What is Plagiarism?

Definition: Plagiarism = presenting words, ideas, images, and/or sounds as your own

How serious is the problem? The Center of Academic Integrity reports that 80% of college students admit to cheating at least once. A survey by Psychological Record found that 36% of undergraduates admitted to plagiarizing written material. Education Week conducted a survey that revealed 54% of students admitted to plagiarizing from the Internet for their class assignments. This same survey also found that 47% of students believed their teachers sometimes chose to ignore evidence that students were cheating. http://freelance-writing.lovetoknow.com/Plagiarism_Statistics

One major survey of high school students found that 58 One major survey of high school students found that 58.3% of high school students let someone else copy their work in 1969, but 97.5% admitted to doing so in 1989. Who's Who Among American High School Students reported that 4 out of 5 high-achieving high school students admitted to cheating on schoolwork during a 1998 survey. University of California-Berkley officials report cheating on campus increased 744% from 1993 to 1997. http://freelance-writing.lovetoknow.com/Plagiarism_Statistics

Then you have probably plagiarized! Have you ever… Included words/ideas of others and did not cite source? Had help you wouldn’t want teacher to know about? Changed just a few words while trying to paraphrase? Printed or included a picture from the internet w/o citing the source?

Intentional vs Unintentional Brainstorm w/shoulder partner Two types of plagiarism: Intentional vs Unintentional Brainstorm w/shoulder partner In notes, list three examples of each

Two types of plagiarism: Intentional Copying a friend’s work Buying or borrowing papers Cutting/pasting blocks of text from electronic sources w/o citing source Media “borrowing” graphics w/o citing source Web publishing without permissions of creators Unintentional Careless paraphrasing Poor documentation Quoting excessively Failure to use your own “voice”

Brainstorm w/shoulder partner Excuses for plagiarism: Brainstorm w/shoulder partner Three excuses for plagiarizing Write in your notes

(Job, big game, too much homework!) Excuses Everyone does it! It’s okay if I don’t get caught! I was too busy to write that paper! (Job, big game, too much homework!) This assignment was BORING! I’ve got to get into ??? U.! My teachers expect too much! My parents expect “A”s!

Why should you avoid plagiarizing? Is your academic reputation valuable to you? Copying = cheating yourself (limit own learning). Consequences = not worth risks! Right = give credit to authors whose ideas you use. Citing = authority to the information you present. Citing = your readers can locate your source. Education = not “us vs. them” (game = learning to learn)! Cheating = unethical behavior (character education)!

Real life consequences: Damaged reputation of 2 important historians: Stephen Ambrose /Doris Kearns Goodwin Ambrose disgraced as historian; no longer considered a reliable source Kearns left television position /is no longer a Pulitzer Prize judge = copied 50 passages for her 1987 book The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys (Lewis) 45 students dismissed at Univ. of VA, 3 graduate degrees revoked Midshipmen and Cadets @ all the service academies (West Point, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, and Coast Guard Academy) =“separated” if discovered to be plagiarizing; must pay back $350,000 scholarship

Strategies to avoid plagiarism Practice good research methods Know how to quote Know how to cite Know when something is common knowledge Know how to paraphrase

8th Grade policy on plagiarizing: Is it worth the risk? Re-do for 50% credit and parent notification for first offense Automatic zero, parent notification, and office referral on all subsequent offense

“Cyber-cheating” in the digital age Plagiarism before the Internet era: books, journals, fraternity test files, etc. In the present day: far easier to cheat, but it’s also growing easier to detect

“Cyber-cheating” in the digital age Technology has made it easier to track down and identify cases of plagiarism – you won’t get away with it. TurnItIn.com Subscribe by organization http://www.grammarly.com/?q=plagiarism Free to anyone

The Answer is “YES!”

CONCLUSION Accidental plagiarism = intentional Plan ahead / use good research skills Won’t be in time crunch Won’t feel pressured to plagiarize Learn from past mistakes Understand = plagiarism can cost your Reputation Grade HS Diploma College Degree Career

Some slides = courtesy of Springfield School District, Oreland, Pa. http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/powerpoint/plagiarism.ppt Graphics= courtesy of the following: http://www.stjohns.edu http://www.imagechef.com http://www.keeble.ox.ac.uk http://www.marketingtochina.com http://libguides.hct.ac.ae/content http://www.jameswwilson.com/wordpress http://library.austincc.edu