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Taming the Beast of Plagiarism...
a webliography of sources for CSULB Faculty

Definitions of Plagiarism Research Prevention Related Links

Definitions of Plagiarism

There are two identifiable types of plagiarism:

  1. Theft of Words- this is when a student uses words from an information resource and does not give credit to the original creator of that information. This type of plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional.
  • Using words from a book, article or web site without citing.
  • Downloading papers from free paper sites.
  • Using papers written by friends or classmates
  • Cutting and pasting portions of full text articles from subscription databases without citing.
  1. Purchase of Words- this is when a student knowingly and actively purchases documents for the purpose of turning it in as their own work.  This site maintained by Library at Coastal Carolina University lists popular paper mill sites.new addition
  • Contracting an individual to write a paper or to complete a class project.
  • Purchasing customized papers off of the Internet

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Research

Why do students do it? There has been a large body of work done on the motivation behind plagiarism. Here are some articles that illustrate some of the reasons why students plagiarize as well as some insightful commentary from faculty across the nation. Click on the titles to read either the abstract or the full text of the articles where indicated.  These articles restricted to CSULB Faculty, Staff and Students by authentication.  You will need to be on campus to get to these links or have configured your browser according to these instructions: CSULB LIBRARY ACCESS FROM HOME. If you like the ability to put specific articles on your own site for your students don't hesitate to contact Tiffini Travis for instructions on creating an online reading list!

Scholarly Research

A comparison of traditional and Internet cheaters.

(ABSTRACT ONLY) Lester, Mindy Chaky; Diekhoff, George M.; Journal of College Student Development (available in print CSULB Library.), Vol 43(6), Nov-Dec 2002. pp. 906-911.

Methods for helping students avoid plagiarism.(FULL TEXT) By: Landau, Joshua D., Druen, Perri B., Arcuri, Jennifer A., Teaching of Psychology Vol 29(2), May 2002. pp. 112-115

When college students' attempts at paraphrasing become instances of potential plagiarism. (ABSTRACT ONLY) Roig, Miguel, Psychological Reports (available in print CSULB Library.) Vol 84(3, Pt 1), Jun 1999. (pp. 973-982).

Plagiarism and paraphrasing criteria of college and university professors. . (ABSTRACT ONLY) Roig, Miguel, Ethics & Behavior. Vol 11(3), 2001. Special Issue: (pp. 307-323).

The credibility of a source influences the rate of unconscious plagiarism. (ABSTRACT ONLY) Bink, Martin L.; Marsh, Richard L.; Hicks, Jason L.; Memory, Vol 7(3), May 1999. pp. 293-308.

Academic Dishonesty Among High School Students. (FULL TEXT)  McCabe, Donald  L., Adolescence Vol.34(136), 1999 (pp.681-688).

Factors influencing cheating and plagiarism among graduate students in a college of education. (FULL TEXT)Love, Patrick G.; Simmons, Janice; College Student Journal, Vol 32(4), Dec 1998. pp. 539-550.

Cheating in academic institutions: A decade of research (ABSTRACT ONLY)  McCabe, Donald L. , Ethics & Behavior. Vol 11(3), 2001. Special Issue: (pp. 219).

Plagiarism and the Internet: Turning the Tables. Atkins, Thomoas and Gene Nelson. English Journal (available in print CSULB LIBRARY) Vol 90(4), 2000 (pp.101-104).

Communication strategies for addressing academic dishonesty (ABSTRACT ONLY) Roth, Nancy L., Journal of College Student Development (available in print CSULB LIBRARY). Vol 36(6), Nov-Dec 1995. (pp. 531-541).

General Interest Articles

Kansas College Give First 'XF' Grade to Plagiarist. (FULL TEXT) Community College Week, 12/8/2003, Vol. 16 Issue 9, p14, 3/5p; (AN 11657945)

Naval Academy Demotes Professor Accused of Plagiarism in a Book on the A-Bomb. (FULL TEXT) By: Bartlett, Thomas. Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/7/2003, Vol. 50 Issue 11, pA12, 1/3p

Web plagiarism keeps rising. (FULL TEXT) Curriculum Review, Nov2003, Vol. 43 Issue 3, p5, 1/6

Plagiarism: a Lie of the Mind. (FULL TEXT) By: Isserman, Maurice. Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/2/2003, Vol. 49 Issue 34, pB12, 2p

Has Turnitin.com Got It All Wrapped Up? (FULL TEXT)By: Royce, John. Teacher Librarian, Apr2003, Vol. 30 Issue 4, p26, 5p

Got Plagiarism? Try the Guillotine. (FULL TEXT) By: Mahon, Robert Lee. Community College Week, 12/9/2002, Vol. 15 Issue 9, p4, 2p

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Plagiarism Buster! (FULL TEXT) Silverman, Gillian, Newsweek, Vol. 140 (3) July 15 2002.

Professor Accused of Plagiarism Gets to Keep Her Job. (FULL TEXT) Smallwood,Scott. Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 48,Issue 36 May 17 2002.

