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Avoiding Plagiarism and Teaching Honesty and Integrity in Students' Written Work
by Mary Zimmerle
Plagiarism and cheating have been a perennial problem for schools, educators and administrators. While this problem has existed for as long as any of us can remember, the presence of and easy accessibility to the internet has exacerbated the issue, if only because it has made cheating and plagiarizing easier and more tempting. Of course, there are plenty of methods that teachers can use to catch and crack down on plagiarizers, but students should also be taught about the ethical implications of such actions.
Take for example the recent scandal in journalism. Jayson Blair, a reporter for The New York Times’ national desk, was recently caught plagiarizing and fabricating at least dozens of articles since October 2002. He also had a history of sloppy reporting for years before then, for which he had been sharply rebuked. Blair's offenses ranged from using phrases and ideas that were written by other journalists without attributing those ideas to those writers, to making up details, dialogue and sources that never actually occured or existed. As a result, past articles that he wrote for The New York Times, the Boston Globe and even his college newspaper at the University of Maryland are currently being examined for further abuses.
Blair’s plagiarism and fabrication hurt not only his own career, however, it affected the business for which he worked and the individual victims of his deception, including reporters from other newspapers from which he lifted material and the people that he falsely claimed to interview, such as Pvt. Lynch’s family and the detectives of the Washington, D.C. sniper case. These victims were often angry or puzzled over Blair's fabrications. These are perfect examples of how plagiarism can have wide-ranging, damaging effects on multiple parties.
We will probably never know why Blair felt that he could get away with such blatant dishonesty in his work or why he felt that such dishonesty was somehow okay. This type of behavior, however, is becoming more rampant through high schools and colleges. In a study done last year by Rutgers' Management Education Center on 4,500 high school students’ reactions to cheating and plagiarism, researchers “found that 75 percent of them engage in serious cheating…[and that] More than half have plagiarized work they found on the Internet”. What is remarkable about these statistics is that many of these students do not consider what they are doing to be cheating (http://www.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/04/05/highschool.cheating/).
The first step in combating plagiarism and cheating may be simpler than it seems. In my experience as a college-level writing tutor, I found that many students simply had never been taught the exact definition of plagiarism. They figured that if they changed one or two words in a sentence, they didn’t need to attribute the source from which those ideas and words came. Establishing a plagiarism policy in a school or classroom necessitates that teachers makes sure that students fully understand those rules. Students also need to be taught these rules at a very young age, otherwise, plagiarism habits, especially cutting and pasting text from websites, will be hard to break in high school or college.
Students can participate actively in the development or revision of a school plagiarism policy. Such an activity would be a good way to start the school year, so that all of your students are on the same page as to what plagiarism is, how to avoid it and what the consequences are if one breaches that contract. To make the policy project more meaningful, integrate into it lessons about honesty, integrity and responsibility. Have students define these terms in light of the Jayson Blair case or other cases of plagiarism you or the students may know about.
If your students are in elementary or middle school, push them to think about what it would feel like if one of their classmates steals an idea of theirs. Help them understand that plagiarism is that same type of idea-stealing and that it ultimately takes credit away from the rightful owner of those ideas. Students who are in high school should learn in greater depth and show an understanding of why plagiarism of others' written and artistic works is unacceptable and unethical. They should also learn at this time how to properly cite their information, whether through the MLA style or other methods (ie. Chicago style, etc.).
Another way of tackling the problem is introducing writing assignments in all grade levels and in classes that do not traditionally incorporate much writing, such as science and math. Through these writing assignments, students can practice paraphrasing ideas in their own words and citing them properly, while learning that the generation of ideas, at least in Western society, means that one also owns those ideas.
Older students, especially, can examine similar, but more nebulous cases of copyright law. What does that law entail? How does it protect others’ intellectual work? What is intellectual property? Have them think about the Napster controversy in a critical fashion, so that they understand the complexities of the issue from multiple viewpoints. Check out the Association for Computing Machinery's article "Copyright Law Meets the World Wide Web" (http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds2-2/weblaw.html) for discussion on such issues.
Of course, there is always debate about what plagiarism is, how it should be treated and what effects it has. Engaging students in discussion about these issues will at least get them thinking about the meaning of the problem.
For more information on the Jayson Blair controversy:
“Boston Globe: doubts surfacing about reporter Blair’s work”
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/132/region/
Boston_Globe_doubts_surfacing_:.shtml
“Times Reporter Who Resigned Leaves Long Trail of Deception”
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/national/11PAPE.html/?pagewanted=1
Or type "Jayson Blair" into a search engine, such as http://www.google.com/. You'll find plenty more about him.
