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March 1, 2003
Plagiarism
By Diane Forte Barfield
Plagiarism, the use of others' ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information, is not new. The problem has existed as long as there have been teachers and students, but the recent growth of the Internet and the use of its resources by more and more students has made the problem much worse. Studies by anti-plagiarism sites like turnitin.com indicate a serious level of plagiarism, with some experts estimating that a third of all students plagiarize on every assignment without getting caught. Teachers often do not check for plagiarism as carefully as they should, partly because of time limits and partly due to lack of information on strategies and resources. This type of knowledge is not a customary part of the training offered to teachers, and may not be addressed at all unless a teacher seeks information. There are strategies of awareness, prevention, and detection available to educators in the fight against plagiarism.
Plagiarism ranges from copying a paper from a friend to buying or downloading a prepared paper from the Internet. As author Harris notes, students may also copy-paste from different sources to create a patchwork paper made of partial quotes. Teachers who wish to stop these practices must be prepared to combat them with several levels of strategies.
The first step in preventing cheating through plagiarism is to be aware of the reasons students engage in the behavior. For example, many students are interested in taking the shortest route possible through a course or assignment. Copying sometimes seems to be a very attractive way to complete work in a shorter time, and may appeal to a student who feels overloaded. Students today also have many things to accomplish and schoolwork sometimes ends up low on the priority list, especially if it is not interesting to the student. On the same lines, students have little time in their busy schedules, and often end up putting assignments off until the last minute. Add to these concerns a lack of confidence in writing skills on the part of the student and a situation is created that makes cheating seem to be a very good solution.
Once a teacher is aware of the dangers and possible presence of plagiarism, the strategies of prevention should be put in place. Defining plagiarism for students is not enough; discussions need to be held about the reasons that it is wrong with clearly presented consequences. In addition to discussing the problem, teachers can structure assignments to encourage originality and discourage copying. This includes: a). assigning papers well in advance; b). giving students the choice about the topic to research; c). dividing the research into many small steps plus requiring work to be turned in along the way; and d). reassuring students of writing help. Harris suggests that all are proven strategies for stopping plagiarism.
Making assignments very clear, requiring oral reports and bibliographies - especially annotated bibliographies - and requiring current references are also effective strategies in the prevention of cheating by copying. In the article entitled "Preventing, Detecting and Tracking Online Plagiarism" (Hinchliffe) the author agrees with other experts and recommends that teachers emphasize the processes involved in research and not just the end result. By requiring multiple drafts and a reflective essay at the conclusion of the project, teachers can check for real understanding and authentic work.
Even though the advent of the World Wide Web and its unlimited sources of easily-plagiarized material keeps teachers struggling to check all of the papers they assign, it is becoming more and more obvious that the effort is necessary. Students can readily find prepared papers from many sites. A metasearch of the Internet for the subject "ready-made papers" reveals such websites as "School Sucks", "Other People's Papers", "Absolutely Free Online Essays", "Evil House of Cheat", and many, many more. This may make stopping plagiarism seem impossible to already busy, stressed teachers. Even by employing the strategies already discussed, teachers may feel they are fighting a losing battle. But teachers need to realize that plagiarism leads to sloppy work - students often turn copied papers in without proofreading them. A careful teacher can easily detect this type of work (Ryan). The clues may be in mixed citation styles. Copying and pasting from different papers often results in mottled formatting and students may not take the time to correct or standardize the citations. Unusual or inconsistent formatting in the body of the paper is also a hint, as is writing that is off-topic. Finally, a lack of references or quotations may indicate a copied paper.
Although the Internet is the best source of plagiarism, it can also be a source of help for the teacher who is attempting to stop it. Some sites give concrete examples of acceptable and unacceptable paraphrasing and quoting. Others offer tutorials such as "Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Avoid It" (CETL) which can be used by both students and teachers. Teachers can also type a portion of the suspect paper into an Internet search engine and find matches to search for identical papers. And there are powerful new software and sites such as the above-mentioned fee-based turnitin.com that let teachers copy papers into a form and submit them for originality searches.
Although it has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, to "imitate" without giving credit to the originator of the work is not only illegal but hurts both the students who engage in the cheating and those who don't. The honest students are often forgotten in this discussion. But imagine the lesson taught when they see the teacher accepting plagiarized material. The student who works hard and does original work may suffer when his work is measured against a paper that is more polished because it was bought or copied. It benefits everyone involved when teachers are aware of plagiarism and do all they can to stop it by using the strategies available to them to detect and prevent copying at all levels.
Email: Diane Forte Barfield
References
Plagiarism. Provided by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Discusses what is plagiarism and why is it important.
Evaluating Internet Research Sources (http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm). Author Robert Harris.
Anti-plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers. Author Robert Harris.
Cut and Paste Plagiarism: Preventing, Detecting, and Tracking Online Plagiarism. Author Lisa Hinchliffe.
Student Plagiarism in an Online World. Author Julie J.C.H. Ryan.
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