Guide to Online Plagiarism Sources
Highly
Recommended
Useful
Not Recommended
(The reviewers did not feel comfortable giving any of the following websites three stars. Ideally, a three-star website would combine high content quality and ease of use with specific information regarding law schools and legal citation.)
½ Sources:
Their Use and Acknowledgment
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources/index.html
content quality: high
target audience: undergraduate students
ease of use: high
last
updated:
author/source:
Very nice website. A lot of information about what plagiarism is, how to avoid it, and why to avoid it. Explains different citation styles and includes a comprehensive FAQ section. Website provides lots of examples for ways to cite different sources properly. Visually attractive site and easy to use.
The
http://library2.fairfield.edu/instruction/ramona/plugin.html
content quality: medium
target audience: all students
ease of use: high
last
updated:
author/source Fairfield University Dimenna-Nyselius Library
Online tutorial for students to learn about plagiarism and how to avoid it. Includes information on the definition of plagiarism, note taking tips, how to paraphrase, and three main citation styles (MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style). Organized into different sections that can be studied at different times. Concludes with a multiple-choice quiz to test students’ knowledge.
Plagiarism Q & A
http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~mspears/plagiarism.html
content
quality: medium
target audience: undergraduate students
ease of use: high
last
updated:
author/source: Michael L. Spears,
Guide for
students (with some information targeted at teachers) on how to recognize
plagiarism and avoid it. Includes explanations
of penalties. Also provides links to
other cites about plagiarism (many of which are on this review).
Purdue Owl: Avoiding Plagiarism
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_plagiar.html
content quality: high
target audience: undergraduate students
ease of use: medium
last updated: n/a
author/source:
Handout
designed for class distribution. Explains
the various conflicting principles of American academic writing that can
confuse students and prompt them to plagiarize, sometimes purposefully and
sometimes accidentally. Explains when
and how to credit authority for ideas.
Concludes with a series of exercises to test the student’s ability to
understand proper attribution.
Virtual Salt: Anti-Plagiarism
Strategies for Research Papers
www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm
content quality: high
target audience: undergraduate professors
ease of use: medium
last
updated:
author/source: Robert Harris, former English professor
Contains key strategies for understanding and preventing plagiarism. Also provides specific pointers for spotting plagiarism and for finding the original online source material. Easy to read format. No table of contents, index, internal cross-references, etc.
www.law.gwu.edu/resources/citing.asp
content quality: medium
target audience: GWU law students
ease of use: medium
last updated: summer 2002
author/source:
Fifteen-page PDF document requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader. Good table of contents and organization. Designed specifically for GWU law students, but can be generalized to other law students. Examples of plagiarism in the law school context. FAQ section. Special information regarding international students and foreign language sources. Well done, but fairly basic information.
www.hamilton.edu/academics/resource/wc/usingsources.html?CFID=490580&CFTOKEN=25406521
content quality: medium
target audience: undergraduate students
ease of use: medium
last updated: March 2003
author/source:
Brief explanation of citations and different citation styles. Provides strategies of integrating source materials correctly. Gives examples of proper paraphrasing. Caution: Instructs students that they do not need to provide citations for common knowledge or for knowledge that the reader can locate easily.
From
Now On, the Education Technology Journal: The
New Plagiarism
www.fno.org/may98/cov98may.html
content quality: medium
target audience: all teaching professionals
ease of use: medium
last updated: Vol.7, No. 8, May 1998
author/source: Jamie McKenzie, From Now On webzine
Online article, “Seven Antidotes to Prevent Highway Robbery in an Electronic Age.” Instructional articles for teachers to curb potential plagiarism. Seven “antidotes” covering the entire research project from information gathering to the final product.
Plagiarism Brochure
http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/bpg/plagiarism.htm
content quality: medium
target audience: undergraduate science students
ease of use: medium
last updated: n/a
author/source:
Online brochure for UBC science students. Includes definitions of plagiarism, ways to avoid it, and examples of proper citation. This website is notable for its definitions of different kinds of plagiarism: complete plagiarism, near-complete plagiarism, patchwork plagiarism, lazy plagiarism, and self-plagiarism. This is a helpful way to explain plagiarism to students to expand their own understanding.
