Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism Nancy Bou Ayyash Caroline Wilkinson.

Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism

Nancy Bou Ayyash Caroline Wilkinson

To assist students in understanding plagiarism, it is important to introduce and discuss different definitions of the term.

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The Roman poet Martial extended the meaning of the Latin word plagiarics (kidnapper) to indicate the theft of words as well as of slaves” (“Plagiarisms” 165)

“The technical term for stealing someone else’s intellectual property” (Teaching Information Literacy 41)

Students can Avoid Plagiarism by Understanding the Concept of Patchwriting.

Howard defines patchwriting as “copying from a source text and then deleting some words, altering grammatical structures, or plugging in one-for-one synonym-substitutes. If you submit work that is patchwritten, you will have done poor writing and will get a commensurately poor grade” (“Pentimento” 237).

Many Instructors Think Students Plagiarize for Two Reasons.

An absence of ethics An ignorance of citation conventionsHoward argues that plagiarism usually happens

because of an unfamiliarity with terms and concepts.

Terms like intentional and unintentional plagiarism explain why many students plagiarize.

Intentional plagiarism-ease of information retrieval, poor time management

Unintentional Plagiarism- confusion about terminology, confusion about expectations,misconceptions about plagiarism

We think teaching the term common knowledge and the complexities of this term assist in avoiding plagiarism.

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Clear examples of common knowledge

names of leaders of prominent nations

basic scientific laws

fundamental concepts in a discipline

Many Cultures Possess Different Perceptions of Plagiarism and Copyright than the US

• In some cultures in Asia and the Middle East, political or religious authorities are quoted without attribution because readers are expected to know what texts are being circulated.

EVANS, F.B. AND YOUMANS, M., 2000. ESL writers discuss plagiarism: the social construction of ideologies. Journal of Education, 182 (3), 49-65.

• Asian students, whose cultures have a more collective sense of identity, have a difficulty grasping issues of copyright and distinctions between individual and public property.

• Italian students viewed copying from sources as acceptable and a mark of respect or flattery the to original author.

Plagiarism Detection Software and Systems are solutions that have been utilized before, but are not necessarily effective.

• Criticisms about change of emphasis from teaching about plagiarism and working with sources to policing plagiarism

• Calls among several rhetoric and composition specialists pedagogical pursuits rather than punitive ones (Rebecca Howard; James Purdy, etc.)

Instructors can Use Alternative Ways for Preventing Plagiarism

Creating unique writing prompts where students are unlikely to find suitable work to copy

Varying assignments or assigned readings each time the same course is taught

Assigning specific readings or materials that students must use in completing their writing assignment

Breaking large projects or research papers into a series of milestone assignments where you monitor students’ work at various stages

Creating an in-class writing assignment on the day the project is due that requires a detailed knowledge of the project.

The Following Activities are Helpful in Discussing and Explaining Plagiarism to Students

Story Film: Intellectual Vengeance

http://video.nku.edu/index.php/videos?task=viewvideo&video_id=828

Expert Film 1: Credit Where Credit Is Due http://video.nku.edu/index.php/videos?task=viewvideo&video_id=832

Expert Film 2: Copyright and Fair Use http://video.nku.edu/index.php/videos?task=viewvideo&video_id=829

Plagiarism Discussion Activity 1

Authorship, Rights of Authors, Responsible Use of Other’s Work

Plagiarism Discussion Activity 2

Real Life Scenarios

The Primary Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism are Paraphrasing, Critical

Reading, and Summarizing

• Guiding students through understanding and engaging with their sources can be achieved by doing collaborative paraphrasing and summarizing activities as a class or in groups.

• Learning about and practicing summarizing and paraphrasing strategies are indispensible research tools.

• Knowing the difference between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing can help them to avoid plagiarizing.

The ability to Paraphrase is a very essential academic skill that students must develop to ethically work with sources without plagiarizing

Avoiding Plagiarism Handout and Worksheet: Paraphrases

Critical reading and summarizing are effective strategies for students to avoid plagiarism.

Howard discusses that reading critically is important so students progress forward from patchwriting.

Instructors can guide students through understanding and engaging with their sources by doing collaborative summarizing activities.

Ask students in 102 to employ the summarizing activity we propose, and see how it helps their work to be less focused on patchwriting.

Effective Summary Strategies

Avoiding Plagiarism Checklist

What Constitutes Plagiarism?

Plagiarism Awareness Contract

Our suggestions build from Burkhardt et al., Howard, and Purdy.

These authors all discuss reading, summarizing, and paraphrasing strategies to avoid plagiarism.

Resources Burkhardt, Joanna M., MacDonald, Mary C.,

and Rathemacher, Andree J. Teaching Information Literacy: 35 Practical Standards-Based Exercises for College Students. Chicago: American Library Association, 2003.

Purdy, James P. “Calling off the Hounds: Technology and the Visibility of Plagiarism.” Teaching Composition. Ed. T.R. Johnson. Boston: Beford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 305-324.

Resources ContinuedHoward, Rebecca Moore and Amy Robillard.

Pluralizing Plagiarism: Identities, Contexts, Pedagogies. Portsmouth, NH:Boynton/Cook, 2008.

Howard, Rebecca Moore. “Plagiarisms, Authorships, and the Academic Death Penalty.” College English 57.7 (1995): 788-806.

Evans, F.B. and Youmans, M., 2000. ESL writers discuss plagiarism: the social construction of ideologies. Journal of Education, 182 (3), 49-65.

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