Plagiarism
The Culture of Cheating
For Language & Cultural Diversity in Teaching & Learning
What we’re going to discuss
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The incidence of plagiarism at academic institutions
Various types of plagiarism
Understanding plagiarism in different cultures
Seneca’s Academic Policy on Cheating & Plagiarism
What you need to do if you suspect a student has plagiarized
Strategies for minimizing plagiarism within the classroom
Library resources to help you and your students (incl. tutorial)/ How to
teach students about plagiarism
Turnitin (time permitting)
Citing (time permitting)
Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this session, participants will demonstrate the
ability to:
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discuss current rates of plagiarism
identify various types of plagiarism
explain how cultural & language differences might affect a student’s
perception towards plagiarism
locate and make students aware of Seneca’s Academic Policy on Cheating
& Plagiarism
follow the appropriate procedures when a student is suspected of
plagiarism
practice various strategies within the classroom to minimize plagiarism
locate and utilize various library resources that may help both faculty and
students to understand and avoid plagiarism
determine whether they want to use Turnitin for student
papers/assignments (time permitting)
locate and utilize various library resources that may help students to cite
their resources properly (time permitting)
Is plagiarism a big deal?
What do you think?
Is it a big deal?
Is it a big deal?
Is it a big deal?
Is it a big deal?
YES!!
A look at the numbers
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53 percent
…of nearly 15,000 Canadian students
recently surveyed admitted to cheating
on written work at least once in the 12
months before the survey.
(Gillis, 2007)
Who is doing it?
Plagiarism: By Discipline
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Business
56%
Engineering
54%
Physical Science
50%
Medical/Health-care
49%
45%
Law
Liberal Arts
Social Sciences & Humanities
43%
39%
(Gillis, 2007)
Who is doing it?
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Cheating occurs most among students who are:
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Young
Male
Overworked
Study in a second language
Have low self-esteem
Suffer from anxiety, or have high grade-point averages
In other words…
Cheaters may be among the best students in a class.
They cheat to get an “A”.
(Gillis, 2007)
What are they doing?
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35 % of undergrads. admitted to cut-and-paste plagiarism
buying essays online no longer seems to be a big issue
 less than 1% of students admit to this
Two growing problems  collaboration and fabrication
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45 % of undergraduates admitted to “working on an
assignment with others when the instructor asked for
individual work”
25 % admitted to “fabricating or falsifying lab data”
(Gillis, 2007)
Types of plagiarism
Let me count the ways…!!
(Elizabeth Barrett Browing, 1806-1861)
Types of plagiarism
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Cutting and
pasting anything
from the Internet
and putting it into
a research paper
without citing the
source.
Types of plagiarism
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Taking someone
else’s words or
ideas and
changing them
into your own
words without
citing the source.
Types of plagiarism
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Buying or
downloading
research papers
from the
Internet.
Types of plagiarism
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Submitting one of your own research
papers in more than one class.
This is referred to as “self-plagiarism”.
Types of plagiarism
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Borrowing a research paper that a friend
wrote and handing it in with your name
on it.
 This is the case even if the friend gave
their permission!
Types of plagiarism
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If students are
working on a group
assignment, and one
of the people in the
group is found to
have plagiarized part
of the assignment…
…EVERYONE in the
group must face the
same consequences.
“What is Plagiarism?”
Exercise
Why do they do it?
What do you think?
Why do they do it?
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Everyone else does it!
Lack of time
Pressure to get good grades
Don’t think they will get caught
Don’t realize how serious it is
‘Unintentional’ plagiarism (claimed or
real)
(Swain, 2004)
Why do they do it?
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Cultural differences?
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Different ethical standards across various
cultures
Some cultures are not traditionally taught to
avoid plagiarism
Some focus more time on memorization than
on research & writing papers
Some cultures widely believe that anything on
the Internet is public domain and can be
freely used
(Mooney, 2006)
Plagiarism & Culture
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In some cultures, copying someone
else is seen as a sign of respect
ie. “copying the masters”
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In some cultures, students are
actually told that they don’t know
enough yet to express their own
ideas!
(Mooney, 2006)
Plagiarism & Language
“I think [ESL students are] more likely to be
accused of it [plagiarism] because if they
haven't got complete command over the English
language, and by definition most of them don't,
then it's more obvious to spot and I think that's
why they're more likely to be and are usually in
my experience to be accused of plagiarism ...
They might think they are paraphrasing and they
are attempting to do [this] but if they haven't
got the full command of the language they
actually do not recognise they are borrowing
paraphrases and whatever ... “
(Bretag, 2007)
Plagiarism & Language
“Saying that international [ESL] students,
who have been accepted into the
university on minimum language entry
requirements, often cannot write an
essay in English to the appropriate
standard, is like saying: 'The Emperor has
no clothes'.”
(Bretag, 2007)
Plagiarism & Language
What about Seneca College?
Let’s look at our numbers
Culture & Language
So what does all this mean?
Seneca’s Policy
Library Home>
Academic Honesty>
Resources for Faculty>
Academic Honesty Policy:
http://senecac.on.ca/home/academic_policy/appe.html
Seneca’s Policy
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What you need to do…
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Appendix E
Cheating and Plagiarism
Procedures for Enforcement
if in doubt, talk with your co-ordinator
Strategies for the classroom
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Be aware of cultural & language
differences in your classes
Don’t assume students have
previously been taught about citing
& plagiarism (esp. first-year
students)
Strategies for the classroom
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Spend at least some class time
discussing:
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What plagiarism is (define it for them)
Types of plagiarism
Seneca Policy on Cheating & Plagiarism
Consequences of getting caught
Resources to help them avoid plagiarism
Strategies for the classroom
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Alternatively,
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Invite a librarian to do an instruction
class for your students on these topics.
Strategies for the classroom
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Be aware of assignment structure
and distribution:
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Assign very specific topics
Require them to include their own
opinions
Hand in any research notes and/or
articles
Strategies for the classroom
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Ask them to includes summaries of the
articles they cite
Assign several small assignments
rather than one large one
Library Resources
Seneca Libraries
http://library.senecacollege.ca/
Library Resources
Plagiarism Tutorial
http://ilearn.senecac.on.ca/learningobjects/plagiarism/
Library Resources
Citing Tutorials
MLA:
http://ilearn.senecac.on.ca/learningobjects/citation/mla2/
APA:
http://ilearn.senecac.on.ca/learningobjects/citation/apa_wip/
Time Permitting…
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Turnitin
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Citing Resources
Wrap-up…
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Questions?
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Feedback form