, But plagiarize,
plagiarize, plagiarize... Only be sure always to
call it please, "research".
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Plagiarize, Let no one else's work evade your
eyes, Remember why the good Lord made your
eyes, So don't shade your eyes, But plagiarize,
plagiarize, plagiarize... Only be sure always to
call it please, research. -from Lobachevsky
by Tom Lehrer
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Purdue example, 2001

• A student lifted several paragraphs from a text
  as part of her answer to a take-home exam
  question.
• When confronted by the teacher, she was adamant
  in refusing to admit she had committed
  plagiarism.
• Her defense was My English teacher said that,
  if I change every seventh word, it isnt
  plagiarism.

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Plagerism, Plaigerism, Plagiarism

• Definitions
• Scope of the problem
• Deterrence
• Detection
• Sources of information

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Plagiarism Using anothers work without giving
credit
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The many faces of plagiarism

• Sloppy documentation
• Omitting quotation marks
• Paraphrasing without acknowledgement
• Copying without acknowledgement
• Intentional obfuscation
• Context change
• Missing footnotes
• False references

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The many faces of plagiarism

• Intentional use of anothers work
• Without collusion
• With collusion
• Buying work from a paper mill or reference
  service

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Cyberplagiarism pandemic or same-old/same-old?

• The popular press refers to a plague of
  plagiarism, but
• A survey of 698 students from 8 universities
  showed about the same amount of print (27.6) and
  electronic (24.5) plagiarism
• P.M. Scanlon D.R. Neumann, Journal of College
  Student Development, forthcoming
• These numbers are comparable to plagiarism levels
  measured in the 1960s and early 1990s

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Cyberplagiarism avant le deluge?

• Students perceptions are that over 90 of their
  peers copy without citing sources
• The Napster generation is upon us

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Deterrence vs. detection

• Whats the relationship to be?
• Professor/student,
• or
• Officer/truant

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Effective deterrence

• Set expectations include discussion of academic
  integrity in course syllabus
• Track the progress of large projects
• Choose project topics with care
• Have examples of proper citation practices (safe
  cites) easily available

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Effective deterrence- WWYSD

• Would plagiarism as a strategy for student
  conduct in your courses outweigh all the risks,
  costs and disadvantages?
• What would your students do?

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Detection DIY

• String searching on Web browsers
• Choose unusual word groupings or misspellings
  use double quotes to search for the phrase as
  written
• Keyword searching of a subject in a hierarchical
  directory like Yahoo
• Consult generally available electronic resources
  Encarta, PUL resources, etc.

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Plagiarize, Let no one else's work evade your
eyes, Remember why the good Lord made your
eyes, So don't shade your eyes, But plagiarize,
plagiarize, plagiarize... Only be sure always to
call it please, "research".
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Detection software

• http//plagiarism.phys.virginia.edu/
• http//www.turnitin.com/
• http//www.plagiserve.com/

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Resources

• Purdue University
• Avoiding Plagiarism. Purdue Online Writing Lab
  http//owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_
  plagiar.html
• Academic Integrity. Office of the Dean of
  Students
• Other Universities
• Duke University Center for Academic Integrity.
  http//www.academicintegrity.org/
• University of Virginia Physics Department.
  http//plagiarism.phys.virginia.edu/
• University of California at Davis.
  http//sja.ucdavis.edu/avoid.htm

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References

• Books
• Mallon, Thomas. Stolen Words. San Diego
  Harcourt, 2001.
• Buranen, L.,ed. Perspectives on Plagiarism.
  Albany, NY SUNY, 1999.
• St. Onge, K. The Melancholy Anatomy of
  Plagiarism. Lanham, MD University Press of
  America, 1988.
• Mawdsley R. Academic Misconduct Cheating and
  Plagiarism. Topeka KS NOLPE, 1994.
• LaFollette, M. Stealing into Print Fraud,
  Plagiarism, and Misconduct in Scientific
  Publishing. Berkeley University of California
  Press, 1992.

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References
Julie J.C.H. Ryan. Student plagiarism in and
online world. Prism online. Dec. 1998. ASSE.
Feb. 20, 2002 lthttp//www.asee.org/prism/december/
html/student_plagiarism_in_an_onlin.htmgt
.Jeffrey R. Young. The Cat-and-Mouse Game of
Plagiarism Detection. Chronicle of Higher
Education. 47(43) 2001 A26. Feb. 20, 2002
lthttp//chronicle.com/free/v47/i43/43a02601.htmgt.
Mary Clarke-Pearson . Download. Steal. Copy.
Cheating at the University. Nov. 27, 2001 49
par. Daily Pennsylvanian. Feb. 20, 2002
lthttp//www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vnews/display.v
/ART/2001/11/27/3c03502bad345?in_archive1 gt.
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References
Thinking and talking about plagiarism. Online
posting. Dec. 3, 2001. Technology Teaching,
Bedford/St. Martins. Feb. 20, 2002
lthttp//www.bedfordstmartins.com/technotes/techtip
archive/ttip102401.htm gt.Libraries. Dealing
with Cut and Paste Student Plagiarism. Oct. 3,
2000. Michigan State University. Feb. 20, 2002.
lthttp//www.lib.msu.edu/lorenze1/lilly/ gt.
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We have met the enemy, and he is us.-Albert
Alligator (Walt Kelly)

• "An article entitled Epidermal growth
  factor receptor a transcription
  factor?,published in the November 2001 issues of
  TiBS (Trends Biochem. Sci.26,645646), TiG (
  Trends Genet. 17, 625626) and TEM ( Trends
  Endocrinol. Metab.12, 431), contains large tracts
  of text that have been copied from a previously
  published Nature Cell Biology News and Views
  article
• -TiBS (2002) Vol 27 2 p64

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• A New York court ruled Thursday that Cornell
  University was  not liable in a lawsuit claiming
  that one of its professors  had plagiarized the
  dissertation of a former doctoral student.
• (From CHE Online, 18 February,2002)