Academic Dishonesty:

The Problem of Plagiarism in Academic Writing

Providence College, 22 August 2005

A. What is Plagiarism?

Honesty is a foundational Christian and civic virtue that is expected of Providence students in all aspects of life. Where honesty is absent, community life becomes pretentious, untrustworthy, and ultimately chaotic. Plagiarism is one particular breach of academic honesty that is a grave violation of academic integrity.

Many people think of plagiarism as copying another’s work, or borrowing someone else’s original ideas. But terms like “copying” and “borrowing” can disguise the seriousness of the offense. According to the Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary, to “plagiarize” means

· to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one’s own

· to use another’s production without crediting the source

· to commit literary theft

· to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else’s work and lying about it afterward.

All of the following are considered plagiarism:

· turning in someone else’s work as your own

· copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit

· failing to put a quotation in quotation marks

· giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation

· changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit

· copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not

Note that changing the words of an original source is not sufficient to prevent plagiarism. If you have retained the essential idea of an original source, and have not cited it, then no matter how drastically you may have altered its context or presentation, you have still plagiarized.

However, most cases of plagiarism in conventional academic writing can be avoided simply by citing sources. Acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source, is usually enough to prevent plagiarism.

B. Types of Plagiarism

Anyone who has written or graded a paper knows that plagiarism is not always a black-and-white issue. The boundary between plagiarism and research is often unclear. After understanding what plagiarism is, learning to recognize its various forms, especially the more ambiguous ones, is an important second step in preventing it.

1. Sources Not Cited

a) The Impersonator

The writer turns in someone else’s entire body of work, word-for-word, as his or her own.

b) The Copier

The writer copies significant portions of text directly from a single source, without alteration.

c) The Combiner

The writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different sources, tweaking the sentences to make them fit together while retaining most of the original phrasing.

d) The Disguiser

The writer alters the paper’s appearance slightly by changing key words and phrases, while retaining the essential content of another uncited source.

e) The Paraphraser

The writer takes the time to paraphrase most of the paper from other uncited sources and make it all fit together, instead of spending the same effort on original work.

f) The Duplicator

The writer “borrows” generously from his or her own previous work in another course without permission, violating policies concerning the expectation of originality adopted by most academic institutions.

2. Sources Cited, But Still Plagiarized

a) The Forgotten Footnote

The writer mentions an author’s name as a source, but neglects to include specific information on the location of the material referenced. This often masks other forms of plagiarism by obscuring source locations.

b) The Intentional Misinformation

The writer provides inaccurate information regarding the sources, making it impossible to find them.

c) The Too-Perfect Paraphrase

The writer properly cites a source, but neglects to put in quotation marks text that has been copied word-for-word, or close to it. Although attributing the basic ideas to the source, the writer is falsely claiming original presentation and interpretation of the information.

d) The Complex Compilation

The writer properly cites all sources, paraphrasing and using quotations appropriately. However, the paper contains almost no original work! It is sometimes difficult to spot this form of plagiarism because it looks like any other well-researched document.

e) The Perfect Crime

Well, we all know it doesn’t exist. In this case, the writer properly quotes and cites sources in some places, but goes on to paraphrase other arguments from those sources without citation. This way, the writer tries to pass off the paraphrased material as his or her own analysis of the cited material.

C. Consequences of Plagiarism

In the event that the question of plagiarism arises, the student may demonstrate their ownership of the work in question by submitting drafts of their paper, research notes, samples of other work, or demonstrating orally their understanding of the concepts and ideas in the paper. In the event that the student and instructor cannot come to an agreement about the presence of plagiarism, the paper will be referred to the appropriate Vice President for Academics, who may require of the student any information necessary to adjudicate the charge.

At the discretion of the instructor, penalties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

· Repeating the assignment or examination (with or without grade penalty)

· Failure of the assignment or examination

· Failure of the course

The Vice President for Academics will be notified of any offences and subsequent penalties. The Student Development department will be notified if the student is a student leader or if, in the opinion of the VPA and the professor, the student could be assisted by Student Development staff. Other full-time faculty and part-time and adjunct professors who are dealing with the individual student may be notified, if the VPA and the professor assess the offence to be one which may occur in other settings. The Executive Committee will consider student appeals against such penalties in consultation with the professor.

In cases where the offence is severe and/or is a repeat offence, the VPA may request that the Executive Committee, in consultation with the Vice President for Student Development, impose further penalties upon the student which may include, but are not limited to, the following:

· Temporary suspension

· Dismissal

The President of Providence College and Theological Seminary will consider student appeals against such penalties.

D. Examples of Plagiarism

The following examples are taken from Rebecca Moore Howard’s “A Plagiarism Pentimento” (Journal of Teaching Writing, Summer 1993).

Original Source:

Davidson, Robert. Genesis 1-11. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1973.

Original Wording:

“Such ‘story myths’ are not told for their entertainment value. They provide answers to questions people ask about life, about society, and about the world in which they live” (10).

