--Nick Carbone, Bedford/St.Martin's (http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/technotes/workshops/plagiarismhelp.htm)

In Transition to College Writing (2001), Keith Hjortshoj explains plagiarism this way: “Derived from the Latin word for kidnapping, plagiarism is the theft of someone else’s ‘brainchild’—that person’s language, ideas, or research—and the origin of the word conveys the seriousness of such offenses in the view of college teachers and administrators. The reason is that words, ideas, and research are the main forms of currency in academic life. Because they represent the ‘intellectual property’ with which scholars have built their careers, using that property without permission or credit is a form of larceny. Teachers also assume that the writing and other work students turn in is the product of their own effort, and because grades (another form of academic currency) are based on that work, ‘borrowing’ language and ideas from someone else constitutes cheating” (172).

Those of us in the academy see plagiarism as a rather obvious and incredibly severe intellectual crime. For this reason, most of us regularly warn our students about its consequences. The act of plagiarism can be--and often is--a deliberate attempt to cheat the system. However it is no less often unintentional because even among those students who are very aware of the dangers of stealing intellectual property, many are actually unsure of what constitutes plagiarism.   Most know that they can’t submit papers they have purchased from a commercial service or another student; many know that writing a paper for someone else is unacceptable behavior, as well. Others know that they probably shouldn't turn in work written for another class without the direct permission of both instructors involved. In fact, plagiarism includes all these things, but students may also be charged with plagiarism in less clear-cut circumstances.

I include the following statement in all English 100/110 syllabi. You have my permission to use this statement as is in your own syllabi, or tweak it in whatever way you think might be most useful to you and your students:

"Sometimes you may not mean to plagiarize, but you use misuse sources in ways that some may consider plagiarism anyway. In their official statement “Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism,” the Council of Writing Program Administrators (WPA) makes a distinction between

1.  'submitting someone else’s text as one’s own or attempting to blur the line between one’s own ideas or words and those borrowed from another source, and

2. carelessly or inadequately citing words borrowed from another source.'

Thus, the WPA defines plagiarism as 'occur[ing] in an instructional setting when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.' It is very hard to tell what may be considered common-knowledge and what may not, though. So the 'deliberate' use may be difficult for teachers and administrators to discern. It is for this reason that even when plagiarism is unintentional, you may still be held accountable. If you have any questions at all about how to handle a source to avoid crossing that line ('kidnapping' or 'stealing “someone else’s ‘brainchild”'), even if you or only working with portions of sources written by others, talk to me about it. Better yet, ask questions in class. I feel that one of our jobs in English 100 is to help you determine the best ways to avoid any suspicious acts that may be read as 'plagiarism.'

One of my dad’s many life lessons applies here, I think: 'It is not enough to be innocent. You must also look innocent.' I never really thought that was fair, but I have always found that lesson to profoundly accurate.

 The official departmental policy:  “Instructors in the Department of Literature and Languages do not tolerate plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonestly. Instructors uphold and support the highest academic standards, and students are expected to do likewise. Penalties for students guilty of academic dishonesty include disciplinary probation, suspension, and expulsion. (Texas A&M University-Commerce Code of Student Conduct 5.b [1,2,3])

 If you ever have any questions about a particular use of a source, always ask your instructor. They want you to avoid plagiarism, too, so they will help you do so whenever and wherever they can. Do what you can to take advantage of this support—to look innocent in addition to being innocent when it comes to charges of plagiarism.

THE SCHOLARLY COMMUNITY IN COMPOSITION STUDIES ON PLAGIARISM

*"Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices": http://www.ilstu.edu/~ddhesse/wpa/positions/WPAplagiarism.pdf

*Rebecca Moore Howard. "Plagiarisms, Authorships, and the Academic Death Penalty." College English 57.7 (November 1995): 788-806. (Rebecca Moore Howard at Syracuse University is the leading scholar on defining and avoiding plagiarism. Here's a list of her various journal articles and book chapters on the subject: http://wrt-howard.syr.edu/articles.html )

*Additional resources on "Assignment Design and Understanding Plagiarism": http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/technotes/workshops/plagiarismhelp.htm

*Additional resources on Plagiarism (suggested by Nick Carbone and extended)

Last Updated, August 2006

Send questions/comments to Shannon_Carter@tamuc.edu

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