Edee Edwards, Dan Fraizer, Rachael Naismith

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CUT and PASTE and RUN
Plagiarism in the Global Electronic World

• Edee Edwards, Dan Fraizer, Rachael Naismith
• Springfield College
• 1/2007

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WHAT is plagiarism?

• Intentional - Knowingly presenting anothers
  material as their own
• Unintentional - Unknowingly misusing a source of
  information by incorrectly citing a source or not
  distinguishing clearly between the writers words
  and those of the source

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How common is plagiarism?

• Roig, Psychological Record survey, 1997
• 36 of undergraduates have admitted to
  plagiarizing written material
• 3 admitted to getting caught

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WHY do they do it?
Many reasons! Better grades Competition Laziness
Time Pressure Thinking they cant get caught Not
really understanding what plagiarism is
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WHAT are the consequences?

• Possible consequences of plagiarism include
• Failure of a paper or class and,
• per Springfield College Student Handbook
• Formal disciplinary hearing
• Warning
• Probation
• Suspension
• Expulsion

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How are students personally
affected? Students feel bad about doing
bad. Students feel guilty getting unearned
grades. Praise for stolen ideas feels
awful. Students dont learn important
content. Students dont learn important research
skills. Karma, karma, karma.
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WHO has to teach students what plagiarism is
and how to avoid it? WHO has to detect plagiarism
and take punitive action? WHO is
responsible???? EVERYONE - the faculty,
student and administrator has a responsibility

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Faculty should support students by

• Raising initial awareness
• Holding conferences with students
• Presenting appropriate models
• Giving clear statements of criteria for
  evaluation of writing and
• Encouraging documentation of the process of
  writing
• Source Council of Writing Program Administrators
  

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Students must take responsibility

• Students must be willing to learn to gather and
  evaluate sources and learn to cite them
  appropriately in consultation with instructors
  (information literacy).
• Source Council of Writing Program Administrators

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Administrators role

• Administrators should write clear statements of
  policies and expectations for research, provide
  support, and allow faculty more opportunities to
  provide individual attention and to pursue
  faculty development related to writing.
• Source Council of Writing Program Administrators

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HOW do faculty detect plagiarism?

• Unusual formatting
• Unusual or different writing styles
• Frequent changes in terminology
• Use of advanced vocabulary
• Paragraphs string together unrelated ideas

• References with missing citations
• Students can't summarize paper
• Students can't provide material
• Source Adapted from S. Roseman

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Search tools

• Search tools usually cannot search journal
  databases or books.
• They can search material from the Public Web
  (e.g., by using Google) or from student papers
  that they archive (e.g., Turn It In).
• Use with caution! They can miscue they may
  find phrases or sentences but not evidence of
  deliberate cheating.

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Specific plagiarism search tools

• Turnitinhttp//turnitin.com/static/home.html
• Various licensing options. Costs !
• Searches Internet (more than 2 billion pages
  updated at a rate of 30-40 million pages per
  day) Maintains a file for every student paper
  ever submitted to Turnitin.
• Google
• Usually the most useful. Search for unique
  keywords or phrases (five or six words in
  quotation marks). Searches the widest range of
  sources, is free and easy.

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What can students do to avoid it?

• When researching and notetaking, students can
  mark material clearly as something they will
  quote (Q), something coming from a source (S), or
  something they themselves have said (ME).
• When paraphrasing or summarizing students can
  write their own summary of the material without
  looking directly at the original as they write
  it, and then checking their version against the
  original.
• When quoting, students can put the name of the
  author near the quote, limit their use of quotes,
  and choose only the most appropriate quotes to
  cite.
• Source Purdue University Online Writing Lab

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What teachers can do to discourage plagiarism

• Require that students document their research
  processes. What materials can we ask students to
  submit?
• A research log, progress reports, drafts
• Annotated bibliographies
• Photocopies of sources
• A reflective essay on what they learned

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What teachers can do to discourage plagiarism
(cont.)

• Create assignments that teach students to cite
  reading materials effectively
• Build in incremental deadlines
• Ask students to start with an inventory of
  everything they know about a topic
• Use Manhattan to document evidence of early
  student writing on a topic
• Require students to submit papers electronically
• Intervene early

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WHERE to Get Help Tools to Help FacultyTools
to Help Students
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WHERE to Get Help Tools to Help FacultyTools
to Help Students
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Our References--Works cited in Powerpoint
presentation

• Bedford St. Martins. (2001). TechNotes
  Turnitin.com, a pedagogic placebo for plagiarism.
  Retrieved December 8, 2006, from
  http//bedfordstmartins.com/technotes/techtiparchi
  ve/ttip060501.htm
• Council of Writing Program Administrators.
  (2003). Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism The WPA
  Statement on Best Practices. Retrieved January
  11, 2007, from http//wpacouncil.org/positions/pla
  giarism.html
• Northwestern University Undergraduate Academic
  Conduct Committee. How to Avoid Plagiarism.
  (2003). Retrieved October 22, 2003, from
  http//www.northwestern.edu/uacc/plagiar.html
• Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2003).
  Avoiding plagiarism. Retrieved October 22, 2003,
  from http//owl.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research
  /r_plagiar.html
• Roig, M. (1997). Can undergraduate students
  determine whether text has been plagiarized?
  Psychological Record, 47(1), 113-122. Retrieved
  January 11, 2007, from the PsycINFO database.
• Roseman, S. (2004). Anti-plagiarism strategies
  for faculty. Retrieved December 13, 2006, from
  http//www.lib.uconn.edu/campuses/stamford/using/
• instruction/english/FacultyPresentation.ppt

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Our References

• SC web pages
• Springfield College Writing Center. (2006).
  Plagiarism accessed through path Springfield
  College home page/ college resources/ the writing
  center/ plagiarism. Retrieved January 11, 2007,
  from http//www.spfldcol.edu/homepage/dept.nsf/04E
  52AE2BE212E4245256BD80029D783/CC212898917976654525
  6DDA001CA60F
• Springfield College Babson Library. (2006).
  Avoiding plagiarism accessed through path
  Springfield College home page/ Babson Library/
  about the library/ avoiding plagiarism 101.
  Retrieved January 11, 2007, from
  http//www.springfieldcollege.edu/homepage/library
  .nsf/EB4F2767C562479445256BE5002DAE84/8B614C2E2389
  B206852570BD004AC2EB?OpenDocument
• Online tutorials for students
• Springfield College Babson Library. (2004).
  Searchpath tutorial Citing sources accessed
  through path Springfield College home page/
  Babson Library/ tutorials/ citing sources.
  Retrieved January 11, 2007, from
  http//lhgulick.spfldcol.edu21010/searchpath/mod6
  /index.html
• Acadia University Vaugh Memorial Library.
  (2005). You quote it, you note it. Retrieved
  January 11, 2007, from http//library.acadiau.ca/t
  utorials/plagiarism/
• Other websites
• Washington State University WSU Libraries.
  (2006). WSU plagiarism information site
  Plagiarism introduction. Retrieved January 11,
  2007, from
• http//www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/plagiarism/main.html