1. First Example of Plagiarism (Misuse of Source)

“Specifically, story myths are not for entertainment purposes, but rather serve as answers to questions people ask about life, about society, and about the world in which they live.”

Explanation: The student has copied words and phrases from the original work without acknowledging their source. Although the student has rearranged some phrases and made minor stylistic changes, this version still follows the basic wording and structure of the original while the student repeats ideas as if they were his or her own. 

2. Second Example of Plagiarism (Misuse of Source)

“Davidson explains that story myths answer questions people ask about life, about society, and about the world that we live in (10).”

Explanation: Though less obvious, this is still plagiarism. Although the student has cited the source of their ideas, he or she has presented Davidson’s exact words as if he or she authored them. As is often the case in such plagiarism, where the words are changed, the changes render the material less clear (for example, shifting from “people” to “we”) and grammatically incorrect (for example, the dangling preposition “in”).

E. How to Avoid Unintentional Plagiarism

Unintentional plagiarism, or patch-writing, occurs when students depend too heavily on other material to make a point, rather than making the point themselves and using other sources to support it. The second example of plagiarism above is just such an example of patch-writing, and it may be correctly rewritten in several different ways.

Original Wording:

“Such ‘story myths’ are not told for their entertainment value. They provide answers to questions people ask about life, about society, and about the world in which they live” (10).

Second Example of Plagiarism (Misuse of Source)

“Davidson explains that story myths answer questions people ask about life, about society, and about the world that we live in (10).”

Correctly Rewritten Examples (Proper Use of Source):

1. With Quotation Marks and Citation

Davidson explains that “story myths” answer “questions people ask about life, about society and about the world in which they live” (10).

Explanation:  In the rewritten version of the plagiarized sentence, the student has quoted all of the words that came directly from Davidson. Although this is an acceptable use of sources, obviously such extensive quotation would not be acceptable if it occurred throughout a college paper, so the better alternative is to paraphrase or summarize sources and use extensive quotation only occasionally.

2. Using Paraphrase and Citation

As Davidson explains, the importance of “story myths” is in their relevance to the everyday lives of their readers (10).

Explanation:  In this sample paraphrase, the writer has maintained and correctly cited the essential idea in Davidson’s sentence, but the articulation of that idea is original, and very different from the source. This is an example of an appropriate use and citation of source material.  Note that the author of the source (Davidson) is introduced at the beginning of the sentence, making it clear to readers exactly where the writer begins using the source.  The page reference clearly marks the end of that source material. 

3. Paraphrased Text Used with Quotation in a Paragraph

“Story myths” are powerful because they deal with phenomena that people cannot understand in any other way. As Davidson explains, story myths have direct relevance to the everyday lives of their readers by “provid[ing] answers to questions” (10).

Explanation:  In this final example, the writer has used Davidson’s analysis to support a point he or she is making about the role of “story myths,” and has combined paraphrase and quotation to show how Davidson supports the assertion.  This is the most common way to deal with sources in an academic context, because it allows the writer to establish a form of dialogue with the source material.  Note, again, that the author of the source (Davidson) is introduced at the beginning of the second sentence, making it clear to readers exactly where the writer begins using the source. The page reference clearly marks the end of that source material. 

A Bonus Example

Material that is paraphrased must nevertheless be cited. Paraphrasing is a condensed version of another author’s work, or putting the author’s words into your own words. You cite paraphrasing as you would a word-for-word quote.

Original Source:

Gredler, M. E. (2001). Learning and instruction: Theory into practice (4th ed.). Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Original Wording:

Developing complex skills in the classroom involves the key ingredients identified in teaching pigeons to play ping-pong and to bowl. The key ingredients are: (1) inducing a response, (2) reinforcing subtle improvements or refinements in the behavior, (3) providing for the transfer of stimulus control by gradually withdrawing the prompts or cues, and (4) scheduling reinforcements so that the ratio of reinforcements in responses gradually increases and natural reinforcers can maintain their behavior.

Plagiarized Misuse of Original Material

Inducing a response, providing for the transfer of stimulus control by gradually withdrawing prompts or cues, reinforcing subtle improvements in the behavior, and scheduling reinforcements so that natural reinforcers can maintain their behavior are the key ingredients identified both in teaching pigeons to play ping-pong and in developing complex skills in the classroom.

Explanation: The student has only moved the original author's words around, inserting and deleting small portions as needed. The student has not used quotation marks for the portions that are still identical to the original, and has not credited the original author.

Proper Use of Original Material

According to Gredler (2001), the same factors apply to developing complex skills in a classroom setting as to developing complex skills in any setting. A response must be induced, then reinforced as it gets closer to the desired behavior. Reinforcers have to be scheduled carefully, and cues have to be withdrawn gradually so that the new behaviors can be transferred and maintained.

Explanation: This example has been paraphrased and is not considered plagiarized. The original author was cited at the beginning of the passage as well as in the bibliographic section.  Since paraphrasing occurred, quotation marks are not used; nothing was quoted directly.