Electronic Plagiarism: Prevention, Deterrence and Detection

EDUCAUSE 2002
October 1, 2002
Jack Corliss (jcorlis@luc.edu) Loyola University Chicago (www.luc.edu)

Administrivia
Workshop Presentation/Facilitation Handouts Break Session Evaluation

Agenda
Survey Academic Integrity/Plagiarism Hi-tech Cheating/Cheaters/CyberPlagiarism/Online Sites Prevention/Deterrence Detection Best Practices/UK/JISC Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu

Academic integrity today . . .

Whos Who Among American High School Students (1998) top 5%
80% admitted to cheating
95% of them avoided getting caught 67% copied homework 40% cheated on tests 29 used Cliffs Notes or Monarch Notes 13% plagiarized part of an essay

Academic integrity today . . .

Center for Academic Integrity (CAI)
www.academicintegrity.org

200 universities and colleges are members Over 75% of students admit to some cheating Academic honor codes reduce cheating Faculty are reluctant to report cheating Cheating higher among fraternity and sorority members

Academic integrity today . . .

Josephson Institute of Ethics (1998)
www.josephsoninstitute.org

poll of over 20,000 students nationwide 70% of high school students cheated on exam within past year. 54% of middle school students did the same

Results appear to be consistent with other reported studies

Not only in the USA . . .

Comprehensive survey to detect level of plagiarism in Australian universities in Victoria Examined 1,751 essays chosen at random from 17 subjects in first semester Web-based plagiarism detection software 155 found to contain text without attribution 25% of total word count

Not only in the USA . . .

27 (1.5%) contained 50% or more but only 2 were copied in total Subject areas included social science, business, computing, education, health sciences and engineering Undergraduate and graduate level

Not only in the USA . . .

In the future any university which is not seen to prevent plagiarism to best extent possible will lose reputation Goeff Wilson, Vice-Chancellor, Deakin University Universities planning consortium to set up detection system The Australian national newspaper 09/11/02

What are the issues at your institution?

University of Texas at Austin

Academic integrity survey (2001) Dean of Students comprehensive web survey
http://www.utexas.edu/student/research/surveys/results/results.html

3,852 respondents Opinions about general issues (11 items) Opinions about behaviors that constitute academic dishonesty (41 items)

University of Texas at Austin

General issues:
If student lies, increase punishment (47%) If student acks, decrease punishment (51%) If over half of class cheats then cheating is justified (78% disagree) Students should report cheaters by name
(46% disagree, 21% agree, 32% not sure) Most college students never cheat (52% disagree, 19% agree, 28% not sure)

University of Texas at Austin

Dishonesty is:
Presenting purchased work (93%) Getting another student to do work (91%) Citing fabricated sources (75%) Citing non-pertinent articles (54%) Listing unread sources (42%) Citing unread sources (35%) Submitting paper from another course (17%)

Montclair State University

Special Report: Term Papers for Sale, in The Montclarion, July 1999, by Mary Kate
Frank chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/franktermpprs.html

Plagiarism defined @ luc.edu

http://www.luc.edu/infotech/cease/docs/ai.html

Appropriation for gain of ideas, language, or work of another without sufficient public acknowledgement that the material is not ones own. Involves the deliberate taking and use of specific words and ideas of others without proper acknowledgement of the sources.

Acts of intellectual dishonesty

Submitting as ones own:
Material copied from a published source: print, Internet, CD-ROM, audio, video, etc. Another persons unpublished work or examination material. A rewritten or paraphrased version of another persons work.

Acts of intellectual dishonesty

Allowing another or paying another to write or research a paper for ones own benefit. Purchasing, acquiring, and using for course credit a pre-written paper

Critical issue
Give proper recognition to other sources. To do so is both an act of personal, professional courtesy and of intellectual honesty

Heres the rub . . .

If, after giving proper recognition to sources other than ones own, the student has nothing left to call his or her own, insufficient work has been done.

