Plagiarism Information & Resources

Information for Faculty on Internet Plagiarism

Internet plagiarism has become part of the academic landscape. Each semester more and more faculty are confronted with student writing assignments that have plagiarized from the Internet.

These web pages have been designed to support faculty in combating Internet Plagiarism within their courses. The emphasis is on practical information and helpful web links that can assist faculty in dealing with this increasing problem.

If you have a question about Internet Plagiarism as it relates to the University of Connecticut Student Conduct Code, please contact Judith DiLaurenzio, Assistant Dean of Students at 860.626.6804or via e-mail at judith.dilaurenzio@uconn.edu .

What is Plagiarism?

Many students sincerely do not know all the nuances associated with Internet Plagiarism. When to document sources? What is proper paraphrasing? What is meant by 'common knowledge references?' Can I simply copy photos or pictures off the Internet?

The English Department at Purdue University has put together an excellent and informative website entitled, "Avoiding Plagiarism" that succinctly explains Plagiarism and provides well-structured examples for both faculty and students.

A quick "Plagiarism Quiz" developed by Karen Cajka, the Tri-Campus Freshman English Coordinator at the University of Connecticut, can be downloaded for use in the classroom.

In addition, the School of Education at the University of Indiana has put together a tutorial, " How to Recognize Plagiarism ," that students can review at their leisure. Ted Frick, an Associate Professor in the School of Education, has also developed an exemplary, interactive, 10 question quiz on " What is Plagiarism... "

Helpful Hints in Detecting Internet Plagiarism

Detecting plagiarism derived from the Internet does not always require the use of high tech tools or sophisticated search techniques. Many times, especially in lower division courses, the "clues" are rather straightforward. For example, Shelley Roseman, a librarian at the Stamford Regional Campus, instructs faculty to look for the following as examples of potential plagiarism indicators:

Unusual formatting
Strange layout
Essay was printed from browser
References with missing citations
Is a paper way off topic, containing a few related paragraphs used to connect the paper together?
Extensive use of jargon or advanced vocabulary.
Frequent changes in terminology could signal cutting & pasting plagiarism.

The library of the University of Alberta has an excellent checklist of what faculty should watch for when reading over a student's written work. Their Detecting Plagiarism page also discusses "How to track down a suspect paper" by using such search engines as Google.com.

Another good resource is from the Dalhousie University Library.

How to Properly Cite Source Materials From the Internet

There are many reasons why students do not properly cite source materials from the Internet. One of the most common is lack of knowledge. It has only been the last few years that Internet citations have begun to appear in a student's written work. Bewilderment abounds as students seek the answer to the new-age question, "How do I cite off the Internet?" Below are two web sites that provide an excellent resource for faculty and students:

An excellent web site that provides complete information on how to cite online materials has been developed by Bedford/St. Martin's, a college publisher specializing in the humanities. The web page, Citation Styles , has sections for APA, MLA and Chicago style. It is very easy to use and provides numerous examples for users.
Another tool is the Citation Maker , on the Oregon School Library Information System web site. The Citation Maker allows users to fill in blank fields from which a bibliographic reference is generated. The Citation Maker is somewhat simplistic, but could be useful for some written assignments.

Handling a Plagiarism Situation

What do you do when you believe a student has plagiarized, using the Internet or not? Some faculty want to handle the matter "quietly" and simply have the student rewrite the paper. The Office of Student Affairs encourages faculty to follow the prescribed procedure which safeguards both the faculty member and the student. More importantly, if students know that faculty are treating Plagiarism seriously there is a better chance for reducing the practice.

