what is plagiarism?

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What is plagiarism?

Dr Perry ShareInstitute of Technology SligoNFETLHE 25 April 2014

P Share What is plagiarism 25/4/14

2+Overview of presentation

What is plagiarism?

The cultural context

Plagiarism and writing practices

Institutional responses and assessment

Discussion


3+Plagiarism is . . .

What do you think?



passing off someone else’s work, whether intentionally or unintentionally, as your own for your own benefit (Carroll 2002, p. 9)

an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward (Turnitin)

(www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism)



Cheating (a very serious issue)

A crime (linguistic origins ‘kidnap’, ‘plunder’; ‘fraud’; ‘theft’)

An infringement of Intellectual Property Rights [IPR] (C16)

A moral outrage (‘dirty’, ‘lazy’, ‘corruption’, ‘betrayal’)

Universal? (Donald MacCabe)

Not new

A global issue (international education)



Part of popular culture (Share 2005; 2010)

Instrumental in many contexts (ditto)

Indicative of ‘dumbing down’, decline of ‘standards’ (numerous)

A question of ethics (Briggs 2003)

A linguistic approach to text production (Pecorari 2010)

A ‘fuzzy concept’ (Pecorari 2010, p. 35)

A problem? For whom? (and also an opportunity!)



According to lecturers:

copying of one student’s work by another

copying web-based material

absent or inadequate referencing of sources

resubmitting work presented elsewhere, either by the student or another

learning material from another source by heart, and then presenting it in an exam



unauthorised input from third parties in student work

reproducing large amounts (‘chunks’) of material from textbooks

unauthorised student collaboration (‘collusion’)

unauthorised use of respondent’s work by colleagues/other academics

use of existing templates or formats

(IoT lecturers reported in Share 2005, pp. 27-28)


9+The cultural context

The ‘culture of the copy’ (Schwarz 1996) – culture is (largely) (re-)constituted through the repeat of representations

Contemporary (digital) culture: ‘The realignment of [existing] elements in transformative recombination’ (Livingstone-Webber 1999, p. 265)

Fashion, media and music industries

Institutional and professional communication: The re-use and repurposing of documents

The Internet, social media, hyperlinking, filesharing


10+Intertextuality and student writing

Pecorari (2010) – unusual in that it focuses in detail on students’ (re-)use of academic sources

17 students – 9 MA and 8 PhD (NNSEs) (link with language skills)

All exhibited degrees of ‘plagiarism’ (unattributed attribution) of sources (7-95%)

Pecorari compared text/sources; interviewed students (MA) and supervisors (MA)


11+A linguistic phenomenon

‘Plagiarism is … fundamentally a specific kind of language in use, a linguistic phenomenon’

Also an issue of power

Textual plagiarism: Prototypical plagiarism Patchwriting

challenges issues of cultural (institutional) difference (MLK)

‘plagiarism’ is always contextual


12+How writers learn to write

The purpose of the text

(Major) disciplinary differences

Reporting verbs: suggest, note, assert . . .

The subtlety of metatextual conventions (‘chunking’)

Transparency and occlusion of the relationship between the source material and the student material


13+Key issues for novice writers

Identity of the source: does the reader understand which sources materially influenced the new text?

Content: does the reader receive an accurate impression of what the source text said?

Language: does the reader understand whether the language comes from the source (eg quotations or paraphrase)

(Pecorari 2008, p. 59)


14+Addressing the challenges

Lack of an ‘apprentice’ model for academic writing

Transparency versus occlusion (notes, points out, asserts) (…)

The discipline-specific traditions are not overtly passed on in the relevant learning community

Purpose of writing – a key narrative element: A clear sense of purpose for a new text motivates fundamental

textual changes. In the absence of that motivation, there is no reason why language which was good enough once should not be good enough a second time (Pecorari 2010, p. 95)

Lack of resources (time, content vs process)

The stakes are high!


