Academic Integrity for UWM Graduate Students: Focus on Plagiarism

1. Academic Integrity for UWM Graduate Students: Focus on Plagiarism Amanda I. Seligman Associate Professor and Plagiarism Maven University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Fall 2013

2. Overview of presentation Overview of plagiarism Tips for pre-empting it Tips for catching it How to document it UWM’s disciplinary procedure This presentation is aimed a you both as a student and as a TA

3. Why I care about plagiarism and want you to, too • Students who are plagiarizing are not learning. • I have caught plagiarism most semesters at UWM, among undergraduates and graduate students. • Particularly egregious examples in recent semesters. • One person alone cannot stop plagiarism. We need an institutional, cultural campaign.

4. PLAGIARISM: AN OVERVIEW • What plagiarism is: • Use of others’ ideas without adequate attribution; or • Use of others’ words without adequate citation; or • Use of others’ words with citation but without quotation marks • Any one of these lapses counts as plagiarism.

5. PLAGIARISM: AN OVERVIEW • Why plagiarism is bad • Stealing/dishonest • Undermines student’s own opportunity to learn • Undermines the general value of the UWM degree • Affects what I can do in a class: research papers are not feasible. • Makes me mad; enforcing is not a good use of my time.

6. PLAGIARISM: AN OVERVIEW • Importance of documenting plagiarism • Temptation not to bother documenting, just to fail the student: work is onerous and unpleasant • However, very important to get it on the record • Ability to get away with plagiarism encourages students to repeat • The Gary Hart of Plagiarism • University needs multiple examples on record before any sanctions beyond F in the class • Degrees based on plagiarized work are not valuable, undermines UWM’s reputation

7. TIPS FOR PRE-EMPTING PLAGIARISM • Some ways I teach about it • Mini lecture using elements from previous slides • Emphasize and teach about proper citations • Underlines the seriousness of the enterprise • Makes detection easier when students leave off quotation marks but have footnotes • In-class workshop based on Northwestern document originally authored by Robert Wiebe • http://www.northwestern.edu/provost/students/integrity/Academic_Integrity_Basic_Guide.pdf • Updated September 2012 • Students read Peter Charles Hoffer’s Past Imperfect: Facts, Fictions, Fraud—American History from Bancroft and Parkman to Ambrose, Bellesiles, Ellis, and Goodwin (New York: Public Affairs, 2004)

8. TIPS FOR PRE-EMPTING PLAGIARISM (COURTESY OF PROF. AIMS MCGUINNESS) • “Paraphrase and cite” • In-class exercise on paraphrasing • Discuss what is successful and what is not • Emphasize that even paraphrases need citations • Discuss use of quotation marks, including rules for bloc quotations • Students must meet with instructor for permission to use sources not assigned—must bring the source for instructor’s review and explain how they intend to use it • Incremental drafting, with multiple meetings, penultimate draft due before end of semester

9. TIPS FOR PRE-EMPTING PLAGIARISM • Fear: threaten to recommend expulsion • Even if you don’t have the power to make this happen • Set a serious tone on the first day of class, tell students you have caught plagiarism in the past • Second chance on paper submission day • When students turn in papers, tell them what plagiarism is. Say that if they have used someone else’s words without quotation marks, take the papers home and revise them, then resubmit the next day with no penalty for being late. • Don’t accept papers without citations—make students resubmit

10. TIPS FOR CATCHING PLAGIARISM • Things to be suspicious of • Wild variations in quality of prose within paper • Paper seems much smarter than student’s in-class performance suggests • Might just be a quiet student • Provides information not based on assigned materials • E.g. provides middle name of person referenced only by first and last name • Footnotes that make no sense • E.g. superscript numbers but no related citation • Square bracket footnotes like those used in Wikipedia entries

11. TIPS FOR CATCHING PLAGIARISM • More things to be suspicious of • Footnotes for materials not assigned in the class, when students were not required to go outside assigned readings • Inclusion of very specific information, such as you would find in an expert’s work • Strange typos • E.g. sentence “With Millions….” • Additional approaches • Read the Wikipedia entries on your topic • Do a quick skim of the whole batch for tone. Anything seem unusual? • Google suspicious turns of phrase that don’t seem like undergraduate vocabulary • Google the basic term for the topic • Often but not always one of the first hits • Check JSTOR (for humanities) or Google Books

12. STUCK? Possible that the plagiarism was from a book, like in the old days Possible that the paper was purchased Ask a colleague for assistance—perhaps they will recognize the source Possible the student did not plagiarize—look at the cited sources Caution: do not accuse without proof.

13. HOW TO DOCUMENT PLAGIARISM Don’t try to save paper—print everything As soon as you suspect plagiarism, photocopy the paper; set the original aside in a secure location; work with the copy Print out the website/photocopy source Do not contact the student until you have done the research yourself. If you have to turn papers back to a whole class, you can simply tell the student that you needed to spend a little more time with their paper.

14. HOW TO DOCUMENT PLAGIARISM • On the assignment: • Circle suspicious passages in one color • Use a second color to document verbatim passages • Be very careful to highlight only the transcribed words • Minor changes in phrasing is a sign of the intention to deceive • Use a third color to document close paraphrases • Use the same colors to mark up the source • See the next slide for an example. • Alternative to photocopying and marking with a highlighter: use Track Changes function. You will still need copies of the sources, appropriately marked up.

15. HOW TO DOCUMENT PLAGIARISM

16. UWM PROCEDURES FOR DOCUMENTATION Procedures laid out online: http://www4.uwm.edu/acad_aff/policy/academicmisconduct.cfm Consult Investigating Officer Offer to meet with student Instructor decision and sanctions Formal letter with finding sent by postal mail to student Student has right of appeal Hearing Document every case. Do not simply administer sanctions without the process.