Academic Integrity
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Preventing

Get a load of this, from the online paper mill called "Due Now":

“Are you sick-and-tired of spending hours in a library or online searching for an essay on your topic — only to end up with no essay and no quality information? Tired of slaving all night long writing an essay — only to get a garbage grade? Do you have better things do with your time than spend it writing a useless essay?”

That's what you’re up against: the alluring, quick-and-easy fix of getting an essay done in the time “it takes you to brew a cup of coffee.”

It’s up to you to stress the importance of original work to your students. And, to lay out straight away your expectations regarding assignments: how much work is expected of them and how much time they can expect to take.

The best prevention involves talking about the problem. Educate your students about academic integrity and what plagiarism is and isn’t. Bring examples. Explain why citing is important (show videoclips of students explaining from a cultural perspective). Explain how to paraphrase and cite properly. Ask a librarian to come and talk to your class.

Some professors ask students to write a honor code or pledge when they write an important test or an assignment. At some universities in the United States, including the University of Maryland, Texas A&M University and University of Colorado, professors ask for the honor code on every assignment.

Here at Dalhousie, a similiar pledge is called a "Student Awareness Statement." The statements affirm the work is original and has not been submitted for academic recognition or credit in any other class, nor has it been copied from other sources. The statements are signed and dated. Professors may choose to distribute the statement at the beginning of every term or with each assignment. See examples (pdf).

The University of Maryland's honor pledge is meant to be handwritten by students and reads: "I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination." Writing out the code makes students think about what it says every time they commit it to paper.

You should also talk about what happens if students are caught plagiarizing, collaborating without authorization, cheating on exams or sharing information. Let students know there’s a discipline process in place and the consequences can be serious. Steer them to this website so they can read about Dalhousie’s policies regarding intellectual honesty.

Other ideas:

  • Define plagiarism and how to document sources
  • Go over Dalhousie's policies
  • Use this website:
    • show the Student Resources section on avoiding plagiarism;
    • give examples of plagiarized text and properly cited text;
    • show them how to correctly cite sources and what style to use;
  • Help students understand why they should cite: 
    • to help the reader if they are interested in reading further on the topic;
    • to show respect for fellow researchers;
    • to avoid plagiarism
  • Model appropriate behaviour by providing references to lecture content
  • Emphasize good citation style and the benefits of citation
  • From The New Plagiarism: Seven Antidotes to Prevent Highway Robbery in an Electronic Age comes this idea — "stress green ink and citation ethics." Author Jamie McKenzie suggests students use black ink to write about ideas they've collected from others, and green ink to connote any ideas or conclusions the student has themselves made. In short: "Black signifies the ideas of others. Green text signifies fresh thinking." What makes this argument compelling is that it will force students to get away from the handy cut-and-paste method of having the Internet close at hand. During the process of their research, they'll actually distinguish between the ideas from others they're citing, and the original conclusions they're drawing for themselves.
  • Convince students that assignments are developed for their benefit and clarify what the benefits are: honest critical thinking, strengthens thinking ability, gains a wider view of subject, clarifies ideas; promotes lifelong learning and values thinking, analyzing, organizing, reasoning; develops the collection and organization of ideas and thoughts
  • Explain why they should use sources for their paper:
    • strengthens their arguments;
    • adds interest to their paper;
    • provides new ideas;
    • reveals controversies;
    • Helps them understand how reasoned argument works
  • Visit paper mill sites and let your students know you do
  • Take students to sites and analyze some of the weaker papers
  • Demonstrate how to honestly incorporate web papers into their research 
  • Require the students to include a statement on their paper which declares that the work is their own unless cited 
  • Make sure students have the research skills necessary for doing the assignment; consider having a librarian teach them how to find appropriate resources

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