Plagiarism-Detection Tool Creates Legal Quandary. (FULL TEXT) Foster, Andrea L. Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 48, Issue 36 5/17/2002,

Students Plagiarize Online Less Than Many Think, a New Study Finds. (FULL TEXT) Kellogg, Alex P., Chronicle of Higher Education 2/15/2002, Vol. 48, Issue 23

Honesty and Honor Codes. (FULL TEXT) By: McCabe, Donald, Trevino, Linda Klebe, Academe, Jan/Feb2002, Vol. 88, Issue 1

Don't Police Plagiarism: Just TEACH! (FULL TEXT) By: Howard, Rebecca Moore, Education Digest, Jan2002, Vol. 67, Issue 5

Collegiate Copycats.(FULL TEXT) By: Bugeja, Michael J., Editor & Publisher, November 2001, Vol. 134(46) pg.22

The Cat-and-Mouse Game of Plagiarism Detection.(FULL TEXT) Young, Jeffrey R., Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 47 July 2001(pg. A26)

Reported Cases of Cheating at UC-Berkeley Dramatically Increase. Hwang, Helen. Daily Californian, December 3 2001. (AVAILABLE FULL TEXT IN LexisNexis Academic:NEWS:CAMPUS:UNIVERSITY WIRE)

U.Arizona Plagiarism Rate Rising". Gruters, Brian B. Arizona Daily Wildcat, September 18, 2001. (AVAILABLE FULL TEXT IN LexisNexis Academic:NEWS:CAMPUS:UNIVERSITY WIRE)

Internet Service Helps UC Teachers Detect Incidents of Plagiarism". Salonga, Daily Bruin July 17 2001. (AVAILABLE FULL TEXT IN LexisNexis Academic:NEWS:CAMPUS:UNIVERSITY WIRE)

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Prevention

As the research indicates, cases of plagiarism are on the rise.  While there is no way to stop all plagiarism the following sites offer common sense tips to help limit the incidents of plagiarism in your classrooms.

Preventing Plagiarism Using Resources at CSULB:

  • Have students write a summary of the information sources they used for research.  Have them include which databases, search engines and print finding aids they used to find their references.  Not only will this require students to tell you which sources they used, but it will also give you a starting place for searching for plagiarized excerpts. Likewise, students who have purchased or downloaded papers will have no idea how to create a summary of how they found information if they didn't really find it.
  • Keep in mind that text plagiarized from articles contained in subscription databases (Lexis Nexis, Academic Search Elite etc.) will NOT show when using commercial search engines.  To find plagiarized text from databases you will need to search each individual database.  
  • If you have concerns about plagiarized text, consult your subject librarian for advice on finding appropriate sources to check for the text.

 

Books & Articles

new additionPlagiarism Handbook: strategies for preventing, detecting, and dealing with plagiarism (COAST Record)/ Robert A. Harris ; cartoons by Vic Lockman. Imprint Los Angeles, CA : Pyrczak Publishing, c2001.

new additionCombating Plagiarism. (available FULL TEXT in the CQ Researcher) 9/19/2003, Vol. 13 Issue 32, p773, 1/2p

Internet Sites CSULB Campus Subscription to TURNITIN.COM
ACS has purchased a new subscription to Turnitin.com a commercial plagiarism prevention service. This site will allow you to check student articles against text on the internet as well as against text in the turnitin.com database of student papers submitted by professors. What this site does NOT do is check against the library's full text databases such as Academic Search Elite, Lexis Nexis, Newspapers or JSTOR. To see if your students used text from one of these subscription based databases consult your subject librarian to determine the best way to check on plagiarism. The Plagiarism Resource Center/ Louis Bloomfield (University of Virginia)
This site offers FREE software developed by a physics professor at the University of Virginia.  He developed the program when he found a widespread incident of cheating in his class.

Academic Honesty/H. Smythe (Raritan Valley Community College)
A great site that includes a list of commercial anti-plagiarism software, articles about plagiarism and useful sites for combating plagiarism.

Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism: Documentation Guidelines/K. Lawton and L.Cousineau (Duke University)
This site provides students with information on how to cite sources in a paper as well as practical strategies for avoiding plagiarism altogether.

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Related Links

CSULB Policy on Plagiarism (CSULB Policy Statement 85-19)

Copyright for Reserves/Henry DuBois (CSULB)
This page provides links to pages that address all types of copyright issues.

Plagiarism Sites/Dr. Leslie Farmer (CSULB)
This site is includes links to "paper mill" sites that students often refer to when downloading papers.

Citation Generator/Lobo Tutorial (NCSU) new addition A really cool site to share with students to make the citation process easier!

Style Manuals and Citation Methods/Joy Thomas (CSULB)
This site provides links to citing electronic information using the standard style manual specifications. A useful link to include in any online course page or course site.

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Content maintained by Tiffini A. Travis, Psychology and Communications Librarian