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Antidotes to Plagiarism

Recommended Resources

There are more references that we have used in examining the incidence of plagiarism, but we we think the ones listed below reveal the character and context of plagiarism.

  • Ariely, D. Why we think it’s OK to cheat and steal (sometimes). (Video, 18:24). This engaging talk shows why a lot of people cheat a little bit with a “personal fudge factor,” and how cheating diminishes when people are reminded of their own “honor codes” and the influence of group affiliation on incidence. Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUdsTizSxSI
  • Antiplagiarism strategies for research papers. This site prepared by Robert Harris, updated February 2012, gives a list of “Strategies of Awareness,” “Strategies of Prevention,” and “Strategies of Detection.” Retrieved at Virtual Salt http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm Anti-plagiarism strategies. Retrieved at http://ctlplagiarism.project.mnscu.edu/
  • Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL). Information literacy competency standards for higher education. Retrieved at http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency and http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/standards.pdf [Both sites lay out the out literacy standards and student outcomes.] Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL).
  • Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL). Objectives for information literacy instruction. Retrieved at http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/objectivesinformation [Identifies objectives for selected standards.]
  • Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL). Psychology information literacy standards. Retrieved at http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/psych_info_lit [Identifies standards and outcomes.]
  • Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL). Standards toolkit. Retrieved at http://www.ala.org/acrl/issues/infolit/standards/standardstoolkit [Resources to help in using ACRL standards.]
  • Broeckelman-Post, M. A. (2009, June). Building a culture of academic integrity: The role of communication in creating and changing understandings and enactments of academic integrity. A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University. Retrieved at http://etd.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi
  • Broeckelman-Post, M.A.   Minimising plagiarism. “36 strategies to minimize plagiarism.” Retrieved at http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/assessinglearning/03/plagMain.html#36
  • Cheating 101: Easy steps to combating plagiarism. Retrieved at http://www.coastal.edu/library/presentations/easystep.html Designing online courses to discourage dishonesty: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0348.pdf
  • Designing Effective Assignments The following resources offer guidance for how to design assignments that will diminish the disposition for students to intentionally plagiarize. Academic integrity for faculty. Retrieved at http://www.yorku.ca/academicintegrity/faculty/index.htm
  • Digital index card. A useful early-stage tool for noting and keeping track of references. Retrieved at http://landmark-project.com/evaluation/dic1.php
  • Eisenberg, M. & Berkowitz, R. (1990). Information problem-solving: The Big6 Skills approach to library and information skills instruction. Norwood, NJ: Abblex Publishing. Excelling with the Big6™ Research Model. Retrieved at http://www.ilfonline.org/clientuploads/literacy/ann.pdf [Review of several research models and links to websites describing the models.]
  • Faculty focus: Special report—Keys to designing effective writing and research assignments. The Teaching Professor. Retrieved at: http://uogcde.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/report-keys-to-designing-effective-writing.pdf
  • Guide to plagiarism and cyberplagiarism. Gives resources for both faculty and students. http://guides.library.ualberta.ca/content.php?pid=62200&sid=458936
  • Hall, Jonathan. (2005, February 9). Plagiarism across the curriculum: How academic communities can meet the challenge of the undocumented writer. Across the Disciplines, 2. Retrieved September 15, 2012 from http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/articles/hall2005.cfm
  • Harvard Medical School. Converge: Together building change—Tools and models. Retrieved at http://convergeresearch.hms.harvard.edu/Models/Default.aspx. [Elaborates on research context, approaches, ethical issues, research design and methods, analysis, writing, and disseminating results.]
  • Head, A. J. & Eisenberg, M. B. (2010, July 12). Assigning inquiry: How handouts for research assignments guide today’s college students. Project Information Literacy Progress Report: “Assigning Inquiry.” Retrieved at http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Handout_Study_finalvJuly_2010.pdf
  • Henley, S. & Thompson, H. (2000). Fostering information literacy: Connecting national standards, goals 2000 and the SCANS report. Libraries Unlimited. ISBN-1-56308-767-7 Information literacy models and comparison chart. Retrieved at http://infopeople.org/sites/all/files/past/2004/k12infolit/handout_infolitmodels.pdf [Review of several research models and links to websites describing the models.]
  • Highway robbery in an electronic age. Offers antidotes to plagiarism. http://www.fno.org/may98/cov98may.html#anchor243461
  • How to recognize plagiarism. (Indiana University) A tutorial with cases and examples. Retrieved at https://www.indiana.edu/~istd/
