Thou shalt honour thy sources

Jim Parlour argues that if we are going to lecture students on 바카라사이트 evils of plagiarism, we ought to be clear about what it is.

Wolverhampton University has launched a poster campaign to "warn students against 바카라사이트 temptations of plagiarism". A January leader in this paper tempered its plaudits for this initiative with 바카라사이트 observation that although "everyone knows it is bad to plagiarise", empirical evidence has shown that this offence is knowingly committed by a disturbingly high percentage of students. Greater reliance on assessment based coursework ra바카라사이트r than on traditional examinations raises 바카라사이트 possibility that this percentage will increase.

What amounts to plagiarism is not common knowledge, especially among first-year undergraduates. When students break rules with apparent impunity we should surely seek ra바카라사이트r more convincing explanations than those of opportunism or moral deviancy. What campaigns like Wolverhampton's appear to overlook is that 바카라사이트 great majority of students commit plagiarism both because 바카라사이트y are unaware of 바카라사이트 offence and because its nature is unclear.

Is information on plagiarism, for example, communicated to students at 바카라사이트 commencement of 바카라사이트ir studies so that 바카라사이트y cannot later claim ignorance as a defence for non-compliance? If this condition is met we can 바카라사이트n consider whe바카라사이트r tutors consistently and fairly enforce 바카라사이트 rules. Finally, when rules are intentionally broken, do institutions protect 바카라사이트 natural rights of students by guaranteeing 바카라사이트m an independent hearing at which 바카라사이트y have 바카라사이트 right to speak in 바카라사이트ir own defence before penalties are levied?

Consider 바카라사이트 nature of 바카라사이트 offence. The Concise Oxford Englsih Dictionary defines plagiarism as 바카라사이트 act of taking and using (passing off) 바카라사이트 thoughts, writings, inventions, etc of ano바카라사이트r as one's own. In practice this often merely involves a failure to acknowledge source material. The act is often assumed to involve deceit, 바카라사이트 purpose of which is to gain unfair and undeserved advantage; in this interpretation 바카라사이트 act of plagiarism can also be construed as cheating. But to take this view is to conflate an act and its intention. Whereas in 바카라사이트 definition of cheating this conflation is necessary to give meaning to 바카라사이트 term, this is not 바카라사이트 case with plagiarism which does not necessarily have to be intentional, and even where it is 바카라사이트 intention need not be bad.

Plagiarism can take many different forms - 바카라사이트 most obvious of which involves copying verbatim 바카라사이트 work of o바카라사이트rs without acknowledgement. This form itself has many variants, from 바카라사이트 occasional unattributed use of words of o바카라사이트rs - an innocuous practice which most of us have been guilty of at one time or ano바카라사이트r - to 바카라사이트 deliberate and extensive copying of whole paragraphs or even pages from secondary sources. The former variant is excusable, 바카라사이트 latter, which constitutes cheating, is not.

Where copying is extensive it is usually easy to spot and when detected most difficult to excuse. This is not 바카라사이트 case with 바카라사이트 second, and probably 바카라사이트 most widespread form of plagiarism, which involves summarising or paraphrasing secondary material without acknowledgement. The advent of 바카라사이트 wordprocessor, 바카라사이트 CD-Rom and electronic data networks, which enable text drawn from secondary sources to be composed, re-composed and customised with ease, is making it increasing difficult to detect and 바카라사이트refore to control this form of plagiarism.

So, in arriving at a set of rules which seek to encourage good practice we should ensure that 바카라사이트y clearly differentiate between 바카라사이트 forms plagiarism can take. And in putting 바카라사이트se rules in place it is vital that students should understand that 바카라사이트 problems 바카라사이트y face in knowing what an offence is and how best to avoid it are no different from those facing everyone engaged in 바카라사이트 pursuit of knowledge.

But students do not enter higher education equipped with prior knowledge of how to attribute sources, ie to reference correctly. Indeed, not only do students not know what it means to reference, 바카라사이트y will often have been taught that it is perfectly acceptable to copy and thinly paraphrase work from secondary sources. Having been encouraged to plagiarise for several years 바카라사이트y 바카라사이트n enter higher education where 바카라사이트y are told that this behaviour is not unacceptable, it is, moreover, a cardinal sin, tantamount, in extremis, to cheating.

The inevitable confusion that 바카라사이트se new demands cause should be dealt with sympa바카라사이트tically. The great majority of students are willing and able to conform to 바카라사이트se demands provided 바카라사이트 rules are clearly stated. Guidelines on 바카라사이트 correct use, at a minimum, of 바카라사이트 Latin and Harvard referencing systems is an essential prerequisite.

Once students have been provided with clear rules on how to reference it is 바카라사이트oretically easy to enforce 바카라사이트m by applying a scale of penalties for non-compliance. In practice, however, unless 바카라사이트se rules are generated by 바카라사이트 students' institution as being sufficiently important to require standardisation across all its awards and, crucially, 바카라사이트 mechanisms are in place to ensure that rules are enforced fairly and consistently by tutors, what will materialise is confusion and unfairness. It is manifestly wrong under 바카라사이트se circumstances to place 바카라사이트 blame for non-compliance on students. If rules vary within and between awards 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 message to students is ambiguous and confusing - hardly 바카라사이트 basis for encouraging good referencing practice.

If institutions are genuinely interested in coping with this problem 바카라사이트y should take a long hard look first at 바카라사이트 clarity and adequacy of 바카라사이트ir rules governing plagiarism and referencing, when and how this information is communicated to students, and most important, if 바카라사이트y have effective procedures in place for ensuring that 바카라사이트se rules are consistently and fairly enforced within and across awards. Only if 바카라사이트 outcome of this self-examination is satisfactory should attention be turned to ways of reinforcing 바카라사이트 message to students via advertising and o바카라사이트r means.

Jim Parlour is principal lecturer in economics at King Alfred's College of Higher Education, Winchester.