LibGuides: Academic Ethics: Plagiarism

IIT Resources

Plagiarism and Avoiding It
This page, developed by the Communication Across the Curriculum Initiative at IIT, gives a concise description of what plagiarism is, how to avoid it, and provides links to other resources about the writing process.
Writing Center
The Writing Center is a resource for all IIT students for help. You can either make an appointment with them, or they also help students on a walk-in basis.

Web Articles & Tutorials on Plagiarism

Academic Plagiarism Defined
This essay by Dr. Irving Hexman of the University of Calgary, gives a very clear definition of plagiarism, and examples of common types of plagiarism that often appear in student papers.

Discussions about what constitutes plagiarism, its prevalence in academia, and recognizing instances of plagiarism.

Gaming Against Plagiarism
Gaming Against Plagiarism is a set of three games that have been developed by the University of Florida to introduce students to what is meant by plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification. An amusing, interactive way of learning more about this topic
Avoiding plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and other questionable writing practices: A guide to ethical writing
This online tutorial, developed by Dr. Miguel Roig of St. John's University seeks to help students become aware of ethical writing practices and to avoid plagiarism.
Plagiarism in Perspectives on the Professions Newsletter
A volume of the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions newsletter, Perspectives on the Professions, focusing on plagiarism.
Plagiarism Bibliography
A bibliography on plagiarism in academic publishing.
Plagiarism Tutorial
Developed by the San Jose Public Library, this simple tutorial introduces you to different types of plagarism, and the proper way to cite original sources. This tutorial is a light-hearted way to get general idea of of how to avoid plagorizing in assignments.
Retraction Watch
Retraction Watch is a site that follows the retractions of papers from major scholarly journals as a window into the scientific process. This site is also an interesting window into the types of plagiarism that can occur in academe, and the final consequences when a scholar is found guilty of plagiarism.
What is Plagiarism?
This short quiz, developed by Indiana University's School of Education, asks you to identify instances of plagiarism.

Methods for Avoiding Plagiarism

Articles, online tools, and other resources discussing the correct way to paraphrase and cite other peoples ideas and how to correctly include quotations in your scholarly work.

Citing Sources - Duke University Library
The librarians at Duke University have put together an excellent resource discussing how to properly cite sources in your papers.
Avoiding Plagiarism and Citing Sources
The Purdue Online Writing Lab has developed an extensive number of resources discussing how to avoid plagiarism, how to correctly paraphrase and summarize, and how to properly cite sources for various disciplines.
Evaluating Online Sources
This PDF of handout discusses how to evaluate a web site or article posted online to see if it is a trusted source of information and can be legitimately used in a class paper.
Citation Machine
The free version allows you to create citations in a number of styles including MLA, APA and Chicago style.

Cases

Plagiarism and Group Work
Two students work together on their master’s research proposal, but divide the work up instead of jointly writing the paper. They put their two different sections together and then edit the paper as a team. When the professor reads the finished paper, she notices that one of the sections is greatly plagiarized.
Making the Grade
This case discusses understanding the complexities of interpersonal, professional, academic and social responsibilities in ethical decision making by discussing the subjects of plagiarism, authorship on the internet, and how to be fair with international student's understanding of referencing material used in research.
Plagiarism or Inspiration?
Matthew Whittaker, a professor at Arizona State University, was accused of plagiarism by some members of the academic community when it became clear he was using exact verbiage from Wikipedia articles without attribution in many of his speeches and in six of his books. However, many question the validity of these accusations. Wikipedia is an open source, and does not demand attribution based on its terms of use. Is Dr. Whitaker guilty of plagiarism, or not?

Suggested Print Resources

Books held in IIT Libraries

Crisis on Campus by Wilfried Decoo
Call Number: CSEP.LB2344.D432002
ISBN: 0262042010
Publication Date: 2001-12-21
Presents an overview of the phenomenon of academic misconduct and how universities discover and handle allegations of plagiarism and falsification.
Stealing into Print by Marcel C. LaFollette
Call Number: CSEP.Z286.S4L331992
ISBN: 9780520205130
Publication Date: 1996-03-29
What Every Student Should Know about Avoiding Plagiarism by Linda Stern
ISBN: 9780321446893
Publication Date: 2006-06-13

Writing Style Guides

Style Guides for writing academic papers. As the standard way for citing sources often differs between disciplines, ask your professor which citation style he or she prefers.

APA Style Guide
The APA Style Guide (American Psychological Association) is most used in the social sciences. The link will take you to an overview of APA style provided by Purdue's Online Writing Center. A print copy of the book is available in Galvin Library, Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, REF.BF76.7.P832010
MLA Style
The MLA Style (Modern Language Association) is the most common form used for citing sources in the liberal arts and humanities. The above link will take you to an overview of MLA Style developed by Purdue's Online Writing Lab. Galvin Library has a print copy of MLA Handbook for Research Paper Writers, REF.LB2369.G532009
Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style is used by many disciplines, both in the humanities and in the sciences. The link takes you to some examples of how to cite sources put together by the publisher of this volume. A print edition of the Chicago Manual of Style available at Galvin Library, REF.Z253.U692003

Cultural Differences in Plagiarism

The following documents contain information on plagiarism from a cultural standpoint.