Plagiarism conference goal: Find ways to catch cheaters

Plagiarism is a problem here and across the country, increased considerably by easy accessibility of material from the Internet. The Internet may also be a partial solution for faculty and staff members seeking to catch students who turn in other people’s work as their own.

Plagiarism detection software the University has licensed, Turnitin, compares students’ work to other documents on the Internet to pick up duplications. Faculty members can require students to submit papers to Turnitin.com before submitting the paper to the faculty member. If no plagiarism is found, the site sends back a receipt, which can be attached to the paper.

However, from faculty members’ points of view, just catching plagiarism is not enough. A conference on how to prevent it is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Jan. 24 in the second floor ballroom of the IMU.

Chris M. Anson, professor of English and director of the Campus Writing and Speaking Program at North Carolina State University, will give the keynote speech, “The Judgment of Use: Plagiarism, College Writing, and Shared Responsibility.” The Turnitin.com site and software also will be demonstrated, and a continental breakfast and lunch buffet will be provided. Registration is available at http://irm.provost.uiowa.edu/facdev/ppcapp.asp

What’s happening now?

UI colleges have been confronting the problem in different ways. While all colleges have provisions for dealing with cheating in disciplinary proceedings and spell out what is expected of students, a few have developed an affirmative plan to prevent plagiarism. At Iowa, the Tippie College of Business and the Carver College of Medicine have adopted honor codes.

All new students in the business college have to sign an honor code in order to be admitted. The Leadership Council of Tippie Coillege, a student group representing all student organizations, asked to have it established.

The code, available at www.biz.uiowa.edu/upo/honorcode.html, establishes a broad principle of academic integrity and honesty and spells out student and faculty responsibilities in academic work.

Nancy Hauserman Photo by Tom Jorgensen.

Nancy Hauserman, undergraduate dean, says, “The Leadership Council members really did their homework. They looked at different codes around the country, proposed language for the code, and took it to the faculty. They remain very interested, too—they’re going into exams as proctors to observe how hard it is to detect cheating.”

Perhaps because the code is in effect, Hauserman says, she’s heard from more instructors about cheating this year than in any previous year.

“It’s obvious that administrators are concerned and willing to help instructors who have uncovered cases of cheating, and the mechanisms are in place to deal with it,” she says.

Mechanisms vary from allowing an instructor to settle the matter with the student in private to a full-blown Judicial Board determination following investigation and a hearing.

Sanctions ranging from a letter of apology up to expulsion from the college may be recommended by the Judicial Board to the associate dean of undergraduate programs or the M.B.A. program. Appeals are possible, beginning with the office that approved the sanction and continuing to the college dean and the provost.

Hauserman says it’s important to have a clear statement in each class syllabus about cheating and the honor code.

In a time in which many students work in teams to finish projects, it isn’t always simple to define what constitutes individual cheating. However, the code also states that if the student is not sure how much of an assignment must be done individually, he or she has the responsibility to find out.

Medicine’s code

The Carver College of Medicine instituted an honor code in July. It says:

It demands that community members tell the truth, live honestly, advance on individual merit, and demonstrate respect for others in the academic, clinical, and research communities.

The code, which may be read at www.medicine.uiowa.edu/osac/lc_honor.htm, is broad in its approach, embracing all kinds of interactions between students and other members of the college.

On plagiarism, it says:

“The Honor Council identifies two distinct categories of plagiarism, conscious and unintentional. Both are violations of the honor code. This means that students who do not understand the process of crediting sources consulted in the writing of a paper may inadvertently find themselves subject to Honor Council investigation.

“To avoid such unintentional plagiarism, students must familiarize themselves with the appropriate documentation of resources. Students should also consult faculty for assistance should there be any doubt about what constitutes plagiarism.”

Article by Anne Tanner