Consequences @ luc.edu
At least, instructor assigns grade of F for the assignment or examination Instructor reports incident to department chair and/or dean Suspension and/or expulsion

Penalties @ luc.edu
Student can appeal decision of hearing board to the dean of his or her college. Decision of dean is final in all cases except expulsion. Only Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs can impose sanction of expulsion based upon recommendation of the dean.

Abilene Christian University

http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/campuslife/acad_integrity.html

Statement on Academic Integrity Plagiarism:

Failure to give credit to sources used in a work in an attempt to present the work as ones own. Submitting for credit in whole or in part the work of others. Submission of paper(s) or project(s) obtained from any source, such as a research service or a club paper file, as ones own

Randolph-Macon Womans College

http://www.rmwc.edu/studentlife Honor System Honor Pledge (1891) I pledge absolute honesty in my academic work and in all personal relationships at Randolph-Macon Womans College. Information Technology Resource Policy ties the honor system to use of computer resources on campus, including copyright.

Mississippi State University

http://www.msstate.edu/dept/audit/1207A.html

Policies and Procedures for Handling Academic Misconduct Definition of academic misconduct
Using the ideas, organization, or words of another from a book, article, paper, computer file, or other source in any assignment without giving proper credit following accepted citation rules (plagiarism).

Sanctions against academic misconduct

Montclair State University

http://www.montclair.edu/pages/sdcl/regsdiscipline.html

University Regulations and Disciplinary Procedures Plagiarism is defined as using another persons words as if they were your own, and the unacknowledged incorporation of those words in ones own work for academic credit.

Montclair State University

General indebtedness for background information and data must be acknowledged by inclusion of a bibliography of all works consulted; Specific indebtedness for a particular idea, or for a quotation of four or more words from another text, must be acknowledged by footnote or endnote reference to the actual source. Quotations of four words or more from a text must also be indicated by use of quotation marks;

Montclair State University

A project work shall be considered plagiarism if it duplicates in whole or in part, without citation, the work of another person to an extent that is greater then that is commonly accepted. The degree to which imitation without citation is permissible varies from discipline to discipline. Students must consult their instructors before copying another persons work.

University of Texas at Austin

http://www.utexas.edu/students/cabinet/comm_proj/sfai/policy.pdf

Academic Integrity Policy

Plagiarism includes, but not limited to, the appropriation, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another work and the submission of it as ones own academic work offered for credit. Collusion includes, but is not limited to, the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing academic assignments offered for credit.

Academic Code of Conduct

Internet cheaters
Renard, L. (2000). Cut and paste 101: Plagiarism and the Net. Educational Leadership, 57(4). Three main types of Internet cheaters:
The unintentional cheater The sneaky cheater The all-or-nothing cheater

The unintentional cheater

Students who have never learned how to properly use and document resources in papers dont understand concept of documenting the source We are raising a generation of students who think anything on the Internet is free, Donald McCabe, Center of Academic Integrity, 1997

The sneaky cheater

Know what plagiarism is, know its wrong and how to avoid it . . . and how to get away with it Work with portions from research sites and from other student papers online to create a skeleton paper Expend as much effort that is required to write the paper in the first place

The all-or-nothing cheater

Students who waited too long before starting the work and panic at last minute Find and download a whole paper from the Net, add their names to the top, print it out and then turn it in. Laziest and easiest to detect form of electronic plagiarism

No new ideas, just new methods

Students have always been able to buy or borrow a paper Opportunities and attitudes of Internet cheat sites are whats new
Ease in cutting and pasting Mind-boggling array of information available Encouragement to do so

Internet: source of papers

Online paper mills Reviews of films and plays Electronic journals Legitimate research sites to share scientific and scholarly papers Electronic encyclopedias on CD-ROM or online

Cyber-plagiarism
Student use of the Internet is one big study group and an endless archive of cut-andpaste essay components [where] the ability to easily scoop a little flotsam from the vast oceans of the Internet doesnt seem nearly as nefarious as pilfering a passage from a library book. Fritz, M. (1999). Redefining Research, Plagiarism. Los Angeles Times.

