Electronic Plagairism Seminar

PREVENTING PLAGIARISM:  Some strategies

• Talk about plagiarism as an ethical and moral issue, an issue of trust between student and faculty, and among peers.
• Talk about plagiarism as a legal issue of fair use and intellectual property.  Students need to know and understand copyright and intellectual property.
• Point out the penalties (they aren't the same as for using the wrong margins or forgetting an apostrophe)
• Talk about past cases, let them know that you have caught other students and tell them what happened (failed the course?)
• Make sure students know what plagiarism is. One student said that it wasn't plagiarism because it was on the Internet; another said it wasn't plagiarism because there was no copyright symbol. One professor tells his/her students that it's not plagiarism if you take it out of an encyclopedia because "that's common knowledge." Make sure they understand how to paraphrase and summarize.
• Talk about it often!
• Remember for your own benefit that many students don't plagiarize, and those who cheat hurt those who don't.

Lathrop and Foss include in their book (pp. 130-131) an interview with Dr. Rushworth M. Kidder entitled "Why shouldn't I cheat?" It raises some very good points worth discussing with our students. 

Lasarenko offers her strategies for teaching students how to paraphrase, and as a bonus, how not to plagiarize.

Papers shorter than six pages not only teach the student to be more precise but also usually rule out custom paper mills, since six pages is often the minimum. 
However,  many essays (no bibliographies or references) that are very short and free can be found on the Internet, as well as in the library. 

Try not to make the paper count for a very large proportion of the grade. If you are unable to avoid that, try breaking down the points assigned to the paper (Harris 2001), such as a certain number of points for the first draft, for the bibliography, for the notes, etc., so that the final paper itself is only a portion of the final grade for the process.

Ask for photocopies of title pages of sources used, or even photocopies of the entire article or passage used. This allows you to quickly check for plagiarism in these sources if the student actually wrote the paper, and also requires the student to actually retrieve the resources in the paper. 

Ask for an annotated bibliography, and the earlier the better. Asking for it in advance of the paper insures that the student has done some work, and allows you to check the final bibliography against the initial one. Several classes at Le Moyne require students to work with a librarian on developing a bibliography ahead of time.  Make students get approval before using sources for a paper (always recommended for web sites). 

Require primary sources. Primary sources may be something as simple as statistics, or an individual's research results, or an interview.

Pick unique, unusual topics, very current events, or topics specific to your institution or region.  Base the assignment on a specific question.

Make the topic very specific to the goals of the class. Perhaps include something from a discussion or the readings.

"Inform students that a part of an examination late in the course will sample their knowledge of the data they submit in their paper."  (Malehorn, p.107) 

Make the assignment something other than a paper, such as a process. 
For suggestions, see the Columbia Gorge Community College page on Alternatives to Term Papers.

One professor at this institution is downloading all his students' papers, making them searchable (only by him) for future detection.  Eventually, we may set up a campus-wide data base of student papers. 

Be wary of the request for a last-minute change in a topic. This often signals the intent to plagiarize after putting off the paper too long. 

To forestall claims of accidental or inadvertent plagiarism, allow students to submit their papers to TurnItIn.com, or encourage them to search for questionable phrases in the advanced mode of Google.

Ask students to reflect on the research and writing process (briefly?) at the end of the paper--what worked, what didn't, any surprises. (Boehm and Taggett) Interview them about the process, or ask specific questions about the paper.

If you have only one paper for the semester, break down the points given into various parts of the paper, such as the rough draft, the resources used, the process, etc. The final paper may be only half of the points awarded for this paper project.
 

Writing Process.  You are probably as interested in the process as in the final product (be sure to articulate the goal(s) of the assignment), so you could have students write drafts in class, and hand them in along the way. Ask them to write very short papers often, rather than one long paper due at the end of the semester. (One technique used in a class I took was to pick a topic, write sentences; next week write a paragraph; the following week write a full page; at the end of the semester I handed in a 20-page paper.) 

Plagiarism is most often the result of panic when faced with a last-minute paper to write, so getting the students started on the process early avoids that  reason. 

Make the topic of the paper a response to a specific question.

Require that the paper address some discussion or readings from the class.

Let students know that you know about the paper mill sites, and also that you know of web sites designed to help you catch plagiarism. 

Most of the sources used in the papers from paper mills are very old, so current references should be required and looked for. 

Show students a bad paper from a paper mill: analyze it in class, use it to teach them how to write a good paper (or how to identify a good one to plagiarize?). Most of these papers are not very good, so critiquing it in class will bring that home. Encourage them by letting them know you think they could do better.
Talk about quality control, lack of guarantees, and the fact that a paper got an A from one professor is no guarantee that it will from another (if in fact it did, and why would you believe that?).

Maas writes about his paraphrasing clinics for students at Wiley College, using E Prime, and offers PowerPoint presentations of his work, at http://www.generalsemantics.org/Articles/E-Prime_Plagiarism_Proof.htm (I find this approach fascinating--like learning Klingon!)

Honor Codes and Academic Integrity.  Many schools are now implementing an academic integrity policy, or honor code, which seems to be working (downside: one school (UVa) reported that a higher percentage of students of color seem to be turned in [Kelly]). For more information on honor codes and a list of institutions with honor codes and statements on academic integrity (especially the Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity project conducted by the Center), see the Center for Academic Integrity. See also the Center for Applied and Professional Ethics , and the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.

New York State recently enacted the Safe Schools Against Violence in Education (SAVE) (2000), which requires all school districts to adopt codes of conduct. While I have not seen many of these codes, it is my understanding that many of them address the issue of plagiarism. Ask your local district or BOCES for a copy of the code.

Another institute very involved in academic integrity and ethics is the John Templeton Foundation, publisher of the guide Colleges that encourage character development: a resource guide for parents, students, and educators.  (Templeton Foundation Press, 1999).  The web site maintains lists of institutions in the guide, as well as resources (very useful), outstanding presidents, and criteria. The book lists 35 institutions, with half-page descriptions, that have academic honesty programs.

The recent case at the University of Virginia   (also available in paper format--please see bibliography below under Argetsinger) shows that plagiarism does indeed take place at institutions with an honor code. Professor Bloomfield has offered the software he developed at U-VA to the the public, and can be accessed at The Plagiarism Resource Center at The University of Virginia http://plagiarism.phys.virginia.edu  .  The software works only for local text downloaded on your own computer, and looks for matching text. 
 
What does this author do when talking to students about plagiarism? I start with the list of definitions, and we discuss them. They ask questions, and raise objections, problems,  and conflicts. We discuss issues that affect their lives, such as Napster or a low grade for improper citations. I try to avoid preaching and instead let them raise the ethical issues. I try to remember that those who cheat are going to do it no matter what I say, that my job is to help them think about it, and to let them make their own informed choices.