Memo

To: Teachers and professional staf

From: Sha-Tia Holloway
Date: 2-10-2013
About: Respect for intellectual property

Its that time of the year again!!! As students begin to search for topics
and find information, there are areas that you should be mindful of. Students
dont always realize that the information that they find cant just be copied
and pasted. They dont understand what plagiarism is, and the
consequences that come with it. As educators, we need to inform them of
how to properly gather and apply information found.
First, we should begin with what plagiarism is. Merriam-Webster defines
plagiarism as: to steal and pass of the ideas or words of another as ones
own: use anothers production without crediting the source. Penalties for
plagiarism can be, but are not limited to:

Giving a lower grade on the assignment

Giving a failing grade for the assignment or course
Having the student redo the assignment
Suspension

Now that we know what plagiarism is and the penalties for it, how do we
discourage it?
The structure of assignments given can lend itself to acts of plagiarism.
When assignments are too broad, or have no specific criteria, students have

too much freedom. This freedom can lead to thoughts of a quick copy and
paste. My teacher will never find out! We want to discourage plagiarism.
We want to discourage those thoughts. We can do this by how we structure
our assignments. The following is a list of a few suggestions on how to
structure assignments to discourage plagiarism.

1. Give Specific Assignments

If assignments are embedded in the course curriculum and are limited to a
few specific topics, then finding an exact match for the assignment
requirements will be that much more difficult.
2. Ask Students to Submit Sections in Stages
Set a schedule whereby students submit perhaps an outline, introduction,
body portions, research summaries, a conclusion, etc. by a set date. Students
could work on these sections in peer review groups.
3. Have Students Establish a Research Trail
For example, students could prepare a list of resources along with a brief
summary and an indication of where the resource was acquired (call
numbers, for ex.)
4. Require Revisions
No (student) paper is perfect. Make editing a compulsory part of the writing
process.
5. Ask Students to Sign an Integrity Certificate
Prepare an integrity certificate that defines plagiarism, discusses the
seriousness of the crime, and explains the penalties that you will impose. The
certificate ends with a statement like "I understand the information contained
in this document including the consequences of plagiarism." Have students
sign and return the document to you.
http://www.sunywcc.edu/dep/english/plag/discourage.htm

Once you have addressed plagiarism, copyright laws are your next step.
In times where students download, record, and copy anything they want; it is
necessary for them to know that without permission it is illegal. Copyright
laws are in place to protect the author of concrete forms of expression. The
term fair use is used when discussing copyright laws. Fair use allows
certain types of users (educators) conditional rights to use or reproduce
certain copy right materials, as long as those materials meet defined
guidelines. In determining fair use, there are four factors to consider.
1. The purpose and the character of the use, including whether such use
is of a commercial nature, or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. The nature of the copyrighted work;

3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the

copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. The efect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the
copyrighted work.
Knowing what the copyright laws are protects you and allows for use of a
variety of materials, materials that can make projects and assignments
great. Now we know what plagiarism and can use copyrighted materials
properly, how do we spot when wrong has occurred? Turnitin.com, thats how.
Turnitin.com is a website application used to evaluate and improve
student writing. Writing assignments are submitter to Turnitin. The
assignments then go through an OrginalityCheck, GradeMark, and PeerMark.
Students and instructors receive feedback about the writing assignment. This
includes any signs of plagiarism.
With discussing how not to use others materials illegally, thoughts are
introduced of how to use and share materials. Creative Commons is a great
resource for that. Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables
the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through legal tools. These
legal tools allow others to the opportunity to reuse your work. Creative
Commons provides licenses to those wanting to share their materials.
Creative Commons also provides users with resources that have been
licensed through their company, allowing for these materials to be used
legally.
Being proactive with monitoring and educating students about the use of
others intellectual property, will allow for better quality writing and a deeper
understanding of the topic being researched. We must make sure that
plagiarism isnt seen as just cheating, but as a serious ofensive. This
promotes honorable morals in our students that they will carry through their
educational careers.