  • How to write a great research paper (About Educator.com, Video 3:37). Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/user/EducatorVids3?v=m8m765SqbHc Effective Writing Center, University of Maryland series: How to use quotations in writing essays—APA or MLA. (Effective Writing Center, University of Maryland, Video, 2:53). Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M0F1rOnFUY&playnext=1&list=PL08DB9D8E1FF41E3E&feature=results_main
  • How to write an abstract—Research paper: Communications-600. (Effective Writing Center, University of Maryland, Video, 6:49). Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C7YhazRhtA&feature=relmfu
  • Howard, R. M. (2000). Standing in the shadow of giants: Plagiarists, authors, collaborators. Stamford, CT: Ablex Publishing Corporation. LaTourette, A. W. (2010). Plagiarism: Legal and ethical implications for the university. Journal of College and University Law, 37(1). [Analysis of the term plagiarism and rationale for mitigating consequences to the type of plagiarism. Provides rationale and data to show lower incidence than often reported in sensationalized articles by parsing out types of questions asked in surveys.] Retrieved at http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/academic_affairs/content/docs/Audrey%20Latourette%20plagiarism%20article.pdf
  • Howard, R. M. & Jamieson, S. (1995). The Bedford guide to teaching writing in the disciplines. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press. Jamieson, S. & Howard, R. M. (2011, August 16). Unraveling the citation trail, Project Information Literacy, “Smart Talks,” 8. Retrieved from http://projectinfolit.org/st/howard-jamieson.asp
  • Information literacy—Building blocks of research: Overview of design, process and outcomes. Retrieved at http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/1over/infolit1.html [This site has building blocks for core thinking and problem-solving metaskills.]
  • Information literacy standards for teacher education: EBSS Instruction for Educators Committee 2006‐2007 – 2010‐2011. Retrieved at http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/ilstandards_te.pdf Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL).
  • Information literacy standards for anthropology and sociology students. Retrieved at http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/anthro_soc_standards Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL).
  • Information literacy standards for science and engineering/technology. Retrieved at http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/infolitscitech [Lists standards and expected outcomes.]
  • Ipl2 for teens. Step by step research and writing guidance. Retrieved at http://www.ipl.org/div/aplus/stepfirst.htm
  • LaTourette, A. W. (2010). Plagiarism: Legal and ethical implications for the university.  Journal of College and Unversity Law, 37(1). (Analysis of the term plagiarism and rationale for mitigating consequences to the type of plagiarism.  Provides rationale and data to show lower incidence than often reported in sensationalized articles by parsing out types of questions asked in surveys.) Retrieved at http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/academic_affairs/content/docs/Audrey%20Latourette%20plagiarism%20article.pdf
  • Loertscher, D. The organized investigator: Circular model. California Technology Assistance Project, Region VII’s web site http://ctap.fcoe.k12.ca.us/ctap/Info.Lit/infolit.html Purdue Online Writing Lab. Process. Retrieved at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/679/01/ [Includes guidance on prewriting, paraphrasing, developing a thesis, research and writing.]
  • LoSchiavo, F. M. & Shatz, M. A. (2011, May 15). The impact of an honor code on cheating in online classes. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning. Retrieved at http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no2/loschiavo_0611.htm
  • McCabe, D. L., Treviño, L. K., & Butterfield, K. D. (2001). Cheating in academic institutions: A decade of research. Ethics & Behavior, 11(3), 219-232.  [The amount of “cheating” reported depends upon the form of the question.  For questions that articulate large-scale plagiarism such as copying a whole paper, the self-reports are low, while for questions asking about omitting a citation, self-reports are high.] Retrieved at http://www.middlebury.edu/media/view/257513/original/Decade_of_Research.pdf
  • MPowerLearning.com: How to write a winning assignment series. Part 1--How to write an “A Grade” assignment. (Video, 2:33). Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4b65u8v7kw&feature=relmfu Part 2--How to kickstart your assignment. (Video, 3:33). Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB-SBMW_YWY&feature=endscreen Part 3--How to proofread your assignment. (Video, 2:51). Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W35hSrxhpY&feature=relmfu Part 4--How to get feedback. (Video, 1:52). Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL5U6h9HIfc&feature=relmfu Prof S on plagiarism. (Video, 2:52). Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxO8KEp3v78&feature=autoplay&list=PL08DB9D8E1FF41E3E&index=6&playnext=2
  • McCabe, D. L., Treviño, L. K., & Butterfield, K. D. (2001). Cheating in academic institutions: A decade of research. Ethics & Behavior, 11(3), 219-232. [The amount of “cheating” reported depends upon the form of the question. For questions that articulate large-scale plagiarism such as copying a whole paper, the self-reports are low, while for questions asking about omitting a citation, self-reports are high.] Retrieved at http://www.middlebury.edu/media/view/257513/original/Decade_of_Research.pdf
