Cybercheats

Plagiarism and the Internet

Workshop Agenda:Introduction and Background

The ProblemPossible Solutions

Conclusion

NOTE: Please ask questions as needed

Steve GarwoodRutgers University - SCILS

Cybercheats

Part 1:

The Problem

Cybercheats - Q&A (data from 1998 Who’s Who in American High School Student’s survey)

AnswersAlmost everybody does itFairly CommonPretty RareNever HappensNo Answer

Question: How common is cheating at your school?

Responses21.8%60.9%16.5%0.4%0.3%

Cybercheats - Q&A (data from 1998 Who’s Who in American High School Student’s survey)

Answers

Competition for good grades

Didn’t seem like a big deal

Didn’t think I’d get caught

Not interested in the subject

To get into a good college

Question: If you have cheated…why?

Responses

55.6%

53%

23.6%

28.9%

14.4%

Cybercheats - Q&A (data from 1998 Who’s Who in American High School Student’s survey)

Answers

Very difficult

Somewhat difficult

Not very difficult

Easy

Question: How easy would it be for you to obtain test questions or answers at your school?

Responses

14.9%

25.5%

28.2%

30%

Cybercheats - Q&A (data from 1998 Who’s Who in American High School Student’s survey)

Answers

I was caught and punished

I was caught but not punished

I was not caught

Question: If you have cheated what happened?

Responses

6.2%

6.4%

95.1%

Cybercheats - Q&A

Answers:

In a recent survey of almost 50,000 undergraduates conducted by the Center for Academic Integrity, 70 percent admitted to some cheating, whether on written assignments, or during exams. More than three-quarters said they did not think that copying off the internet was a serious issue.

From: Cut and Paste Plagiarism February 14, 2006 from Talk of the Nation (NPR)

Question: Think this has gotten any better since ’98?

Cybercheats - Q&A

Answers:

To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own

Question: What is Plagiarism?

…So that I do not get accused of Plagiarism the above was taken verbatim from page 888 of Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 10th edition.

Make sure students know…don’t assume

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Terrible Timmy’s Tale

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Timmy’s Homework Assignment:

Write about 500 words on:

The Theme of Madness in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

(Note: This is all of the assignment, no source requirements, no research instructions, etc. Think of it as a

first paper assignment.)

Other areas often seen at the library: biomes, literature terms, global warming, drug abuse/treatment, pros/cons such as driving age, voting age, biographical assignments…

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Timmy ponders how to do his assignment

Library? – No

-I’d have to get out of my chair

-I’d have to get my mom to drive me

-The books I need will be all checked out anyway

-Those surly librarians are mean

-It’s too cold/hot

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Timmy ponders how to do his assignment

One of those Term paper sites? – Hmmm, maybe.

Note these are free sites and all had Hamlet essays - many with bibliographies:

http://www.schoolbytes.com/

http://allfreeessays.com/

http://www.4freeessays.com/

There are more…

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Timmy ponders how to do his assignment

Some notes on the free sites:

Content: Submit one/Get onePlenty out there (Students posting to web)Very much like fraternity test/paper filesSome papers good/some stink

“Ethics”: Some are blatant (go ahead…sue…they’ll love you)

Ownership: Many of these sites are owned by the same persontherefore lots of repetition

Cybercheats

Timmy ponders how to do his assignment

One of those Term paper sites? – Hmmm, maybe.

Note these are pay sites some of which will write an original paper :

https://www.snrinfo.com/geniuspapers/

http://www.cheathouse.com/

http://www.termpapers-on-file.com/

http://www.papermasters.com/

There are more…

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Timmy ponders how to do his assignment

Some notes on the pay sites:

Money: SubscriptionSome pay by pageSome both

Guarantees: Some will guarantee the grade

Content: Some prewritten/some individualizedCollege kids will do anything for money

“Reminds me”:Of the ads in the back of Rolling Stone

Cybercheats

Timmy ponders how to do his assignment

Search Engines? – Let me try that first. I’ve heard that Google

is pretty good.

CybercheatsTimmy searches Google

CybercheatsTimmy sees novelguide.com info

CybercheatsTimmy copies and pastes to Word

Cybercheats Timmy adds fluff and a fake citation making work his own.

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Is Timmy alone????

NOPE…Remember…

“4 out of 5 high achievers surveyed in 1998 admitted to cheating on school work and more than ½ of those said such cheating was “no big deal”, and practically none got caught.”

-Who’s Who Among American High School Students

Actually Timmy might be less terrible THAN typical

Cybercheats

Is there a way to catch Timmy????

In this case yes. Since Timmy was lazy and didn’t try to change the work he got very much.

A “phrase search” in Alta Vista, Google or a MetaSearch engine will find his work. More about this in a lil bit

However…more enterprising Timmy’s will be hard to catch…

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Types of “Plagiarists”:(Is this plagiarism to you?)

