As students become more dependent on the Internet to write essays and papers, they have access to new ways to plagiarize. But teachers are making efforts to prevent plagiarism. Martha Vicinus, director of the Sweetland Writing Center and professor at the University of Michigan, co-edited a collection of essays titled “Originality, Imitation, and Plagiarism: Teaching Writing in the Digital Age” that discusses the evolution of plagiarism and how to prevent it. While plagiarism is not a new problem, students have an easier time doing so, Vicinus said in an interview with Inside Higher Education “What’s changed is how easy it is now to buy a paper or to have one made-to-order from an online company,” Vicinus said. “But equally, it’s easy to check these papers via Google.” Some University professors said they have encountered plagiarism in the past and have been forced to refer offenders to the office of the Dean of Students. Christine Cowan, English instructor, said she had many students hand in plagiarized work in her literature class. “We noticed that there were a number of students that plagiarized, so we decided to do a very different type of assignment,” Cowan said. Cowan had her students write a paper in class and turn it in without a second draft. She said her entire class completed the in-class assignment. She said it would not be “fair to just single out people.” “Some students just mess it up for others,” Cowan said. But Cowan did not have the same problems with plagiarism in her composition course. With students turning in drafts and giving peer reviews for their assignments, Cowan has the opportunity to see all the steps each student takes in his or her work. “I see everything that goes on,” Cowan said. This method, Vicinus said, helps prevent plagiarism. With students taking a longer time to draft and review others’ papers, they “avoid last-minute work and the temptation to plagiarize.” Vicinus said teaching students how to research and cite their sources properly is essential in preventing plagiarism. “I think we should not assume that students know how to use the Web,” Vicinus said. LSU Libraries has online tutorials such as TigerTRAK that explain plagiarism and how to avoid it. Singrid Kelsey, LSU Libraries Web development coordinator, said professors have their students complete the tutorial, so they can learn to research properly. Eric Norman, associate dean of students and director of the Office of Judicial Affairs, said punishment for plagiarism can vary depending on the situation and the student’s offense. “The punishment for a first violation ranges from a zero on an assignment to an ‘F’ in the class,” he said in a Jan. 9 interview with The Daily Reveille. “The second violation can be a one-year suspension from the University.”
—-Contact Ben Bourgeois at [email protected]