Avoiding Plagiarism

Academic writing in American institutions is filled with rules that writers often don’t know how to follow. A working knowledge of these rules, however, is critically important; inadvertent mistakes can lead to charges of plagiarism, or the unacknowledged use of somebody else’s words or ideas. While other cultures may not insist so heavily on documenting sources, American institutions do. A charge of plagiarism can have severe consequences, including expulsion from the university. This handout, which does not reflect any official university policy, is designed to help writers develop strategies for knowing how to avoid accidental plagiarism.

Purdue University (1997). Academic>Writing>Ethics>Plagiarism

Beyond Plagiarism: Ethical Issues in the Technical Communication Classroom   

Recent discussions of ethical issues that relate to technical communicators reflect the rise of interest in this topic. Although some journal articles do look at teaching ethics in the technical communication classroom, most concentrate on ethics in the workplace. Yet, for students to understand current and future ethical issues, we must heighten their awareness of potential problems before they encounter such problems in industry and business situations.

Horowitz, Renee B. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Writing>Ethics>Plagiarism

The Challenge of Plagiarism Control in Universities and Colleges  

The Challenge of Plagiarism Control in Universities and Colleges discusses the complex issues involved with plagiarism such as defining the term and responding to the act of plagiarism. The paper also includes data detailing who is plagiarizing and why. Finally, the paper addresses university protocol and potential for uniformity in the tracking and response of universities and colleges. The perils of not finding a way to limit or eradicate plagiarism further endanger the authenticity of a college degree.

Smydra, Rachel V. Association for Business Communication (2004). Articles>Education>Ethics>Plagiarism

Digital Plagiarism: The Role of Society and Technology

Examines the application of the World Wide Web in class education and research and the ways in which the Internet has enabled cheating and given educators ways to fight plagiarism.

Kennedy, Ryan. Orange Journal, The (2005). Articles>Publishing>Ethics>Plagiarism

Inspiration vs. Theft: The Thin Gray Line

Inspiration does not come easy for most, and that includes some of the world's top designers and creative directors. Everyone has experienced what we call 'designer's cramp' (a designer's version of 'writer's block') at some time or another. There have been numerous articles about the problem and a ton of suggestions. Some of them work, but many fail miserably. Lance Arthur recently wrote an article in A List Apart called 'Creative Notions,' which is one of the best I've seen in a long time about the sketchy subject. Coincidentally, Lance is perhaps one of the most widely known designers on the web today, and therefore suffers from a great deal of plagiarism. When asked about this, he says, 'A dubious distinction, surely. I think having a somewhat higher profile than other personal sites contributes to my reign under this title.'1 Why is that? I believe because he is a creative person whose designs are original and inspirational. However, as long as web browsers come with the 'view source' button, plagiarism

Finck, Nick. Digital Web Magazine (1999). Articles>Intellectual Property>Copyright>Plagiarism

Literature Reviews in Student Project Reports      

Writing project reports is an important part of the engineering curriculum at Singapore universities. One important section of the formal report is the literature review. Most universities around the world provide guidelines on writing reviews, emphasizing that plagiarism is unethical. However, these guidelines do not offer explicit training on how to avoid plagiarism. In order to write academically acceptable reviews while avoiding copying from source materials, students face a major challenge and resort to employing various strategies to cope with the task. In this study, we examined the literature review sections of final year project reports to find out how engineering undergraduates in a Singapore university cope with writing reviews and to suggest ways in which they can extend their skills to improve their literature reviews.

Krishnan, Lakshmy A. and Sujata S. Kathpalia. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (2002). Academic>Education>Writing>Plagiarism

Nowhere to Hide  

To catch a thief, use the Web to track down plagiarism.

Fleishman, Glenn. Adobe Magazine (1999). Articles>Intellectual Property>Copyright>Plagiarism

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined in the Ohio University Student Handbook as 'presenting the ideas or writing of someone else as one's own'. It is a form of academic misconduct. Even if you change a few words of someone else's sentence, it is still plagiarism if the same idea is presented in essentially the same style. Plagiarism by students is often unintentional, but still unacceptable.

Young, V.L. and K.J. Sampson. Ohio University (2004). Articles>Writing>Ethics>Plagiarism

Plagiarism: A Misplaced Emphasis

Plagiarism is conventionally seen as a serious breach of scholarly ethics, being a theft of credit for ideas in a competitive intellectual marketplace. This emphasis overlooks the vast amount of institutionalized plagiarism, including ghostwriting and attribution of authorship to bureaucratic elites. There is a case for reducing the stigma for competitive plagiarism while exposing and challenging the institutionalized varieties.

Martin, Brian. University of Wollongong (1994). Articles>Writing>Ethics>Plagiarism

Rethinking Plagiarism for Technical Communication    

This article proposes that technical and professional communication instructors reconsider the treatment of the concept of plagiarism in current curriculum. I begin by examining existing approaches to teaching technical communication students about plagiarism and explaining the need for rethinking plagiarism in light of contemporary technical communication practices. The second section suggests several preliminary steps for addressing these issues, including revisions to plagiarism policies, classroom practices, and the treatment of plagiarism in textbooks. I conclude with a call for increased industry-academic dialog on the dissonance between the treatment of plagiarism in the classroom and in workplace practices.

Reyman, Jessica. Technical Communication Online (2008). Articles>Education>TC>Plagiarism

Teaching about Plagiarism in the Age of the Internet  

Things have changed since I began teaching research writing ten years ago. I used to require students to use at least one electronic source; now, I require that students use at least one paper source. Students used to start their search at the card catalog; now they log onto the Internet. Of course, the change has been gradual, but I have begun to ask what this shift from paper to electronic sources means to academic integrity.

Klausman, Jeffrey. NCTE TETYC (1999). Articles>Education>Writing>Plagiarism

Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format

Modern Language Association (MLA) format provides writers with a system for cross-referencing their sources--from their parenthetical references to their works cited page. This cross-referencing system allows readers to locate the publication information of source material. This is of great value for researchers who may want to locate your sources for their own research projects. The proper use of MLA style also shows the credibility of writers; such writers show accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism--the purposeful or accidental use of source material by other writers without giving appropriate credit.

Purdue University. Reference>Style Guides>Writing>Plagiarism