This document summarizes a workshop on plagiarism presented by Deanna Lewis. It defines plagiarism as presenting others' ideas or words as one's own. It discusses why students plagiarize, both unintentionally from lack of understanding, and intentionally due to laziness or pressure. Those most likely to plagiarize struggle with coursework or are unmotivated. Tips are provided for detecting plagiarism through clues in writing style or online sources, and for preventing it through clear policies, research process assignments, and changing topics over time.

1. PLAGIARISM
A Workshop for Faculty
Presented by Deanna Lewis
Technical Services Librarian
Cape Fear Community College
In-Service Training
August, 17, 2006

2. WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
Plagiarism is the act of presenting
someone else’s ideas and/or words
as though they were your own
Plagiarism is not the same as
copyright violation

3. It is possible to violate copyright laws
without being guilty of plagiarism.
Likewise it is possible to be guilty of
plagiarism without violating any
copyright laws

4. For Example:
Photocopying a book and giving copies to
all your friends is probably a violation of
copyright, but it is not plagiarism (unless
you’re claiming you wrote it). On the other
hand, copying even a small section of a
book (even one in the public domain)
without crediting your source is plagiarism
even though doing so might not violate
copyright laws

5. WHY DO STUDENTS PLAGIARIZE?
• Unintentional Plagiarism
– Lack of training/information about
plagiarism; don’t understand what plagiarism
is and/or how to avoid it
– Failure to use quotation marks properly or
provide internal documentation

6. WHY DO STUDENTS PLAGIARIZE?
• Unintentional Plagiarism
– Failure to paraphrase properly
• Student doesn’t understand how to paraphrase or
doesn’t sufficiently understand the material
– Poor note taking/record keeping skills
• Failure to accurately record which of their notes
are quoted and which are paraphrased
• Failure to record source of the information

7. WHY DO STUDENTS PLAGIARIZE?
• Intentional Plagiarism
– Too many commitments, not enough time, too
heavy work/class load, outside obligations
and/or interests
– Don’t feel capable of doing the assignment;
not prepared for college level work
– Found the “perfect” document and “can’t do it
better”

8. WHY DO STUDENTS PLAGIARIZE?
• Intentional Plagiarism
– Laziness
– Not interested in topic and/or course
– Fear of failure and/or pressure to get good
grades
– Other students cheat and get away with it.
Feel they must cheat to compete

9. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO PLAGIARIZE?
• Students most likely to plagiarize are
those who:
– Aren’t adequately prepared for college level
work; students struggling with the course
– Are not interested in the topic, the course, or
being in school; unmotivated; have other
priorities
– Students with too many commitments or poor
time management skills; habitual
procrastinators

10. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO PLAGIARIZE?
• Students most likely to plagiarize are
those who:
– Use class time for “other” activities (reading
unrelated materials, sleeping, cell phones,
etc.)
– Ask to change their topics at the last minute
– Have low GPAs as compared to students with
high GPAs (Pennsylvania State University)

11. DETECTING PLAGIARISM
• Clues that a paper may be partially or
wholly plagiarized:
– Obvious visual clues:
• Another student’s and/or instructor’s name on the
paper
• Internet URL and download dates on the printout
• Statement from the paper mill that it was
purchased from
– Paper is more general than the topic assigned
or is off-topic

12. DETECTING PLAGIARISM
• Clues that a paper may be partially or
wholly plagiarized:
– Different writing style or level of sophistication
compared to student’s usual writing
– Changes in writing styles within a single paper
or strange formatting (varying margins,
indentions, fonts, etc.)
• This may indicate a chop shop approach; the
student has probably cut and pasted text from
several sources.

13. DETECTING PLAGIARISM
• Clues that a paper may be partially or
wholly plagiarized:
– For 100 and 200 level courses, a reliance on
only scholarly resources (unless required) is
suspect. Most students at this level don’t
gravitate toward these sources.
– NO resources are newer than 1-5 years old.
(Time frame varies by topic.)
– Déjà vu. Paper sounds familiar. Is this paper
similar to another one in the class or to a
paper received in the past?