Plagiarism
and the Web
www.wiu.edu/users/mfbhl/wiu/plagiarism.htm
content quality: medium
target audience: undergraduate professors
ease of use: medium
last
updated:
author/source: Bruce Leland,
Online article. Alerts college professors to online websites, which make term papers available to students. Provides links to several of the sites, and all links are current. Gives tips on how teachers can better tailor assignments and instructions to discourage plagiarism. Provides links to other online articles regarding plagiarism.
The Plagiarism Resource Site
http://www.plagiarism.phys.virginia.edu/
content quality: medium
target audience: high school teachers and college professors
ease of use: high
last updated:
author/source: Lou Bloomfield, Professor of
Physics,
Unique website with forums for teachers and professors to exchange ideas and suggestions for detecting and preventing plagiarism. Also offers free downloadable software designed to check documents for suspected plagiarism. Lists links to other websites dealing with plagiarism and real examples of alleged plagiarism.
Avoiding
Plagiarism: Mastering the Art of Scholarship
http://sja.ucdavis.edu/avoid.htm
content quality: medium
target audience: undergraduate students
ease of use: low
last
updated:
author/source: UC Davis Student Judicial Affairs
Online resource for undergraduate students to learn about proper attribution and ways to protect against plagiarism. Provides guidelines for preventing plagiarism and gives examples of correct and incorrect uses of quotations and paraphrases. Defines plagiarism and informs students why they should be concerned about ethical scholarship. Very poorly organized.
Fair Use of Copyrighted Works: A Crucial
Element in Educating
http://www.cetus.org/fairindex.html
content quality: medium
target audience: university professors and adminitrators
ease of use: high
last
updated:
author/source: CETUS (Consortium for Educational
Technology for
University
Systems), comprised of California State
University,
State University of New York, and the City
This website is designed to educate univeristy professors and administrators about copyright ownership and fair use. It also contains links to other resources intended to give users a full understanding about copyright laws.
UCSB: Copyright and Fair Use
http://www.library.ucsb.edu/guides/copyright.html
content quality: high
target audience: professors
ease of use: high
last updated: n/a
author/source: UC Santa Barbara Libraries
Explains copyright law and fair use exceptions for professors to use copyrighted resources in the classroom. Not applicable to anti-plagiarism instruction.
Copyright and Fair Use
content quality: medium
target audience: students, professors, librarians
ease of use: high
last updated: copyrighted 2003
author/source: Stanford Univ. Libraries & Academic Info. Resources
Explains difference between works available in the public domain and works that are copyrighted. Includes primary resources on current legislation and federal and international copyright law. Includes special information for librarians from the American Assoc. of Law Libraries and the American Library Association among others. Can sign up for Stanford’s free monthly newsletter providing readers with updates in copyright law. Great website, but not relevant to plagiarism problems.
When
http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
content quality: low
target audience: undergraduate and law students
ease of use: high
last
updated:
author/source: Lolly Gasaway,
Very short webpage explaining the length of copyright protection and when works pass into the public domain. Great website for students studying intellectual property and copyright duration. Otherwise, better information can be found in other places.
Fair Use of Copyright Materials
http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm
content quality: low
target audience: undergraduate and graduate professors
ease of use: high
last
updated:
author/source:
Explains the guidelines for fair use of copyrighted materials in the classroom. Lots of great information about defenses for distributing copyrighted documents, but not helpful in understanding or preventing plagiarism.
Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/index.html
content quality: low
target audience: teachers, educational bookstores, librarians
ease of use: high
last updated: 2003
author/source: Andrew Harnack & Eugene
Kleppinger, Bedford/St.
