Avoiding Plagiarism

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Avoiding Plagiarism

• College of Arts and Letters
• Old Dominion University

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• Several recent studies and reports suggest that
  there is an alarmingly unacceptable level of
  misconduct, inappropriate behavior, fraud, and
  gross misconduct occurring in all areas of
  scholarly and professional activities.
• Dr. Phil Langlais,
  VP for Graduate Studies, ODU

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Training in ethical behavior

• This Powerpoint is designed to inform you about
  research ethics and plagiarism.
• More and more students are reporting knowledge of
  incidents of plagiarism.
• Plagiarism is unethical. If you plagiarize, you
  are
• Lying to your professor.
• Lying to yourself.
• Cheating yourself by failing to gain a truer
  knowledge of your own unique abilities.

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Plagiarism includes

• Making use of anothers work (words or ideas)
  without acknowledgement
• Leading your audience to believe that anothers
  work is your own

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Examples of Plagiarism

• Submitting a research paper obtained from a
  commercial service, the Internet or another
  student
• Submitting a research paper prepared for you or
  with unacknowledged assistance of another
  individual
• Making simple grammatical or word-order changes
  to borrowed material and representing it as ones
  own work
• Leaving out quotation marks when they are
  necessary
• Taking any credit for work that you did not
  create yourself work belonging to others

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How Faculty Catch Plagiarizers

• Faculty are voracious readers. Professional or
  uncharacteristic writing in student papers can
  tip off faculty to plagiarism.
• Simple phrase and key word searching on the
  Internet can reveal plagiarism.
• Sophisticated software programs, such as Safe
  Assign can be linked electronically to your
  paper submission.

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Avoiding Plagiarism I

• Become familiar with the academic practice and
  the style guide in your discipline strive to
  become a diligent and conscientious scholar.
• Use appropriate language and avoid jargon.
• Learn to use quotation marks correctly.
• Learn when and how to cite sources follow proper
  citation formatting.
• Be thorough and generous in acknowledging
  intellectual debts to others.

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Avoiding Plagiarism II

• Take careful notes.
• Carefully mark direct quotations.
• Avoid cutting and pasting and dragging and
  dropping from electronic sources.

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The Ambrose Case A Scholars Plagiarism

• Stephen Ambrose, a well-known historian and
  senior scholar, was accused of plagiarizing the
  work of a junior scholar published by a
  lesser-known press.

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The Ambrose Case The Works Under Examination

• Thomas Childers, Wings of Morning The Story of
  the Last American Bomber Shot Down over Germany
  in World War II (Perseus, 1995).
• Stephen Ambrose, The Wild Blue The Men and Boys
  Who Flew the B-24s over Germany (Simon
  Schuster, 2001).

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The Ambrose Case Passage in Question Example I

• Childers, Wings, 83.
• Up, up, up, groping through the clouds for what
  seemed like an eternity No amount of practice
  could have prepared them for what they
  encountered B-24s, glittering like mice, were
  popping up out of the clouds all over the sky.

• Ambrose, Wild, 164.
• Up, up, up he went, until he got above the
  clouds. No amount of practice could have
  prepared the pilot and crew for what they
  encountered --- B24s, glittering like mice, were
  popping up out of the clouds over here, over
  there, everywhere.

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The Ambrose Case Passage in Question Example II

• Childers, Wings, 11.
• Howard struggled to master the internal
  electronics of the radio, building generators,
  studying vacuum tubes and amplifiers,
  transformers and transmitters. He disassembled
  the sets, examined the intricate ganglia of tubes
  and wires, and reassembled them blindfolded.

• Ambrose, Wild, 64.
• He mastered the internal electronics of the
  radio, built generators, studied vacuum tubes and
  amplifiers, transformers and transmitters. He
  learned to disassemble a set, then reassemble it
  blindfolded.

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The Ambrose Case Childers Evidence

• His story was based on several factual sources
• His uncles experience on a B-24 crew out of
  England with Eighth Air Force
• A cache of private letters stored in Childers
  grandmothers house in Tennessee that had been
  sent home by radio operator Howard Goodner
• Interviews with one surviving crew member and
  letters from family of another
• U.S. military records of the period
• His book was published six years earlier than
  Ambroses

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The Ambrose Case Ambroses Evidence

• His book was based on some factual sources
• Senator George McGoverns experiences as a bomber
  pilot in Italy with the Fifteenth Air Force
  McGovern is quoted extensively and is Ambroses
  good friend
• Childers Wings of Morning The Story of the Last
  American Bomber Shot Down over Germany in World
  War II Childers book is mentioned in four
  footnotes, and it is listed in Ambroses
  bibliography.

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The Ambrose Case Why did plagiarism occur?

• In the passages already discussed (and in several
  others), Ambrose copied and/or paraphrased
  closely without using quotation marks
  appropriately. He also did not cite his sources
  fully.
• Thus he presented work that was not his as his
  own.

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The Ambrose Case Ambroses Reaction

• Admitted to copying without adequate
  attribution but not to plagiarism
• Apologized for minor errors
• Reworked text for paperback edition to provide
  better attribution (at least 20 pages of 263
  totally reworked)

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The Ambrose Case The Fallout

• Scholars undertook an extensive examination of
  Ambroses published work
• One critic uncovered nine other problematic
  passages in The Wild Blue.
• Other scholars uncovered a pattern of plagiarism
  that stretched back to Ambroses Ph.D.
  dissertation, as well as citation problems in six
  of his other books

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The Ohio University Case Student Plagiarism

• In 2005, The Ohio University became concerned
  about student cheating and conducted a thorough
  review of its recent graduate theses and
  dissertations.
• I dont know of any other school that has gone
  to such great lengths to identify cheating, said
  Donald McCabe who was involved in the review of
  student materials.

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The Ohio University Case Results

• By 2008, one alumnus of the Universitys college
  of engineering had had his degree revoked because
  of plagiarism and twenty-two other alumni were
  being ordered to rewrite their graduate theses
  and/or dissertations.

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What happens when you plagiarize?

• You steal from someone else
• You cheat the system and put others at a
  disadvantage
• You show a lack of confidence in yourself
• You embarrass yourself, your family, and your
  friends
• You lose the respect of those around you
• You risk your academic career and jeopardize your
  future success

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What happens to you at ODU if you plagiarize?

• You break the ODU Honor Code
• A formal investigation may occur conducted by a
  University hearing officer
• If found guilty, you may receive a grade of F in
  the class and have academic dishonesty stamped
  on your transcript
• If a second offense, disciplinary sanctions may
  include dismissal from the University

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Dont Plagiarize! Never, Ever!