Plagiarism and Academic Integrity

The University of Akron believes that...

"Academic honesty is fundamental to the activities and principles of any university. All members of an academic community must be confident that each person's work has been responsible and honorably acquired, developed and presented. The assumption that your work is a fair representation of your actual ability, knowledge and skills form the basis of institutional quality and the quality of its graduates.

The University of Akron

...regards academic dishonesty as a serious matter, and those who violate the standards of academic integrity are dealt with severely."
-- Academic Integrity: A Guide to Responsible Behavior, UA Office of Student Judicial Affairs.

The University of Akron...

"encourages students to learn from and build upon the work of others. However, when a student creates a work that incorporates the words or ideas of another, he or she must properly acknowledge the source of that information. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism and is prohibited by University Rule 3359-42-01.

Under University Rule 3359-41-02, plagiarism constitutes a type of student misconduct that is punishable by formal disciplinary probation, suspension, or dismissal from the University. It is the responsibility of all University of Akron students to know what plagiarism is and how to avoid it."
-- Guidelines for Avoiding Plagiarism, UA Office of General Counsel.

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is stealing or passing off ideas or words of another as one's own; using another's production without crediting the source; committing literary theft presented as a new and original idea or product derived from an existing source.
-- Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Please keep in mind that plagiarism is still plagiarism whether one knows it or not! Have you ever tried telling a police officer that you thought the speed limit was 55mph when in fact it was 35mph? Ignorance of the law is never an excuse.

Teaching and Promoting Academic Integrity

Tools for Teaching: Preventing Academic Dishonesty: Topics include: General strategies for teachers how to encourage academic integrity in students
Promoting Academic Integrity and Dealing with Cheating in TA's as Teachers: Handbook for Teaching Assistans at University of California, Santa Barbara: Topics include: Preventing cheating, detecting cheating, and reporting cheating
Talking About Plagiarism: Topics include: A syllabus strategy for faculty that emphasizes on preventing plagiarism in students
Virtual Academic Integrity Laboratory: Topics include: Tutorial for faculty and administrators about academic integrity and plagiarism
©Primer: Topics include: An introduction to copyright issues and use of information
Preventing Plagiarism: for Faculty & Teaching assistants: Topics include: Defining plagiarism and strategies for preventing plagiarism
Plagiarism: Faculty Resources: Topics include: Detecting and preventing plagiarism and assignment design
Preventing plagiarism in student writing: Topics include: Indentifying, responding and preventing plagiarism in students
Office of teaching advancement: Teaching Issues: Topics include: Strategies on deterring plagiarism
Anti-plagiarism strategies for research papers: Topics include: Strategies for detection and prevention of plagiarism

Summarizing, Paraphrasing and Citing Sources

What is plagiarism and strategies for avoiding plagiarism: Indiana University - Bloomington. Writing Tutorial Services: WTS Pamplets
Recommendations how to gather research material, take notes, and document sources: Duke University. Avoiding Plagiarism: Practical Strategies
How to paraphrase. Practice exercises in paraphrasing: Purdue University. Online Writing Lab: Paraphrase: Write It In Your Own Words
Guidelines to improve your writing style and cite sources: University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Writing Center
A guide for students how to write papers and incorporate citations from sources: Harvard University. Writing with sources
Quoting sources, citing materials, and assembling bibliographies: University of Victoria. The UVic Writer's Guide

Tutorials

Style Manuals and Research Guides

American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed.
Washington: American Psychological Association, 2001
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996
Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
Strunk, William Jr. and White, E.B. The Elements of Style, 4d ed. New York: Longman: Boston Allyn & Bacon, 2000
Citing Internet and Print Resources - Online access to style guides including APA Style Guide,
MLA Style Guide, Turabian Citation Guide, and others
Assembling a List of Works Cited in Your Paper - A detailed guide how to cite articles from journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other resources
RefWorks - Online database manager and bibliography creator.

Bibliography

(Some sources may be listed more than once)

General Sources

Harris, R.A. (2001). The plagiarism handbook: strategies for preventing, detecting, and dealing with plagiarism, Pyrczak Publishing, Los Angeles, CA
Caroll, J. (2002). A handbook for deterring plagiarism in higher education, Oxford: The Oxford center for staff and learning development
Whitley, B. E., Keith-Spiegel, P. (2002). Academic dishonesty: an educator's guide, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. (! Only for users of the University of Akron)
Lathrop, A. (2000). Student Cheating and Plagiarism in the Internet Era: A Wake-Up Call, Englewood, Colo.:Libraries Unlimited
Taylor, B. Integrity: Academic and Political: A letter to my students Available at http://www.academicintegrity.org/pdf/Letter_To_My_Students.pdf
Hansen, B. (2003). Combating plagiarism, CQ Researcher 13 (32) Available at http://www.cqpress.com/docs/Combating%20Plagiarism.pdf
Scanlan, P. (2003). Student online plagiarism: how do we respond , College Teaching, 54 (4), p. 161-164
Martin, David F. (2005). Plagiarism and technology: A tool for coping with plagiarism, Journal of Education for Business, 80 (3), p. 149-154
Harris, R. (2002). Don’t police plagiarism. Just teach!, Digest, 67 (5), p. 46-50
Thomas, David A. (2004). How educators can more effectively understand and combat the plagiarism epidemic, Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal, 2, p. 421-431

Academic Integrity and Honor Codes

Bridges, Carl B. "Plagiarists I have Known." Teaching Professor 18.7 (2004): 3-5. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=13809697.
Whitehouse, Virginia, and Julia Nicholls. "Inside these Hallowed Halls." Quill 92.6 (2004): 14-6. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14412814.
Willen, Matthew S. "Reflections on the Cultural Climate of Plagiarism." Liberal Education 90.4 (2004): 55-8. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=15783780.

