Plagiarism

Plagiarism: Just the Facts

This is the act of appropriating passages from the work of another individual, either word for word or in substance, and representing them as one's own work. This includes any submission of written work other than one's own. NVCC Student Handbook: 2007-2009 pps. 79-80.

Recent offenders:
Stephen Ambrose Doris Kearns Goodwin American Prospect and the Doomsday Clock

Low Profile Offenders --- classroom examples, discussion of scope and scale of problem

Prevention Issues
Is it a question of intent -- accidental or intentional or just plain ignorance?
Who plagiarizes and do we need to understand why ?
Talking and thinking about it great list of annotated web sites .
Prevention & Detection Florida International University
Writing Center - Loudoun campus, composition basics and citing sources
How to cite information (MLA, APA, etc.) - Duke University

Examples of faculty notices to students
Charlie Evans' note to students

Suggested Preventions -- sample assignment strategies

create a list of topics from which students can choose
develop a list of specific questions the assignment should answer
emphasize content & critical thinking and not just format
ask students to react to an article, quotation, reading, etc.

How can we detect it?
Search engines: Google, Alta Vista, and Allthe Web are particularly good at finding phrases or entire sentences because they search deeply into a web site. Enclose the suspected phrase or sentence within quotation marks.
Software: TurnItin.com

Consequences
Academic dishonesty cannot be condoned. When such misconduct is established as having occurred, it subjects you to possible disciplinary actions ranging from admonition to dismissal, along with any grade penalty the instructor might, in appropriate cases, impose. 2007-2009 NVCC Student Handbook p 79.

Recent articles: Proxy (remote access required to read articles from home computers)
         Dishonor & distrust: student plagiarism is now as easy as pointing and clicking.
         What's a professor to do? (Column) Sara Burnett
         Community College Week, July 8, 2002.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Plagiarism Buster! Brandishing a red pen in place of a red cape, I fight to rescue words from literary bandits. (detecting plagiarism) Brief Article) Column) Gillian Silverman.
Newsweek, July 15, 2002.

Plagiarism, fabrication, and lack of attribution: the misuse of information is pervasive and professionally challenging. (Legal Issues). Stephanie C. Ardito Information Today July-August 2002.

What to do with a thought thief. (point of view). (Column) Peggy Whiteneck Community College Week, July 8, 2002.