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Faculty
Basics
Student
Basics
Student
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Turnitin.com
What
is Plagiarism?
Resources
Training
Presentation - Faculty
Training Presentation - Student
| "Learning is not compulsory... Neither is
survival."
- W. Edwards Deming |
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Why Students Plagiarize
[Extracted
from "Plagiarism: A "How Not To" Workshop by Brittney
Goodman, Interim Director, Instructional Resources, MSUM, March 2002]
The University of Alberta
Libraries notes the following reasons:
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Lack of Research Skills
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Careless Notetaking -- Many students inadvertently plagiarize while doing preliminary research. When taking notes, paraphrased material and directly quoted material can be mixed if students are not careful.
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Not Understanding "Paraphrasing" – Many students do not understand HOW to properly paraphrase and the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarism.
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Confusion over Terminology -- Many do not understand "the difference between a report and an essay, between exposition and argumentation, between a theme and a thesis. And 'analyze' and 'discuss' must surely rank at the top of the list of all-time confusing terms" (Robertson).
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Confusion Over Style Guides and Citing Sources – It’s unfortunate that we cannot have one standard for citing sources, as having to use many different style guides for different courses adds to the confusion that students experience when citing sources. A student can use up to four different style guides in a year, and each guide may give conflicting information.
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Misconception of Plagiarism – Many students don’t understand that plagiarism does not just apply to written text.
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Misconception of Intellectual Property,
Copyright, and Public Domain -- students may not be able to decipher what information is in the public domain, what materials and ideas are copyrighted, and what materials and ideas are the intellectual property of their creators and thus require proper attribution.
Plagiarism by students can also be seen in the larger context of cheating in general. ABC's
PrimeTime Thursday ran a special program on Cheating in America's Schools
(see
Cheaters
Amok).
"Simply having an honor code means little if students don’t know about it" (MacCabe &
Trevino,
Honesty
and Honor Codes).
"Although dealing with student cheating is difficult, faculty can address some concerns simply through good teaching—by, for example, challenging academic dishonesty when it occurs in their courses and fostering an environment of trust in their classrooms" (MacCabe &
Trevino,
Honesty
and Honor Codes).
Always
remember to log out when you have finished using Turnitin.com
MacCabe, Donald, & Trevino, Linda
Klebe. Honesty and Honor Codes. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on March 24, 2002 at:
http://www.aaup.org/publications/Academe/02JF/02jfmcc.htm
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