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.

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.

"The University of Otago is taking a 'serious look' at the possible use of computer software tools to detect student plagiarism, as part of a wider academic review." Other NZ universities have already pursued detection services. Massey University is trialling Turnitin.com. During the first semester trial, "943 assignments were tested" and only "two instances of apparent plagiarism" were detected.

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.

The Houston Chronicle reports on UT Austin's adoption of an honor code. Student leaders at UT say they've wanted an honor code for years. But school officials began pushing for one as well in 2001 after five students were caught cheating on exams and essays within a two-week period.

Turnitin announces a plan to offer its plagiarism service via the BlackBoard course management system.

South African universities consider the detection route to combat plagiarism but voice concern over privacy issues.

Plagiarism-Finder , developed by German software company, Mediaphor, "automatically compares any digital document . . . to billions of web pages." See press release for further details.

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."

The conference, "Plagiarism, Prevention, Practice and Policy," 28-30 June 2004, St. James Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is dedicated to exploring "innovative practice in dealing with the complex issues surrounding plagiarism."