Downloading term papers

Internet sources:
Traditional paper mills Papers published by students and instructors Papers free for downloading

Combination of Internet access and wordprocessing power make it easy to disguise origin of downloaded term paper.

Online sites
1-800 Termpaper Academic and Business Research Source
www.a1-termpaper.com 20,000 online papers, custom papers available

Academic Term Papers

www.academictermpapers.com 30,000 online papers, custom papers available

Online sites
Bignerds.com
www.bignerds.com 800 free essays, term papers, book reports Custom papers available Links to fifty-plus additional paper sites

Cheater.com
www.cheater.com Free but must submit paper for membership

Online sites
CheatHouse The Evil House of Cheat
www.cheathouse.com 2,000 essays (or 9,500 for members) Offers links and tips on how to cheat on exams

Paper Store
www.paperstore.net 15,000 on-file research papers, custom papers available

Online sites
Research Assistance
www.research-assistance.com Been providing library research reports since 1969 25,000 papers, custom papers available

Schoolpaper.com
www.schoolpaper.com Database of prewritten of reference papers and literary summaries

Online sites
Schoolsucks.com
www.schoolsucks.com

Advertises having largest collection of free, but awful homework, with search engine

Schoolbytes.com
www.schoolbytes.com

Free book and short story plot summaries, and free term papers

Change focus from product to process

Internet resources now available to students demand that we reflect on the teaching practices and adjust on how we always done things.
Value the process as much as, or more than, the product Get involved with student papers at every stage of the writing process

Observe and coach writing process

Require students to turn in
Topic statement Early bibliography and notes Outline, first drafts and revisions

Creative approaches, e.g., ask student to turn in three possible openings for a paper. Collecting interim evidence of students progress.

Cheat-resistant papers key elements

Be aware of how and why students may plagiarize Avoid using the same topic year after year Make topics specific rather than generic Choose topics of high interest to students Tie topics to the students experiences

Cheat-resistant papers key elements

Require higher-level thinking skills Require creative responses Provide a range of topics choices that fit the objective Engage students in all phases of the writing process Teach and practice source documentation

Get a base-line of students writing

Get a sample of in-class student writing at least a page at beginning of the term Make a copy and file it. Then the writing sample can be used to
judge authenticity of future writing assess improvement over time

Teach source documentation

Use MLA, APA or University of Chicago Press stylebooks on how to document sources from the Internet Have students compile a bibliography without writing the actual paper Brings students attention to plagiarism, introduces them to style manuals and reinforces need to acknowledge outside sources.

Cheat-able assignments
Explain and describe relationship of Anne Frank and her mother Outline the steps of animal cell division Write a three-page paper about Napoleons successful campaigns

Cheat-resistant assignments
Write a letter as Mrs. Frank to your daughter Anne, explaining the problems that you are having with her. What would it be like if people reproduced the way that individual animal cells do? You are a member of Napoleons army. Write a personal diary about what happens during your advances on other countries.

Put downloadable term papers to use

Demonstrate to students that faculty member knows how to access and use these sites. Faculty member could identify several relevant papers on Web then grade and comment on them. Make them available to students. Faculty member could assign students to identify a paper of their choice and critique it serve as basis for class discussion about characteristics of high-quality student papers.

Use technology to identify plagiarism

Search Internet for originals of plagiarized papers, e.g., http://www.google.com/, checking out unique or unusual strings of words
String search sites Search help sites Category search sites Online bookstores People search sites

Use technology to identify plagiarism

www.plagiarism.com
Glatt Plagiarism Teaching Program tutorial on plagiarism and how to avoid it. Glatt Plagiarism Screening Program first comprehensive specifically designed for detection of plagiarism. Glatt Plagiarism Self-Detection Program removes every fifth word from the paper then student fills in the words from memory.
A, F, K, P, U, Z, 504, 718, 2464, desk, soap,corn

Use technology to identify plagiarism

www.plagiarism.org
www.turnitin.com -- identifies plagiarized papers by evaluating them statistically against their existing database of papers from universities and from other Web sites. Instructor registers a class with the service. Instructor (or the student) upload papers to the web site. Report is sent to instructor on degree of originality.