14. DETECTING PLAGIARISM
• Tips for Confirming Plagiarism
– Use the Internet; the student who cheated
probably did.
• Use Google and/or other search engines to search
the title, a unique phrase, entire sentences or even
whole paragraphs.
– But beware of papers that have a few words
changed here and there to prevent detection via
this method.
• Search paper mills on the Internet

15. DETECTING PLAGIARISM
• Tips for Confirming Plagiarism
– Compare the paper in question with the
papers you saved from previous semesters
• You are archiving them, aren’t you?
– Search NC-LIVE for magazine, newspaper,
and journal articles that have been plagiarized

16. DETECTING PLAGIARISM
• Tips for Confirming Plagiarism
– Use plagiarism detection software
• Turnitin is the most famous
• Major advantage is speed and ease of use
• Disadvantages
– No software program has access to all possible sources
of plagiarized texts
– Doesn’t distinguish between inadvertent plagiarism and
intentional plagiarism
– Doesn’t catch inadequate paraphrasing or text where
some words have been changed
– Copyright issues about uploading students’ work to
databases.

17. TIPS FOR PREVENTING PLAGIARISM
• Let students know you take plagiarism
seriously
– Include a statement in your syllabus
– Talk about plagiarism in class
– Ask students to sign a contract
– Provide examples, a tutorial or an assignment
to help students understand what constitutes
plagiarism

18. TIPS FOR PREVENTING PLAGIARISM
• Require students to turn in a bibliography,
outline, notes, drafts, and copies of sources with
a series of due dates.
– An annotated bibliography with a summary and/or
evaluation of each source shows student’s
understanding of the source as well as evidence of
doing research
– Have students submit multiple drafts electronically
and use the compare documents function in MS Word
to be sure that the students are making substantive
changes
– Requiring submission of copies of sources with the
final paper makes it easy to check for proper citation.
This is one of the easiest, cheapest and most
effective techniques available

19. TIPS FOR PREVENTING PLAGIARISM
• Have students write essays in class so
you can learn their writing, vocabulary,
etc.
• “Remind students that the purpose of the
course is to learn and develop skills” and
not merely to collect a grade. Harris
www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm
• Let students know that you are
knowledgeable about sources for papers
– Talk about paper mills; show them examples

20. TIPS FOR PREVENTING PLAGIARISM
• Require both written and electronic copies
be turned in.
– Having the electronic version makes it easier
to compare to the Internet, paper mills, and
papers turned in for previous classes
• Keep copies of all papers turned in
• Do random checks of citations
• Always follow up on suspected plagiarism
• Change assignments every semester

21. TIPS FOR PREVENTING PLAGIARISM
• Have students write an essay about the
writing process and what they learned
• Require a Student/Instructor conference or
require an oral presentation based on the
paper.
• Allow students to select own topics as
much as possible
• Assign topics which rely more on analysis
and critical thinking with less emphasis on
presentation of facts.

22. WORKS CONSULTED
Barry, Elaine S. “Can Paraphrasing Practice Help Students Define Plagiarism?” College
Student Journal. 20 (2006): 377-384. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. CFCC
LRC. 8 Aug. 2006.
Bowman, Vibiana, ed. The plagiarism plague: a resource guide and CD-ROM tutorial for
educators and librarians. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2004.
Carey, Suzanne F. and Patricia Arnett Zeck. Combating Plagiarism. Bloomington, IN: Phi
Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 2003.
Carroll, Jude. A handbook for deterring plagiarism in higher education. Oxford. Oxford
Centre for Staff and Learning Development, 2002.
Harris, Robert A. The plagiarism handbook: strategies for preventing, detecting, and
dealing with plagiarism. Los Angeles: Pyrczak, 2001.
Jewell, Thomas. Prentice Hall’s Guide to Understanding Plagiarism. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson, 2004.
Lathrop, Ann and Kathleen Foss. Guiding Students from Cheating and Plagiarism to
Honesty and integrity: Strategies for Change. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited,
2005.
Lathrop, Ann and Kathleen Foss. Student cheating and plagiarism in the Internet era: a
wake-up call. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000.
Pennsylvania State University. “Academic Integrity” Penn State Pulse University Park,
PA: Pennsylvania State University, 1999. <
http://www.sa.psu.edu/sara/pulse/58-academic.PDF >