Feature

Plagiarism: Great concern to US academia
It is time to be cautious

Golam Kibria

My teacher at UCSC (University of California, Santa Cruz), Edward Tripp described the term “plagiarism”. The meaning of this word was known to me but the widespread effect of this very word in the academic arena in the USA was totally unknown to me. I got a preliminary idea from Edward's lecture, but after arriving at my host university, The University of Maryland (UMD), I eventually came to know the importance and magnitude of the term.

I'm sure that the students of my country are not very familiar with the term, but here it is so widely discussed and focused that every single student of any university is fully aware of plagiarism.

The word plagiarism comes from the Latin word plagiare, which means "to kidnap". In English it is the practice of claiming, or implying, original authorship of (or incorporating material from) someone else's written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one's own without adequate acknowledgement. Unlike cases of forgery, in which the authenticity of the writing, document, or some other kind of object, itself is in question, plagiarism is concerned with the issue of false attribution. Plagiarism can also occur unconsciously; in some cultures certain forms of plagiarism are accepted because the concept can be interpreted differently.

Within academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered academic dishonesty or academic fraud and offenders are subject to academic censure.

Most definitions for plagiarism are very similar, centering on the notion of taking another's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. But in practice, it can come in many different forms. These forms can range from the outright copying of someone else's complete work to the use of quotes from someone else without properly attributing them; from doing someone else's exams or term papers to the buying of essays from “Internet paper mills”, i.e. articles, research papers of any other writings available in the Internet.

Another problem related to plagiarism is that it is so seldom reported either by other students or by teachers. Students argue that it is none of their business or that they do not have proof. Teachers are concerned about legal issues, their workload, that cheating is so endemic there is no way to stop it, or that they get no support. In recent times, plagiarism has become one of the most serious concerns for the US Universities.

Almost all US universities are now taking plagiarism as a serious offence. Like my university, the University of Maryland, for all universities the penalty for plagiarism, fabrication, cheating or facilitation is dismissal. This kind of offence is known as academic dishonesty.

In my first class in the Communication department, Prof. Elizabeth Toh, the Chair of this department, told us, “The University of Maryland has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council, which sets the standards for academic integrity for all members of this academic community. Students are responsible for upholding these standards.”

There are many reasons students plagiarize. Sometimes deadlines come around more quickly than expected, sometimes assignments feel overwhelming, and sometimes the boundaries of plagiarism and research just get confused. But what situations are most likely to result in plagiarism? More importantly, how can they be avoided? Learning to identify the factors that make plagiarism an attractive alternative is the best way to stop it before it starts.

Not all cultures take the same view of plagiarism. The Western notion that "ideas" can be the property of individuals may actually seem absurd to those with different views on what constitutes shared information or public discourse. Students from cultures which have a more collective sense of identity, for example, may have a difficult time understanding the distinctions some cultures draw between individual and public property. In the USA, students are under enormous pressure from family, peers, and instructors to compete for scholarships, admissions, and, of course, place in the job market. They often see education as a rung in the ladder to success, and not an active process valuable in itself. Because of this, they tend to focus on the end results of their research, rather than the skills they learn in doing it.

A website (www.plagiarism.org) said, according to a recent US News and World Report poll, almost 85% of college students say cheating/plagiarism is necessary to get ahead. The website also mentioned that, studies show that students will cheat more if they feel their peers are cheating-- not only do they feel more justified in doing so, but they also feel compelled to cheat just to "keep up".

While I was studying in UCSC, some interesting news attracted my attention. Professor Dan Wirls, Chairman of the Political Science department, adopted a policy banning students in his American government class from citing Wikipedia in research papers. The main gripe from Wirls was that students are entering college with almost no research skills beyond their rudimentary use of the Internet. And Wirls worries about students looking no further than Wikipedia, explaining that reliance on the site has become, for some, a lazy man's substitute for more rigorous forms of research and investigation.

Wirls' frustrations are by no means unique. Faculty across a wide range of departments at UCSC, and across USA, have either banned Wikipedia in citations, or at least warn students not to use the site as a primary source. Most say they don't object to its easily accessible online nature, but rather its freewheeling nature, which allows articles to be edited by nearly anyone with access to the Web. In USA, Wikipedia is known as “students' latest ally”.

In February 2007, the history department at Middlebury College in Vermont banned the use of Wikipedia in citations, the first department at any college in USA to do so. And many professors from around the country have posted caveats about its use atop their course syllabi.

In USA, plagiarism, especially Internet-based plagiarism, has become a big problem because of their teaching methods. Almost all the teachers at the graduate and undergraduate level encourage students to write thesis or research papers, and instead of taking exams or tests in the classroom, they prefer “take home” exams, where students are given certain problems, topics or questions, and they are asked to submit the answer to the teacher by email within a deadline.

But in our country, students are still seating for exams in the classroom. However, some private universities are changing their teaching methods and following the Western style. In this way, students are encouraged to do research and study and to use the library, books and other references to get better grades. To protect against plagiarism and to prevent the student's "cut-paste" practice from the internet and detect plagiarized copies, lots of free software is available on the Internet. Interested academicians, teachers and university authorities can find this software just by googling with the term “plagiarism.”

If we don't pay attention to the plagiarism issue, it will be too late and it might become out of reach. Before the plagiarism problem shatters as an epidemic in our academia, we should take care of it. On the Internet there are also many sites which include tips for the students and teachers to prevent plagiarism. In many cases, students plagiarized unconsciously or innocently because of lack of understanding and knowledge. So it is the duty of the teachers and instructors to provide the students with proper information.

(anmgkibria@yahoo.com)
A.N.M. Gloam Kibria
Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow
(Fulbright Exchange Program)
Philip Merill College of Journalism
University of Maryland,
College Park, Md. USA

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