The specific steps to take are an abridged version of the University of Connecticut Student Code, Part VI (italics have been added to key points):

When an instructor believes there is sufficient information to demonstrate a clear case of academic misconduct, the instructor shall notify the accused student in writing (and orally if possible).
Unless the student requests a hearing to contest the instructor's belief, the instructor shall impose the appropriate academic consequences warranted by the circumstances. The Dean of Students Office has put together guidelines for Academic Misconduct Sanctions to assist faculty in determining the type of sanction that should be assigned to an infraction. Click here for the guidelines.
The appropriate academic consequence for serious offenses is generally considered to be failure in the course.
For less serious offenses regarding small portions of the course work, failure for that portion is suggested with the requirement that the student repeat the work for no credit.
Normally, written notification shall occur within thirty (30) days of the discovery of the alleged misconduct.
The faculty member is responsible for saving the information of academic misconduct in its original form and need not return any of the papers or other materials to the student. Copies of the student's work and information about other evidence shall be provided to the student upon request
Normally, the student shall be given five (5) business days from the instructor's first written notice to respond.
If the student admits responsibility or does not respond, the academic consequences shall be imposed and a report will be submitted to the dean of the instructor's school as well as to the Associate Dean of Students for Judicial Affairs.
If a student chooses to contest the instructor's belief of academic misconduct, the student may submit a written request for a hearing to the instructor and send copies of the request to the dean of the college and the department head.

A sample charge letter, developed by the University of Connecticut's Department of English, can also be downloaded and printed out on University letterhead. Judith DiLaurenzio from the Office of Student Affairs can assist faculty that have questions.

Website Citations
( References Utilized on the Internet Plagiarism Website )

What is Plagiarism

Avoiding Plagiarism. Purdue University Online Writing Lab. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_plagiar.html>

Frick, Ted. What is Plagiarism at Indiana University. 12 Apr. 2001. Indiana University School of Education. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://education.indiana.edu/%7Efrick/plagiarism/index2.html>

How to Recognize Plagiarism. 25 Sept. 2002. Indiana University School of Education. 4 Jan. 2004. <http://www.indiana.edu/~istd/overview.html>

Prevention Measures

Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices. Council of Writing Program Administrators. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://www.ilstu.edu/~ddhesse/wpa/positions/WPAplagiarism.pdf>

Harris, Robert. "Anti-Plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers." VirtualSalt 7 March 2002. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm>

Nowakowski, Fran. Assignment Design Strategies. 1 Apr. 2003 Dalhousie University. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://plagiarism.dal.ca/faculty/assignment.html>

Pearson, Gretchen. Electronic Plagiarism Semina, Preventing Plagiarism: some strategies. 4 Dec. 2003 Noreen Reale Falcone Library, Le Moyne College. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://www.lemoyne.edu/library/plagiarism.htm#PREVENTING%20PLAGIARISM>

Plagiarism Prevention. 18 Dec. 2003. University of Wisconsin-Platteville. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://www.uwplatt.edu/~library/reference/plagiarism.htmlx>

Preventing and Detecting Plagiarism. 20 Aug. 2003. UT Library Online. 4 Jan. 2004. <http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/faculty/plagiarism/preventing.html>

The Student Code, Part VI: Academic Integrity in Undergraduate Education and Research. 23 Aug. 2003. The University of Connecticut. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://www.dosa.uconn.edu/code2.html#partvi>

Detecting Internet Plagiarism

Detecting Plagiarism. 9 Jul. 2003 Dalhousie University Library. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://www.library.dal.ca/how/detect.htm>

Detecting Plagiarism. University of Alberta Libraries. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/plagiarism/detecting/index.cfm>

Roseman, Shelly. Plagiarism Workshop: Strategies for Faculty. UConn Stamford 14 Oct. 2003. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://www.lib.uconn.edu/~sroseman/Plagiarism/FacultyPresentation.htm>

How to Cite From the Internet

Citation Styles online! Bedford/St. Martins. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html>

OSLIS Secondary Citation Maker. Oregon School Library Information System. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://oslis.k12.or.us/citeintro/nof_citesession.php?Grd=Sec&sessionid=aff0d24c08f250eed1a8dbca7d4085d0>

Handling a Plagiarism Situation

Responding in Writing to Academic Fraud. Department of English, The University of Connecticut. 4 Jan. 2004 <http://www.english.uconn.edu/Undergraduate/Responding.htm>