Academic Integrity at UNCC

Presented to the Department of Liberal Arts and SciencesFebruary 8, 2012

Donna J. GunterLiaison to English Studies

J. Murrey Atkins Library, 132AUNC Charlotte704-687-4941

donna.gunter@uncc.edu

Contents

1.Plagiarism: Construct or Stable?

2.Prevention Of Plagiarism

3.Detection Of Plagiarism

4.Reporting Acts of Academic Integrity Violation

5.Student Tutorials On Plagiarism

Plagiarism: Construct or Stable?

Plagiarism Defined According to Policy Statement #105: The Code of Student Academic Integrity

• Intentionally or knowingly presenting the work of another as one's own (i.e., without proper acknowledgement of the source). The sole exception to the requirement of acknowledging sources is when the ideas, information, etc., are common knowledge.

• Plagiarism is use of the distinctive ideas or words belonging to another person without adequate acknowledgement of that person's contribution. In the context of academic work the standards for acknowledging sources are very high. An author must give due credit whenever quoting another person's actual words, whenever using another person's idea, opinion or theory, and whenever borrowing facts, statistics or illustrative material, unless the information is common knowledge.

Characteristics of Authorship in UNCC’s Policy

• Authorship is the domain of individuals.• Ideas and words are owned by individuals.• Ideas, opinions, theories, which are owned by

another can be used and/or borrowed.• Common knowledge is universal across all

communities.• Creativity is valued over convention.

Authorship in Contemporary Educational Practice

• Collaboration and group projects.• Decreased focus on individual nature of

authorship.• Common knowledge depends on communities,

not individuals.• Social and constructive nature of knowledge.• International students may come from cultures

that value convention over originality.

Plagiarism: The Construct

Roig, M. (2001) Plagiarism and paraphrasing criteria of college and university professors. Ethics & Behavior, 11(3), 307-323.

Research Aim: To explore the hypothesis that professors from different disciplines have different criteria for paraphrasing and plagiarism.

Participants: 152 respondents from five academic institutions; 49 respondents from a discussion list of teachers of psychology.

• Study 1—Professors asked to determine whether 6 rewritten versions of a paragraph were plagiarism.– Results: Moderate disagreement

• Study 2—Respondents were asked to paraphrase same paragraph. – Results: Up to 30% appropriated some text

from original.• Study 3—Psychology professors paraphrased a

paragraph that was either the original one or one that was easier to read.– Results: 26% appropriated text from original

paragraph; only 3% appropriated text from the easy paragraph.

Roig’s Conclusions

• Wide differences in paraphrasing practices of college professors, even within a single discipline.

• Participants at times committed “patchwriting” in their paraphrases.

• “Patchwriting” is acceptable in some disciplines and not in others.

Intent in UNCC’s Policy

Intentionally or knowingly presenting the work of another as one's own (i.e., without proper acknowledgement of the source). The sole exception to the requirement of acknowledging sources is when the ideas, information, etc., are common knowledge.

Prevention Of Plagiarism

Prevention: Class Policy• Discuss the concept of plagiarism by asking students about

"their" concept of plagiarism, why it is inappropriate, why a student might plagiarize, and what are the appropriate consequences for a plagiarist.

• Explain plagiarism, including discussions of intent.

• Publish academic honesty policy in your syllabus [http://legal.uncc.edu/syllabus.html#plagiarism].

• Refer to the UNC Charlotte Code of Student Academic Integrity. [http://www.legal.uncc.edu/policies/ps-105.html#APP]

• Encourage students who struggle with authorship issues to visit the Writing Resources Center. [http://www.uncc.edu/writing/wrc.html].

Prevention: Assignments

• Avoid "formulaic assignments that may invite stock or plagiarized responses."

• Design groups of assignments around a course "theme.”

• Have students make an in-depth inquiry or investigation.

• Set up analytical assignments—rather than rote ones.

Prevention: Assignment Process

• Identify an audience and purpose for the assignment.

• Have students keep a research log.

• Require recent and current citations.

• Break assignments into parts; have students turn in drafts, bibliographies, outlines, photocopies of sources, etc.

• Set up conference with students and ask them about specific aspects of the draft/paper, such as the following:

– Tell me how you researched and wrote this paper. What process did you use?

– Where did you look for your sources?– Which libraries or databases did you consult? – Where did you find this article? – Can you bring me a copy at the next meeting?

Prevention: Assignment Reflection

• Surprise students by having them personally reflect on the assignment, either in written or oral form.

– What was the most difficult part of writing this paper? – What do you feel the strongest aspect of this paper is? – If you had more time, on what aspect of the paper would

you continue to work? – How did this paper change from its first draft? Require an

oral report on the paper.– Have students write an in-class essay on their writing

experience on the paper due date.

Detection of Plagiarism

Google

Atkins Library databases.

Website printouts.

Unusual diction, phrasing, vocabulary.

Formatting irregularities.

Add-on passages. 

Plagiarism Detection Devices

• Turnitin– http://teaching.uncc.edu/e-learning-tool/

turnitin

• Hole-Ize Text– http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/gn/5thwordp.html

Reporting Acts of Academic Integrity Violation

Reporting Acts of Academic Integrity Violation

• Procedures For Handling Cases – http://www.legal.uncc.edu/policies/ps-

105.html#V

• Procedure for Handling Violations of the Code of Student Academic Integrity– http://library.uncc.edu/files/9/ViolationsofCode

%20ofConduct%20Procedure.ppt

Procedure in a Nutshell

• Who to Contact—Dean of Students

• Settlement Procedure (for 1st offense)

• Hearing Process (for successive offenses)

• Appeals—up to Chancellor

Student Tutorials on Plagiarism

• Avoiding Plagiarism (The OWL @ Purdue)– http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/

• Plagiarism Prevention for Students (California State San Marcos)– http://library.csusm.edu/plagiarism/index.html

• Dr. Cite Rite (CPCC)– http://people.cpcc.edu/~osm6482e/dcr/

drciteright2.html