Define and discuss plagiarism

Students often come to university without clearly understanding the conventions of academic writing. Most students will need to be taught the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarism. Brown & Howell (2001) found that warnings were necessary but warnings alone had no effect on students’ awareness of plagiarism. They conclude that providing information about plagiarism is an effective way of changing perceptions of how seriously plagiarism breaches the guidelines. Some strategies for defining and discussing plagiarism are:

Clearly explain what constitutes plagiarism and provide adequate examples and opportunities to learn the appropriate practices.

Advice to students on what constitutes plagiarism and on good academic practices can be found in the UTS Coursework Assessment Policy and Procedures manual, available online at

http://www.gsu.uts.edu.au/policies/coursewkassess.html

and the UTS Handbook, available online at

http://www.gsu.uts.edu.au/policies/academicpractice.html

Discuss hypothetical cases

Students can find it difficult to understand how the rules and procedures apply to their own situation. In class discussion of examples of plagiarism, provide a straightforward illustration of appropriate and inappropriate writing.

Print statements offering examples of academic writing for the discipline

Each discipline has slightly different conventions to attributing others’ work and these are rarely discussed in general guides to good student writing. Plagiarism can only be avoided by accurate referencing. A referencing guide can be found online at

http://www.bell.uts.edu.au/referencing/

Publicise warnings outlining penalties

Many lecturers prefer to deal with minor infringements themselves. In more serious breaches of the academic misconduct rules the responsible academic officer has a range of penalties that they can apply. These are published in the UTS calendar at

http://www.gsu.uts.edu.au/policies/penaltiesmisconduct.html

Reference

Brown, V. J., & Howell, M. E. (2001). The Efficacy of Policy Statements on Plagiarism: Do they change students‘ views? Research in Higher Education, 42(1), 103-118.