For more articles on student plagiarism:
“Many Students Say Cheating’s OK” http://www.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/04/05/highschool.cheating/
“Cheating’s Never Been Easier”
http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,45803,00.html
Turn It In
http://www.turnitin.com/
Articles on how to avoid plagiarism in classrooms:
“Avoiding Plagiarism”
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_plagiar.html
“Writing-Plagiarism Advise for Lessons”
http://henson.austin.apple.com/edres/ellesson/elem-writplagerism.shtml
Arguments about the plagiarism:
Take for example the recent scandal in journalism. Jayson Blair, a reporter for The New York Times’ national desk, was recently caught plagiarizing and fabricating at least dozens of articles since October 2002. He also had a history of sloppy reporting for years before then, for which he had been sharply rebuked. Blair's offenses ranged from using phrases and ideas that were written by other journalists without attributing those ideas to those writers, to making up details, dialogue and sources that never actually occured or existed. As a result, past articles that he wrote for The New York Times, the Boston Globe and even his college newspaper at the University of Maryland are currently being examined for further abuses.
Blair’s plagiarism and fabrication hurt not only his own career, however, it affected the business for which he worked and the individual victims of his deception, including reporters from other newspapers from which he lifted material and the people that he falsely claimed to interview, such as Pvt. Lynch’s family and the detectives of the Washington, D.C. sniper case. These victims were often angry or puzzled over Blair's fabrications. These are perfect examples of how plagiarism can have wide-ranging, damaging effects on multiple parties.
We will probably never know why Blair felt that he could get away with such blatant dishonesty in his work or why he felt that such dishonesty was somehow okay. This type of behavior, however, is becoming more rampant through high schools and colleges. In a study done last year by Rutgers' Management Education Center on 4,500 high school students’ reactions to cheating and plagiarism, researchers “found that 75 percent of them engage in serious cheating…[and that] More than half have plagiarized work they found on the Internet”. What is remarkable about these statistics is that many of these students do not consider what they are doing to be cheating (http://www.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/04/05/highschool.cheating/).
The first step in combating plagiarism and cheating may be simpler than it seems. In my experience as a college-level writing tutor, I found that many students simply had never been taught the exact definition of plagiarism. They figured that if they changed one or two words in a sentence, they didn’t need to attribute the source from which those ideas and words came. Establishing a plagiarism policy in a school or classroom necessitates that teachers makes sure that students fully understand those rules. Students also need to be taught these rules at a very young age, otherwise, plagiarism habits, especially cutting and pasting text from websites, will be hard to break in high school or college.
Students can participate actively in the development or revision of a school plagiarism policy. Such an activity would be a good way to start the school year, so that all of your students are on the same page as to what plagiarism is, how to avoid it and what the consequences are if one breaches that contract. To make the policy project more meaningful, integrate into it lessons about honesty, integrity and responsibility. Have students define these terms in light of the Jayson Blair case or other cases of plagiarism you or the students may know about.
If your students are in elementary or middle school, push them to think about what it would feel like if one of their classmates steals an idea of theirs. Help them understand that plagiarism is that same type of idea-stealing and that it ultimately takes credit away from the rightful owner of those ideas. Students who are in high school should learn in greater depth and show an understanding of why plagiarism of others' written and artistic works is unacceptable and unethical. They should also learn at this time how to properly cite their information, whether through the MLA style or other methods (ie. Chicago style, etc.).
Another way of tackling the problem is introducing writing assignments in all grade levels and in classes that do not traditionally incorporate much writing, such as science and math. Through these writing assignments, students can practice paraphrasing ideas in their own words and citing them properly, while learning that the generation of ideas, at least in Western society, means that one also owns those ideas.
Older students, especially, can examine similar, but more nebulous cases of copyright law. What does that law entail? How does it protect others’ intellectual work? What is intellectual property? Have them think about the Napster controversy in a critical fashion, so that they understand the complexities of the issue from multiple viewpoints. Check out the Association for Computing Machinery's article "Copyright Law Meets the World Wide Web" (http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds2-2/weblaw.html) for discussion on such issues.
Of course, there is always debate about what plagiarism is, how it should be treated and what effects it has. Engaging students in discussion about these issues will at least get them thinking about the meaning of the problem.
For more information on the Jayson Blair controversy:
“Boston Globe: doubts surfacing about reporter Blair’s work”
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/132/region/
Boston_Globe_doubts_surfacing_:.shtml
“Times Reporter Who Resigned Leaves Long Trail of Deception”
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/national/11PAPE.html/?pagewanted=1
Or type "Jayson Blair" into a search engine, such as http://www.google.com/. You'll find plenty more about him.
For more articles on student plagiarism:
“Many Students Say Cheating’s OK” http://www.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/04/05/highschool.cheating/
“Cheating’s Never Been Easier”
http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,45803,00.html
Turn It In
http://www.turnitin.com/
Articles on how to avoid plagiarism in classrooms:
“Avoiding Plagiarism”
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_plagiar.html
“Writing-Plagiarism Advise for Lessons”
http://henson.austin.apple.com/edres/ellesson/elem-writplagerism.shtml
Arguments about the plagiarism:
"The Truth About Plagiarism"
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/posner-r-plagiarism.html
"Posner on Plagiarism"
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/5/21/195454/788
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The Pennsylvania Service-Learning Alliance dissolved as of June 30, 2007. The website will stay posted for one more year, so please share the resources. We are sorry that we will not be able to answer any questions you may have. Good luck with all your future service-learning endeavors!