Advice and Anecdotes

Barlow, Dudley. "The Teachers' Lounge." Education Digest 70.7 (2005): 63-6. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=16474082.
Bridges, Carl B. "Plagiarists I have Known." Teaching Professor 18.7 (2004): 3-5. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=13809697.
Finkel, Ed. "Sticky Fingers on the Information Superhighway." Community College Week 17.15 (2005): 6-8. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=16297413.
Scordato, Julie. "The Other Side of Plagiarism." Library Media Connection 23.1 (2004): 98-. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14448405.
Simpson, Carol. "An Ethical Beginning." Library Media Connection 23.1 (2004): 8-. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14443835.
Straw, Deborah. "An Honest Wish List." Community College Week 17.15 (2005): 4-5. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=16297409.

Assignments Designed to Discourage Plagiarism

"Designing Assignments to Minimize Cyber-Cheating." Teaching Professor 19.1 (2005): 2-. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=15449023.
Fisher, Julieta Dias, and Ann Hill. "PLAGIARISM in an Electronic Age." Library Media Connection 23.3 (2004): 18-9. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14879505.
Flannery, Mary Ellen. "Cyber-Cheating." NEA Today 23.3 (2004): 40-2. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14855707.
Park, Chris. "Rebels without a Clause: Towards an Institutional Framework for Dealing with Plagiarism by Students." Journal of Further & Higher Education 28.3 (2004): 291-306. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=13802172.
Schuetze, Pamela. "Evaluation of a Brief Homework Assignment Designedto Reduce Citation Problems." Teaching of Psychology 31.4 (2004): 257-62. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14860912.
Scordato, Julie. "The Other Side of Plagiarism." Library Media Connection 23.1 (2004): 98-. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14448405.
Soto, Julio G., Sulekha Anad, and Elizabeth McGee. "Plagiarism Avoidance." Journal of College Science Teaching 33.7 (2004): 42-8. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=13838253.
Straw, Deborah. "An Honest Wish List." Community College Week 17.15 (2005): 4-5. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=16297409.

ESL Students—a Different Perspective?

Dilin Liu. "Plagiarism in ESOL Students: Is Cultural Conditioning Truly the Major Culprit?" ELT Journal: English Language Teachers Journal 59.3 (2005): 234-41. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=17497360.
Hayes, Niall, and Lucas D. Introna. "Cultural Values, Plagiarism, and Fairness: When Plagiarism Gets in the Way of Learning." Ethics & Behavior 15.3 (2005): 213-31. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=18386420.
Sowden, Colin. "POINT AND COUNTERPOINT: Plagiarism and the Culture of Multilingual Students in Higher Education Abroad." ELT Journal: English Language Teachers Journal 59.3 (2005): 226-33. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=17497359.
---. "Reply to Dilin Liu." ELT Journal: English Language Teachers Journal 59.3 (2005): 242-3. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=17497361.

Online Plagiarism

Fisher, Julieta Dias, and Ann Hill. "PLAGIARISM in an Electronic Age." Library Media Connection 23.3 (2004): 18-9. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14879505.
Flannery, Mary Ellen. "Cyber-Cheating." NEA Today 23.3 (2004): 40-2. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14855707.
Logue, Roger. "Plagiarism: The Internet Makes it Easy." Nursing Standard 18.51 (2004): 40-3. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14357667.
Ross, Kenneth A. "Academic Dishonesty and the Internet." Communications of the ACM 48.10 (2005): 29-31. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=18391437.
"Studying Responses to on-Line Cheating." Perspective (08889732) 20.4 (2005): 8-. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=16824423.

Plagiarism Detection Tools

Bridges, Carl B. "Plagiarists I have Known." Teaching Professor 18.7 (2004): 3-5. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=13809697.
Fisher, Julieta Dias, and Ann Hill. "PLAGIARISM in an Electronic Age." Library Media Connection 23.3 (2004): 18-9. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14879505.
Martin, David F. "Plagiarism and Technology: A Tool for Coping with Plagiarism." Journal of Education for Business 80.3 (2005): 149-52. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=16069878.

Plagiarism in the News

Cohen, David, et al. "International Notes." Chronicle of Higher Education 51.2 (2004): A49-50. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14529966.
"Edward Waters College Loses Accreditation Appeal, Files Lawsuit." Black Issues in Higher Education 22.3 (2005): 11-. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=16625898.
"Unclear of the Concept." University Business 7.7 (2004): 16-. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=13688299.

Professional Plagiarism

Bartlett, Thomas, and Scott Smallwood. "Mentor Vs. Protégé." Chronicle of Higher Education 51.17 (2004): A14-5. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=15548655.
Ishii, Susan. "Preventing Professional Plagiarism." University Business 8.10 (2005): 80-. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=18419869.

Studies and Surveys (Forthcoming)

Plagiarism Verification Software

Several companies have developed software to aid in the detection of student plagiarism. UA University Libraries does not endorse or advocate any of these products and has serious reservations about the methods and processes used to collect and compare data.

Often times, student papers are submitted to these companies for comparison without the student's knowledge or consent. Once submitted, the papers are considered proprietary property of the software vendors and are used as comparative data for future submissions and analysis, totally disregarding any intellectual property rights of the students. It is a lawsuit waiting to happen!