  • McKenzie, J. (2000). Beyond technology: Questioning, research and the information literate school. Bellingham, Washington: FNO Press. Olt, M. R. (2002, Fall).Ethics and distance education: Strategies for minimizing academic dishonesty in online assessment. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 5(3). Retrieved at http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall53/olt53.html
  • Plagiarism resources: Information literacy and references. In addition to resources, lists free specialized detection resources, e.g., for programming or physics. Retrieved at http://www.djusd.k12.ca.us/harper/jboston/PlagiarismResources.htm
  • Prentice-Hall companion website: Understanding plagiarism. Retrieved from http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_understand_plagiarism_1/0,6622,427064-,00.html
  • Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL). Link to main page. Retrieved at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
  • The Research Cycle. Retrieved at http://questioning.org/Q6/research.html and http://www.fno.org/dec99/rcycle.html [Description of the research cycle as explained by McKenzie.]
  • Research and documentation online (Bedford St. Martin). Gives research sources and documentation guidance for the humanities, social sciences, history, and sciences. Retrieved at http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/ McKenzie, J. (1998).
  • Resources to Help Students Here we have listed web resources useful for guiding students and the videos that we thought could be both motivational and informative for students. Web Resources Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism (Duke) builds awareness with information and video. Retrieved at http://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism/index.html
  • Roberts, T. S. (2008). Student plagiarism in an online world: Problems and solutions. IGI Global Snippet. ISBN 1599048019, 9781599048017
  • Robeson, R.D. (2012, August 31). Harvard investigates unprecedented academic dishonesty case. The Harvard Crimson. [The reported problem concerns more than 100 students who allegedly collaborated on a final exam. Comments suggest problems with the course organization and the difficulty of understanding the exam questions.] Retrieved at http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/8/30/academic-dishonesty-ad-board/
  • Shei, C. (2005). Plagiarism, Chinese learners and Western convention. Taiwan Journal of TESOL, 2(1): 97-113. [Addresses different conceptualizations of “ownership of text.”] Retrieved at http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.98.7086&rep=rep1&type=pdf and http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.98.7086 Research Models These are a few of the possibilities for research writing models. Others may be more appropriate for specific disciplines.
  • Southcoast Writing Project: 50 years of research on writing: What have we learned? (UC Santa Barbara, Video, 59:51, panel of Charles Bazerman, Peter Elbow, and George Hillocks). Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrcq3dzt0Uk
  • Sutherland-Smith, W. (2008) Plagiarism, the Internet and student learning: Improving academic integrity. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0203928377 Book is written for higher education; PDF of book found at http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/13376602/1090558787/name/Plagiarism,+the+Internet+and+Student.pdf
  • Understanding Plagiarism (Prentice-Hall) is an active tutorial for students. Retrieved at http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_understand_plagiarism_1/0,6622,427064-,00.html
  • Understanding plagiarism and academic integrity (University of Michigan). Retrieved at http://www.lib.umich.edu/shapiro-undergraduate-library/understanding-plagiarism-and-academic-integrity
  • VAIL, Virtual Academic Integrity Laboratory. Gives resources for both faculty and students. Retrieved at http://guides.library.ualberta.ca/content.php?pid=62200&sid=458936
  • What is plagiarism at Indiana University? Gives practice in paraphrasing vs. plagiarism. Retrieved at https://www.indiana.edu/~tedfrick/plagiarism/item1.html
  • Wilhoit, S. (1994, Fall). Helping students avoid plagiarism. College Teaching, 42(4), 161-164. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27558679
  • Emphasizes discussion of plagiarism, hypothetical cases, revision of plagiarized passages (consequences), reviewing technical conventions, requiring multiple drafts, requiring photocopies of reference material, providing proofreading guidelines, offering collaboration guidelines, responses to types of error. Video Tips
  • Writing the literature review: Part 1, Step-by-step tutorial for graduate students. (Effective Writing Center, University of Maryland, Video, 5:21). Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IUZWZX4OGI&feature=related Part 2, Step-by-step tutorial for graduate students. (Effective Writing Center, University of Maryland, Video, 7:40). Retrieved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoYpyY9n9YQ&feature=relmfu

Resources on Incidence, Research Models, Effective Assignments, and Help for Students

This is a set of resources, beyond the primary sources of Howard, Robillard, and McKenzie, that we found helpful for understanding the character and dimension of the problem of plagiarism, for strategies to use in developing more effective assignments, and web resources to help students in understanding plagiarism and ways to avoid being labeled as a plagiarist.