15+The conundrum

It is difficult to identify how writers use their sources, … there is a lack of consensus in the academic community about what sorts of intertextuality are acceptable in practice and that … lack of consensus is masked by superficial agreement at a more general level (Pecorari 2010, p. 141)


16+Institutional responses

Pecorari (2010, pp. 148-150) suggests four key areas: Identifying textual plagiarism Distinguishing patchwriting from prototypical

plagiarism Providing options for responding

pedagogically to plagiarism Having sensible admissions policies

(supports)


17+Institutional responses

Glendinning (2013) – part of IPPHEAE project (EU LLP)

Similar responses to those found in Share 2005: Knowledge of issue, and concern amongst all stakeholders Perception as a discipline issue, with minority seeing as a

pedagogical one Lack of institutional structures, consistency and support Lack of local research base to inform policy and practice

Little change in IT Sligo since 2005


18+An assessment response

Derived from Hunt (2002) and others

Assessment as communication: ‘having something to say is . . . absolutely indistinguishable from having someone to say it to, and an authentic reason for saying it’ (Hunt 2002, p. 1)

Authentic assessment: ‘aligned’ teaching and student empowerment

Participatory but driven by standards and PLOs


19+Research-based product

Collaborative

Student-driven

Relevant and ‘useful’

Rigorous

Recognises intertextuality and repurposing

Engages with context, genre and audience

Design-thinking

Public dissemination


20+Research-based products

SECURE U bullying & cyber-bullying programme

U CHANGE U guide to withdrawing money from an ATM

SCAN book for siblings of children on the autistic spectrum

NATURE’S CLASSROOM outdoor play consultancy service

Bereavement package for early childcare practitioners

Support network for people with missing limbs

Multicultural cookbook for ECCE settings

Guide to educational opportunities in Sligo

Video and teaching package on same-sex families

DIVERSITY DRAGONS cultural diversity curriculum package


21+Sources

Briggs, R. (2003) ‘Shameless! Reconceiving the problem of plagiarism’. Australian Universities Review 46(1) pp. 19-23.

Buranen, L. & A. Roy (eds) (1999) Perspectives on plagiarism and intellectual property in a postmodern world. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Carroll, J. (2002) A handbook for deterring plagiarism in higher education. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford Brookes University.

Glendinning, I. (2013) Plagiarism policies for Ireland. Impact of Policies for Plagiarism in Higher Education Across Europe. http://ippheae.eu/images/results/2013_12_pdf/D2-3-14%20IE%20RT%20IPPHEAE%20CU%20Survey%20IrelandNarrative.pdf

Hunt, R. (2002) ‘Four reasons to be happy about Internet plagiarism’. Teaching Perspectives (St. Thomas University) 5. December. pp. 1-5. [http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/4reasons.htm.

Livingstone-Webber, J. (1999) ‘GenX occupies the cultural commons: ethical practices and perceptions of fair use’. In L. Buranen & A. Roy (eds) Perspectives on plagiarism and intellectual property in a postmodern world. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 263-272.

Pecorari, D. (2010) Academic writing and plagiarism: A linguistic analysis. London: Continuum.

Schwarz, H. (1996) The culture of the copy: Striking likenesses, unreasonable facsimiles. New York: Zone.

Share, P. (2005) Managing intertextuality: meaning, plagiarism and power. MA Thesis, Waterford IT. [www.itsligo.ie/staff/pshare/]

Share, P. (2010) Plagiarism, intertextuality and the ethical (re-)use of information [Webinar 8 Dec] Institute of Technology Learning Technology Webinar Serieshttp://connect.itsligo.ie/p57698843/

http://ippheae.eu/images/results/2013_12_pdf/D2-3-14%20IE%20RT%20IPPHEAE%20CU%20Survey%20IrelandNarrative.pdf



http://sligolearning.blogspot.ie/


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‘Of plagiarism, little new can be written’(Schwartz, The culture of the copy, p. 311)

what is plagiarism?

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