Agree or disagree?

• If I worked hard to complete an assignment, I would mind if my friend copied it.

• When I am stressed, I sometimes copy others’ work.• If I worked hard to complete an assignment, I would

mind if my enemy copied it.• I believe it is better to succeed through dishonesty than to

fail with honor.• Pulling ideas from other resources is no big deal.• It doesn’t bother me to know my doctor may have

cheated on his or her license exam.

PLAGIARISM“Fine words! I wonder where you stole 'em.”

-Jonathan Swift

Statistics

• 4 out of 5 high achievers surveyed in 1998 admitted to cheating on school work (Plagiarism)

• Approximately 5.2% of residency applicants plagiarize on their entrance applications (Segal 112)

• 4,757 candidates were docked marks, disqualified or given official warnings for malpractice for using mobile telephones to cheat in their GCSE and A-level exams last summer in Britain (Thousands 4)

• One-third of 615 management students at University of Central Florida were discovered cheating on a midterm, and 187 received academic discipline for plagiarizing in 2009. (WJHG)

Definition

According to Merriam Webster, plagiarism is:• to steal or attempt to pass off the words or ideas of

another as one’s own• to use another’s production without crediting the source• to commit literary theft: present an idea or product as

new and original which was taken from an existing source

Cheaters

Jayson Blair

• “Blair fabricated quotes, people and events and plagiarized the work of others.” (Folkenflik)

• Spanned dozens of stories• Fired from New York

Times along with two editors

Cheaters

Justice Mariano del Castillo

• November 2010• Philippines Supreme

Court Justice• Lifted whole paragraphs

and phrases from various sources, including Wikipedia

• Many calling for his resignation

Cheaters

Fishers’ High School Seniors

• May 2010• Nearly 2 dozen seniors

were caught plagiarizing papers a week before graduation. (Ritchie)

• Students’ grades were lowered to the point they were in danger of missing graduation.

Cheaters

College Students

• More than 30 college applicants to Pennsylvania State University

• Rejected from admissions• Turnitin

Cheaters

Joe Biden

• Failed a law course in college for plagiarism

• Forced to withdraw 1988 democratic presidency nominations when discovered he copied several campaign speeches (Blumer)

College Plagiarism Policies

University of LouisvilleAny proven plagiarism will result in failure of the course and will be reported to the committee on student discipline for further action, including notice in the permanent record, dismissal or expulsion.

University of Kentucky

The minimum penalty for plagiarism is a zero on the assignment for a first, “minor offence”; more severe penalties may be recommended and are mandated by the faculty senate for “major” and subsequent offences. Students should also be aware that according to faculty senate rules, those charged with plagiarism may not withdraw from the course in which the offense occurred for any reason.

Illinois State UniversityIn cases where a student admits to cheating, an administrative decision may be appropriate.  A minimum of one year of disciplinary probation is the standard precedent for such violations, in addition to appropriate educational sanctions. 

Fraud

• Turning in a paper that was entirely or partially written by another• From WKU’s English department: “In this case, ‘anyone

else’ includes everyone but you. You may not turn in a paper that was written or partially written by your parent, your boyfriend or girlfriend, your spouse, your sibling, a friend, a stranger, another student, a professional or amateur author, or anyone else.”

Patchwriting

• Copying phrases, words or ideas from several different sources to create a “new” idea that is submitted as your own work

Double-dipping

• Submitting a whole or parts of an assignment to a course which has already received a grade in another course without the instructor’s approval

Undocumented paraphrasing or text hugging

• Submitting an assignment as your own, that has words or basic sentence structure elements that are pulled from another source without documentation

Sources

Blumer, Tom. “Biden's 1988 Campaign Plagiarism Goes Well Beyond What Wiki Reveals.” NewsBusters, 25 Aug. 2008. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Folkenflik, David. “Jayson Blair: Offering his views on making up news.” npr, 6 Nov. 2009. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

“Plagiarism Statistics: Did you know?” University of Florida, April 2000. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Ritchie, Carrie. “Fishers students caught plagiarizing; some seniors nearly miss graduation.” The Indianapolis Star, June 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Segal, Scott. “Academia and Clinic: Plagiarism in Residency Applications.” American College of Physicians. 153.2 (2010): 112 – 121. Print

“Thousands caught cheating.” The Times (UK) 12 March 2007. Print.