K-State’s Definition of Plagiarism
K-State Honor & Integrity System
Faculty Brown Bag
October 22, 2008
Faculty Handbook
• http://www.kstate.edu/academicpersonnel/fhbook/
• Appendix F (Academic Conduct, Academic
Honesty, and Honor System Constitution
• Changes approved 9/9/08 by Faculty Senate
Plagiarism – Previous Definition
1. Definition of plagiarism.
a. "Plagiarism is . . . taking somebody else's property. If you
copy somebody's test answers, take an essay from a magazine
and pass it off as your own, lift a well-phrased sentence or two
and include them without crediting the author or using
quotation marks, or even pass off somebody's good ideas as
examples of your own genius, . . " Quote from Robert M.
Gorrell and Charlton Laid, Modern English Handbook, 6th
edition (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1976), p. 71.
b. Plagiarism covers unpublished as well as published
sources; borrowing another's term paper, handing in as one's
own work a paper purchased from an individual or agency, or
submitting as one's own any papers from living group's,
club's, or organization's files; . . .
Revision Process
• Members of Development Committee:
▫ Dr. David Allen – director of Honor & Integrity
System
▫ Dr. Elizabeth Dodd – Department of English
▫ Cheryl Strecker – University Attorney
• Revision through Faculty Senate Process
(subcommittee reviews and approvals prior to
going to Faculty Senate)
Revised Definition in Comparison to
Former Definition
• “Property” is spelled out as “someone else’s
ideas, work, or words”
• Definition taken from 2003 Webster’s
Dictionary as opposed to 1976 source
• More detailed explanation of what constitutes
plagiarism
▫ Buying a paper online
▫ Cutting and pasting information
▫ Using another persons ideas without citation
“Sloppy Scholarship”
• Clearly states that unintentional plagiarism is
still plagiarism
▫ Failure to put correct quotation marks
▫ Failure to use in-text citations
▫ Incorrect paraphrasing
“Discipline Specific Guidelines”
• Departmental or instructor guidelines of citation
styles
• Expectation on the department or instructor to
educate and inform the student of these
guidelines
Plagiarism in the Classroom – What
Can Faculty Do?
• Teaching to Avoid Plagiarism
▫
▫
▫
▫
Citation Education
Online quizzes
Plagiarism Handouts for faculty and students
Educational needs of level of students
• Tips to Minimize Plagiarism
• Plagiarism Declaration
• Show examples of plagiarism
What questions or comments do you
have about K-State and plagiarism?
Thank you for coming!
• Next Faculty Brown Bag:
▫ Thursday, November 20
▫ Directors Conference Rooms of the Union
▫ When Academic Integrity is Grey
Contact Information
Camilla J. Roberts, PhD
Assistant Director
Honor & Integrity System
chjones@ksu.edu
532-2595