Use technology to identify plagiarism

www.copycatch.freeserve.co.uk
CopyCatch devised by forensic linguist Designed to detect collusion. Compares script of one student with all others in the course word matches.
>60% -- possible collusion <20% -- too original

Work submitted electronically.

Security measures . . .
Avoid leaving student papers out in the open, e.g., outside office or in open mail boxes. If possible, use email to receive and to return student papers Or request two copies from the student, one to be filed, and one to be graded and returned to the student. Shred student papers before discarding them.

International students and plagiarism

Plagiarism within context of culture Quoting work of another considered as a positive act Quoting directly makes more sense than paraphrasing ESL students not comfortable in writing Performance more important than process

Academic honor codes

Academic honor codes

Receiving recent attention recent studies suggest that honor codes help reduce cheating and fosters a peer culture of integrity that condemns dishonesty. Honesty and Honor Codes, Academe,
January-February 2002, Donald McCabe and Linda Klebe Trevio
www.aaup.org/publications/Academe/02JF/02jfmcc.htm

Academic honor codes

Randolph-Macon Womans College
Honor system has apparently existed since founding of the institution in 1891. Honor Pledge:
Student pledges absolute honesty in her academic work and all personal relationships at the college. If student fails to live up to her obligation of pledge, she will report herself to honor committee. Student will also ask others to report themselves for any infraction of the pledge.

Academic honor codes

University of Texas at Austin
Students for Academic Integrity (SFAI)
www.utexas.edu/students/cabinet/comm_proj/sfai

Academic Code of Conduct Academic Integrity Policy

High-tech cheating
Hand-held computers and watches Programmable calculators Pagers Web sites Computer networks Distance learning Faxes and email Laser printers and copiers Headsets Other electronic devices: wireless video cameras

Resource materials
Lathrop, A. and Foss, K. (2000). Student cheating and plagiarism in the Internet era: A wake-up call. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, Inc. Renard, L (2000). Cut and paste 101: Plagiarism and the Net. Educational Leadership, v 57(4).

Resource materials
Alsop, G. and Tompsett, C. (2001). Plagiarism: Online tools to relieve the tedium of detection. Educational Developments 2(3). Can be found at
www.seda.demon.co.uk/eddevs/vol2/plagiarism.html

Resource materials
Auer, N.J., and Krupar, E.M. (2001). Mouse click plagiarism: the role of technology in plagiarism and the librarians role in combating it. Library Trends, 49(3). Owens, T., Atkins, T., and Nelson, G. (2001). Learning with technology: Plagiarism and the Internet: Turning the tables. English Journal, 90(4).

Web sites
Plagiarism Prevention, Elton S. Karrmann Library, University of Wisconsin-Plattville
www.uwplatt.edu/~library/reference/plagiarism.htmlx

Center for Academic Integrity, Duke University www.academicintegrity.org Glatt Plagiarism Services www.plagiarism.com Plagiarism and the Web, Bruce Leland, Western Illinois University,
www.wiu.edu/users/mfbhl/wiu/plagiarism.htm

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
PlagiarismNot@luc.edu workgroup: faculty, librarians, academic administrator, IT staff Set up plagiarism deterrence/detection pilot for fall academic term Use web-based plagiarism detection service turnitin.com Web site/academic integrity University official statement and resources on plagiarism

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Invite course instructors to participate in pilot - assign account to course instructor Teach students about plagiarism and how to avoid plagiarism Invite University library to come into class and discuss
How to use Internet to conduct research How to cite Internet resources

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Course instructor
Talk to students about plagiarism Encourage students to use library resources, re: citing Internet sources Employ recommended best practices to help deter plagiarism Use turnitin.com to deter possibility of plagiarism Provide report at end of semester

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Direct student to seek assistance to handle problems that may lead the student to commit plagiarism, e.g., procrastination, writers block, other personal problems
Learning assistance center Writing clinic

