Plagiarism Resource Site

Lawrence Hinman, professor of philosophy and director of the Values Institute at the University of San Diego, has contributed a thoughtful piece on plagiarism to The Washington Post. He looks to instructors as the source and solution to the problem: Cheating and plagiarism often arise in a vacuum created by routine, lack of interest and overwork. Professors who give the same assignment every semester, fail to guide students in the development of their projects and have little interest in what the students have to say contribute to the academic environment in which much cheating and plagiarism occurs.

An opinion piece on plagiarism in journalism raises many points relevant to the academy.

"The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has set aside five days to conduct hearings into allegations of plagiarism at the University of Newcastle."

Duke's student newspaper, The Chronicle Online, reports on the Community Standard, "the ideal governing integrity at the University for the past year." The Standard replaced the school's Honor Code in 2003 and differs from the former code in three ways: "It increases the emphasis on students reporting other students’ Standard violations. Furthermore, students who are found to be in violation of minor academic integrity offenses and are first-time offenders can now resolve their issues through faculty-student conferences, rather than through the University’s judicial system. The third departure is the Standard’s provision for the punishment of academic violations to be tailored to fit the severity and the circumstances of the offense."

The University of Newcastle (AU) has apparently overcome its recent plagiarism troubles by adopting the recommendations of the St James Ethics Centre. According to the uni's Chancellor: "'We went from being behind the ball to international leaders.

An associate professor English at China's Beijing University was fired for plagiarism. Described as "enthusiastic about public welfare and praised by his colleagues as 'behaving very well,'" the professor had nonetheless plagiarized "other scholars' ideas and expressions in his own academic works from 1999 to 2003, including literary books and academic papers.

In response to a plagiarism controversy, Newcastle University (Australia) has conducted a study on attitudes towards plagiarism.

Senator Sue Collins of Maine has initiated a GAO review of the academic credentials of employees in various federal agencies.

A student who admits plagiarising throughout his three-year degree in English is suing the University of Kent. He claims "the university failed to give proper guidance on acceptable research techniques."

Charles Cronin's paper, "Plagiarism, Copyright, Academia and Commerce," [PDF version] is now available. The paper was presented at the October CBB conference, "Information Ethics & Academic Honesty."