• The Mega Copier

• Patchwork Partier

• The Omiter

• Source Faker

• Super Paraphrasers

• The Author (for others and himself)

• The Purchaser

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Part 2:

Possible Solutions

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• Teach the research process not just the “hows” but the “whys”. A great site – ipl.org’s Teen A+ Another – Oops I plagiarized! by UCLA Yet another – Purdue’s OWL (online writing lab)

• Let Students know that you know about the paper mill sites.

• Review a paper from a Paper mill site to show common weaknesses

Working with Students

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• Teaching citations: Trouble creating citations is often the reason for plagiarism…if you get points taken off for bad cites…why cite?

• Make it easy: The MLA and APA books stink!

Try easy guides and online sources (Noodlebib, Easybib, CitationMachine)

Working with Students

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• Be a good Role Model• “As so and so said”

• According to…

• Banish the words “they’ll never know”

Working with Students

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• And before I forget, make sure students know what plagiarism actually is. It’s a big concept, break it down. Give them something to compare it to that they’re familiar with – Maybe Hip/Hop’s reuse of lyrics, beats, etc? Check out:

• "Was Foucault a plagiarist? Hip-hop sampling and academic citation" by M. Hess, published in Computers and Composition

• Bridgeport Music, Inc. et. al. vs. Dimension Films et. Al.

• Make sure they know the penalties for plagiarizing others work. Many schools do not have specific guidelines. If you don’t they might “win” even if you catch them.

Working with Students

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• Give specific, non-generic instructions for papers. Specificity makes it harder to cheat.

Tips for Teachers

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• Get writing samples. Comparing past work to new work can help catch plagiarized items.

Tips for Teachers

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• Watch the process: Get drafts, use peer groups to evaluate, have drafts submitted with assignments.

• Help them with the process:

Use Research tips such as photocopying the LC page from books and attaching it to photocopies, writing citation info directly on articles…

Tips for Teachers

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Instead of traditional writing assignments… • Change the format (skit, interview, news story)

• Make comparisons

• Create a game (20 questions, jeopardy)

• Write a letter to your biographical person

• Mix formats

• No such thing as a “cheat proof” assignment

Tips for Teachers

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• Check for website printout page numbers or dates, grayed out letters and unusual use of upper/lower case and capitalization.

• Notice any jargon or advanced vocabulary or sentence structure.

• Look for short papers…8.5” x 10.5”

• Reference the original assignment. Are any portions of the assignment completely left out?

• Review the bibliography. Is the correct citation style used? Is the citation style used consistently? Does it match the sources referenced in the paper? Are works included actually referenced?

Tips for Teachers: Detection

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Get ‘em: Before and After (Tools to catch the cheaters)

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• Do you have one?

• Have you read it? Has anyone else? Have the parents? students?

• How was the policy written?

• Is it ever enforced?

Academic Integrity Policies

What makes a good speed trap?

• Consistently there

• Enforceable - Understanding the wrong action taken

• Others do your work for you (other cars slow down)

Cybercheats

• Asking your parent or a friend to suggest changes or corrections in your written essay

• Asking your parent or a friend to rewrite your essay, making all the changes or corrections for you

• Asking your parents or a friend to help you search the Internet for information for a report

• Reading someone else’s term paper and then writing your own using some of his ideas and copying part or all of his bibliography

• Writing a report as a group and then each person writing a report that is just a little bit different to hand in

• Listing books in your bibliography that you didn’t read

• Copying sentences or paragraphs from the encyclopedia for your report without using quotation marks or footnotes

• Hiring a tutor to help you write better

Are any of these Plagiarizing? Do all staff agree?

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• Be aware of how to do phrase searching in several search engines.

• “” is your best friend as it will let you do phrase searches in 99% of Search Engines.

• Use a middle line from a paragraph not introductions/conclusions

Get ‘em

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• Try a Screening Service.• Turn-it-In.com

• MyDropbox.com

• Formulate a way to use the Service.• Everybody, just some, student use, occasional

Get ‘em

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• Remember these services are useless if you don’t know what to do when you catch

them.

Get ‘em

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Conclusion and Resources

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Hmmm, how much of this presentation do you think was plagiarized?

See any citations?

Well I couldn’t not cite (here they are):• Timmy’s Tale is mine• Besides that everything else is in the handouts

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In Conclusion:

5 Steps to Addressing Plagiarism

• Acknowledge the problem

• Universally define plagiarism

• Prevent (Create an Academic Integrity Policy/Adjust assignments)

• Develop a method for catching/screening

• Be a good role model

Cybercheats

Cody (my dog) says: This presentation available at:http://www.stevegarwood.com/classes