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Use some recommended best practices
Focus more on research process than research product Get sample of student writing at beginning of course Instead of one large research paper, consider series of short 2-3 page writing assignments For larger research papers, be creative on subject matter current, more analytical, more personal reflection

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Use some recommended best practices
Check (not assess) student process during course of research process Encourage students to develop brief bibliography of current material and to write a critical evaluation of one or two bibliographical references Require students to go to specific sources, e.g., discipline-specific research journal

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Use some recommended best practices
Provide opportunity if class size permits for student to give brief oral presentation on results of research project Provide student opportunity, as a course assignment, to write 2-3 page reflection paper on research process

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Check paper mills
Discuss awareness Demonstrate some of the sites or provide students URLs for them to check out Perhaps even assign an assignment to download a paper from one of these sites and write a brief evaluation critique of the paper

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Deterrence talk about plagiarism detection
Search engines, e.g., www.google.com Plagiarism detection services, e.g., turnitin.com Advise that plagiarism detection services will be used in course

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Detection
Assume students will demonstrate academic integrity and write their own work Be tuned to indications of possible plagiarism Compare writing style of research paper to student writing sample Use web search engine tools Last resort, use turnitin.com

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Keep in mind limitations of web-based detection service
Cannot prove student committed plagiarism Can report on degree of comparison/similarity of what student wrote with what is available on Internet Not all electronic journal sources are included, e.g., some sites of full-text electronic journals

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Now that theres evidence of plagiarism
Meet with student to ask student to discuss
process in conducting research and reporting process how specific references were used any particular problems encountered in process

Show student results of plagiarism detection

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Now that theres evidence of plagiarism
Report incident following institutional policies and procedures dealing with academic dishonesty The follow-through is a very important step

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
At end of the course, course instructor can
Participate in a focus group sponsored by PlagiarismNot@luc.edu to report and discuss the experience in the course Provide a brief written report on the experience Report on difficulties in using web search engines and web-based plagiarism detection service

Deterrence/Detection @ luc.edu
Right now, small pilot group late start
Undergraduate: Theology, English, Philosophy and Classical Studies Graduate: Social Work

Turnitin.com will be available if other course instructors determine that there is a need Go for larger pilot in spring academic term with review and possible revision of program evaluation protocol

Electronic Plagiarism in UK
Electronic Plagiarism Detection, Joint Information Systems Committee www.jisc.ac.uk/plagiarism/
Pilot of Free-Text Electronic Plagiarism Detection Software Technical Review of Plagiarism Detection Software Source Code Plagiarism in UK Higher Education Computing Schools, Issues, Attitudes and Tools Carroll, J. and Appleton, J. (2001). Plagiarism: A Good Practice Guide. Oxford Brookes University. Can be found at

JISC: Good practice recommendations

Rewrite/modify all assessment tasks each time the course is taught. Consider the learning outcomes for the course:
Decrease those that ask for knowledge and understanding. Substituting those require analysis, evaluation and synthesis. Consider adding information gathering to learning outcomes.

JISC: Good practice recommendations

Design in assessment, tasks with multiple solutions or artifacts. Integrate tasks so each builds on the other. Build in checks that do not require teacher time but do require student effort. Be careful to only check, not assess the intermediate tasks.

JISC: Good practice recommendations

Ensure that students are taught how to avoid plagiarism with active learning techniques,
Providing opportunities for discussion, practice and feedback This instruction works best integrated into discipline-specific contexts

Instructors need to be seen adhering to the behaviors they ask of their students and taking steps to defend them from abuse.

One final comforting thought . . .

The World Wide Web provides plagiarists with a rich library of material from which to gather information, but it also provides professors with a powerful tool to check sources and catch the word thieves. Ryan, J. (1998). Student Plagiarism in an Online World. ASEE PRISM 8(4).
http://www.asee.org/prism/december/html/student_plagiarism_in_an_onlin.htm

Contact
Jack Corliss Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL 60626 708 216-8012 jcorlis@luc.edu Computing Ethics and Security Awareness Committee www.luc.edu/infotech/cease homepages.luc.edu/~jcorlis/e2002

el fin
Thank you!