Martin’s
Press
Excerpts from a reference book about using internet sources. Chapters 5-8 are available on the website. The chapters available online cover four different kinds of citation styles for internet sources: MLA, APA, Chicago Style, and CBE. Other portions of the book not available online cover ethics, “netiquette,” evaluating internet sources, etc. Book is available for purchase on website. No price listed.
www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html
content quality: medium
target audience: undergraduate students and professors
ease of use: medium
last updated: n/a
author/source: Writing Tutorial Services,
Information supplementing the Indiana University Student Code of Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct. Recommendations for students on how to avoid plagiarism. Also provides hints for recognizing accidental plagiarism.
Copyright Resources Online
http://www.library.yale.edu/~okerson/copyproj.html
content quality: poor
target audience: professors
ease of use: medium
last
updated:
author/source:
Links and resources for professors to understand what classroom sources may be under copyright protection or in the public domain. Not very helpful as an anti-plagiarism resource.
Other Helpful Resources
Marilyn V. Yarbrough, A Nation Under Lost Lawyers: The Legal Profession at the Close of the Twentieth Century, 100 Dick. L. Rev. 677 (1996).
Very insightful article. The author examines the mixed messages that law professors and other members of the legal community, like judges, unwittingly convey to students regarding plagiarism. It is a very short article but a must read for law professors and administrators!
Napolitano v.
The
plaintiff’s undergraduate degree was withheld for a year as a penalty for
plagiarism. She sued the university for
alleged due process violations. The
student lost. The case is important
because the court said that the offense of plagiarism requires “deliberate use
of an outside source without proper acknowledgement.”
Chris Klein,
A cautionary tale: when four out of fifteen students in one professor’s class at St. Thomas University School of Law were charged with plagiarism, their only penalty was to write a five-page paper on plagiarism. The honor council doling out the punishment was made up entirely of students. It seems that the honor council was more concerned about the conduct of the particular professor than with the students.
Kimberly C. Carlos, The
Future of
The author discusses the purpose of honor codes, the rights that public and private universities have to regulate their students, legal claims brought by disciplined students against their schools, and due process claims. Various specific honor codes and typical honor code provisions are discussed. The author also contemplates the implications that violations and discipline can have on a student’s future. Notably, the author strongly recommends that any honor court should be composed entirely of students with a faculty or administrative adviser.
Barbara Marvin, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Plagiarism But Were Afraid to Ask.
Scholars themselves are confused about the definition of plagiarism, so it is only natural that law students “have been left groping in the dark.” The author parses the definition of plagiarism established by the Washington College of Law to fill in the gaps and explain any inconsistencies. Marvin recommends that, when in doubt, provide a footnote. This advice extends to commonly-known information that students, as undergraduates, were used to not footnoting. Marvin ends the article explaining why plagiarism is bad. Mainly, she implies, plagiarism is bad because you get in trouble for it.
Robert D. Bills, Plagiarism
in
Statistics show that six out of ten undergraduates admit to plagiarism. What happens when those students enter law school? The article focuses on the difficulty created by the lack of a uniform definition of plagiarism and differing opinions on how much “intent” matters. Plagiarism is not the same thing as copyright infringement. This can be particularly confusing for law students: one problem is ethical, the other is legal. Interestingly, most law school policies consider intent as a mitigating factor after guilt has been established, yet 60% of law school deans believe intent is related to the question of guilt itself. The article contains other interesting statistics based on a survey of ABA-accredited law schools, including: “Not one of the deans found any correlation between academic plagiarism and the almost universal recycling of documents in legal practice.”
Patsy W. Thomley, In Search of a Plagiarism Policy, 16 N. Ky. L. Rev. 502 (1989).
Professor
Thomley conducts a survey of existing law school plagiarism policies and
statements to conclude that they generally are poorly defined or
explained. The article explains why law
schools need a clearly defined plagiarism policy, and the consequences of not
doing so. The author strongly recommends
that law schools consider adopting the plagiarism policy written by Louis J.
Sirico, Jr., Professor of Law at