Comments | punkwalrus: To my teacher friends: how to determine plagiarism?

punkwalrus

To my teacher friends: how to determine plagiarism?

Jan 30, 2009 14:47

Okay, suppose I have this basic essay due on, let's say kumquats. Now, I know these days teachers are plagued with people who cut and paste from something like Wikipedia (or whatever) on the Internet. But how blurred is this line? Let's take the first two paragraphs from here: http ( Read more... )

plagiarism, school, essay, teacher, writing

Comments 5

aurienne January 30 2009, 19:57:43 UTC

For the sample you quoted, I'd definitely want to see signal phrases ("According to Wikipedia, ...."), but context also matters. If you're a group of fruit botanists, a lot of that would be common knowledge, and thus no citation necessary, at least for some of the more basic information. In general, it tends to be better to overcite than undercite ( ... )

aurienne January 30 2009, 22:55:01 UTC

Also, since I happened to be throwing drafts from my Axia students into the turnitin plagiarism checker (similarity matcher), and here's the result:

57% match (Internet from 11/22/08)
http://en.wikipedia.org
(I included your "If I..." sentence)

That would definitely get you turned in for an Academic Integrity Violation there.

You can also make it look beyond the biggest matches, and we see that the wikipedia excerpt is 34% match of http://www.lilesnet.com

(another thing, at UMBC, we define plagiarism as representing someone else's words or ideas as your own!)

allura January 30 2009, 21:05:09 UTC

http://www.plagiarismdetect.com/member.php

I use this when I write papers, so I can see if what I am saying is a quote from somewhere that I hadn't detected previously...

I also run it to make sure that the quotes I do use directly are being cited by the right source. Oftentimes, when doing massive research papers, the sources can get mixed up when dealing with printouts. This ensures I can go back to the paper and find who actually I am quoting.

I could explain it better, if I didn't have a headache. :(

evilpassion8 January 31 2009, 00:07:44 UTC

From someone who does this for a living....we'd be fired for what you posted. Every IDEA you report that is not your own, independent idea must be referenced in academic writing, UNLESS it is a "common knowledge" thing.

There are a couple of very cheap sites on the web to use to check and see if you've [inadvertently] plagarised, and one or two free ones.

Now, BEWARE -- both you and the students here -- if you use turnitin.com yourself and submit the paper to someone later (like your instructor) and THEY use turnitin.com, IT WILL BE FLAGGED. So if want to run it through before turning it in, DON;T use turnitin. Use copyscape.com (very cheap) -- or www.dustball.com (free)

byronczimmer February 2 2009, 21:25:24 UTC

My course last semester was supposed to be a heavy writing course, with two hefty research papers (10+ pages, thesis format, etc). The professor had, I kid you not, 5 pages on how to NOT plagiarize and detailed explanations on what it meant to her.

The following is a quote from that Syllabus (EMSE 319-L8, Fall 08 Syllabus, Dr. Julie Ryan):

There is no such thing as “boilerplate” or “standard language” in academia. Students are expected to write their reports themselves, using their own language and their own formulation. If it is necessary to use material from other sources, it is expected (and mandatory) that the standards of academic style and integrity will be followed. This includes glossaries and appendices ( ... )