According to the Council of Writing Program
Administrators, “Plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s
languages, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) materials without
acknowledging its source” (Quinn, 2006) (as cited by Jocoy & DiBiase,
2006). Plagiarism is a violation of academic integrity. Therefore, educators
have a responsibility to assist students in the development of moral reasoning.
This can be accomplished through the detection and remediation of specific violations.
On the other hand, some educators suggest that concern with plagiarism should
be more about teaching students to appreciate the development of knowledge,
acknowledge intellectual contributions of others, and represent the process of
building on existing knowledge in academic writing and less about violating
rules and copyright laws (Howard, 2003) (as cited by Jocoy & DiBiase,
2006).
The ability to detect plagiarism has increased over
the years due to increased internet use. EVE (Essay Verification Engine) and
Turnitin.com compare individual student papers to Web documents and/or to essay
databases to find and report instances of matching text. Also, free online
search engines such as Google allow instructors to track down copied phrases.
Paloff and Pratt suggest that many learners don’t consider copying and pasting
from websites as plagiarism or reusing their work from previous courses as
cheating. One strategy to use in order to reduce plagiarism and cheating is to
incorporate plagiarism instruction. Soto, Anand, and McGee (2004) (as cited by
Jocoy & DiBiase, 2006), found that students who received no explicit
plagiarism instruction plagiarized twice as often as those who participated in
active instructional activities such as class discussions of definitions of
plagiarism. Paloff and Pratt suggest designing assessments that are challenging
and mirror real-life expectations. By designing such assessments, students will
be spending more time conducting research and seeking assistance rather than
cheating.
Additional considerations to help detect or prevent
plagiarism and cheating could be to develop clear and concise guidelines to
communicate expectations with regard to plagiarism. The customized guidelines
would spell out proper citation of text and graphic source material in student assignments
specific to the course. As suggested by Jocoy and DiBiase (2006), students
would be held accountable to the guidelines by requiring them to pass an
academic integrity quiz. Research suggests there is a correlation between
carefully designed instruction about plagiarism and fewer infractions (Soto,
Anand, & McGee, 2004) (as cited by Jocoy & DiBiase, 2006).
References
Jocoy, C., & DiBiase, D. (2006). Plagiarism by
adult learners online: A case study in detection and remediation. International
Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 7(1), 1–15.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer).
(2012i). Plagiarism and cheating.
Baltimore, MD: Author.
