The Problem of Plagiarism: Finding Ways to Promote Academic Integrity in the Classroom

Abstract

Plagiarism, as any teacher will tell you, remains an intractable problem and is especially prominent in higher education. The dictionary definition is "to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own," to "use (another's production) without crediting the source" ("Plagiarize," n.d.). Most tertiary institutions have official policies regarding plagiarism and spell out various penalties depending on the particular circumstances. A key issue is usually the question of intent. Did a student deliberately attempt to defraud or was the action a product of ignorance? Notice the word "defraud" here. Plagiarism has long been associated with cheating, as Adam (2016) has noted, and moral persuasion has been one of the primary tactics for dissuading the practice. I often use the example with my students that I would not want a hand surgeon operating on me who cheated her way through medical school. Faculty members confronted with student plagiarism have often assumed that their students know how to cite sources correctly, when, in fact, there is little evidence to validate that claim (Sutherland-Smith, 2008). Dealing with plagiarism has become a reactive exercise, with much time devoted to detection and then the determination of suitable punishment for the crime. Less attention has been devoted to producing scholarship on the effectiveness of various methods for teaching responsible research (Devlin, 2016). Plagiarism has also become a catch-all term to refer to improper citation of sources, copying or paraphrasing without proper punctuation or attribution, or submitting another's work as one's own, as in buying a paper from an online service. But discovering the problem is not the same as finding a solution. Our lead article in this issue flips the reactive approach into something proactive, what the authors refer to as a "mastery learning approach," resulting in both a reduction in plagiarism and improved adherence to the principles of academic integrity. As educators, we cannot simply ignore the problem but must find ways to ensure that our students and colleagues are adequately prepared to face the challenges of reporting research responsibly. I would welcome more studies of how to accomplish that important task.