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Freshman English Plagiarism Policy

FRESHMAN ENGLISH PROGRAM
STATEMENT ON PLAGIARISM AND ACADEMIC FRAUD
Working Document, Last Revised: January 15, 2004

KEY TERMS AT A GLANCE

Academic Misconduct:

1. Providing or receiving unauthorized assistance including:

  • Writing someone else's paper
  • Sharing answers during an examination
  • Collaborating on assignments or projects without instructor's consent [or outside of the instructor's guidelines]

2. Submitting the ideas, findings, or words of others for academic evaluation without proper acknowledgement.

3. Submitting the same academic work in multiple courses without prior consent from the instructor.

The above information is from the Academic Misconduct Faculty Handbook , available on the University of Connecticut's Web Site. [Bracketed insertion by the Freshman English Office]

To avoid misconduct full and proper acknowledgment of all sources is necessary.

Full and Proper Acknowledgement:

The unambiguous identification of the sources of all ideas, language, and other materials that are not one's own. There are many different methods of identifying a source [MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.], depending on the discipline's academic conventions. Students must consult with their instructors to determine which method is appropriate for the course. [For English courses, use MLA Style.]

Plagiarism:

Failure to acknowledge properly the source of an idea and/or specific language presented in a paper at any stage in the writing process, including drafts. Plagiarism is a violation of academic codes of conduct and generally results in serious penalty. The severity of the penalty depends on an individual instructor's assessment in consultation with the Director of Freshman English.

Academic Fraud:

An extreme degree of plagiarism, academic fraud is the theft of another's ideas, specific language, or other media, and the presentation of that material as one's own, at any stage of the writing process, including drafts. The Freshman English Program takes academic fraud very seriously. Any student who commits academic fraud will receive a grade of "F" for the course in which he or she has committed the fraud. The Freshman English Office and the Dean of Students Office will keep the student's name in a permanent record of students who have committed academic fraud. The Dean of Students will also determine whether or not further penalties, including expulsion from the University, are warranted.

PROGRAM STATEMENT

Mike Rose, in his description of academic writing, touches on an important dynamic in the ongoing study of plagiarism and academic fraud:

Virtually all the writing academics do is built on the writing of others. Every argument proceeds from the texts of others. [Students are] only partially initiated to how this works: [They are] still unsure as to how to weave quotations in with [their] own prose, how to mark the difference, how to cite whom [they use], how to strike the proper balance between [their] writing and someone else's-how, in short to position [themselves] in an academic discussion. (180)

Until very recently, scholars have labeled any failure to attribute the source of an idea properly as "plagiarism." Yet in light of what Rose observes about the difficulty students may have while "position[ing] themselves in an academic discussion," the ubiquitous term "plagiarism" is too vague to encompass the many different degrees to which a person might fail to acknowledge another's ideas. It also fails to acknowledge a student's intent, her varying degrees of proficiency in incorporating source materials, or the way her proficiency evolves as she develops as an academic writer. In light of these observations the Freshman English Program makes a distinction between plagiarism and, to use Rebecca Moore Howard's term, "fraud" (475). We believe that plagiarism rises to the level of academic fraud-an infraction warranting adjudication-only in extreme cases.

In an effort to eliminate much academic fraud in the Freshman English Classroom, and deal more justly and directly with plagiarism, the Freshman English Program directs instructors to discuss with students the academic implications and consequences of plagiarism and academic fraud early and often in the term. **Instructors should consult The Freshman English Program Guidelines for Addressing Plagiarism and Responding to Academic Fraud, available in the Freshman English Office, CLAS 162.** However, STUDENTS, both with their instructor and outside the classrooms have a responsibility to become familiar with department and University policies regarding plagiarism and academic fraud and to behave ethically as writers. Students should ask questions, and always be vigorous and diligent in using sources.

Technically speaking, any failure to acknowledge the source of an idea is an act of plagiarism. However, the Freshman English Program at the University of Connecticut makes an effort to address the varying degrees to which a student might fail to acknowledge the source of ideas presented in his paper.

The Freshman English Program also requires its instructors to arrange a conference with any student who fails to acknowledge the sources of his ideas properly. During this conference the instructor should try to determine the reason behind a student's lack of proper citation. If a student has failed to acknowledge his sources because of a lack of proficiency in incorporating sources, then his instructor may choose to work with the student, to teach him the way academics share information and develop knowledge.

In most cases of plagiarism the instructor will assign a penalty based on his assessment of the infraction's severity. In all cases the instructor will consult with the Director of the Freshman English Program and supply the Freshman English Office with photocopies of the plagiarized paper and, if available, the source from which the work was plagiarized.

If the instructor determines that a student has committed academic fraud, then he has the right and responsibility to fail the student for the entire class, and report him to Director of the Freshman English Program. **Instructors should consult Responding in Writing to Academic Fraud, available in Freshman English Office, CLAS 162.** Instructors will notify students in writing of the penalty and of the student's opportunity to appeal. The Director of Freshman English will submit the student's name to the Dean of Students, who will then add the student's name to a database that catalogs instances of academic misconduct. The Dean of Students will carry out any further adjudication, if deemed necessary. Academic fraud completely undermines the academy's ongoing efforts to share and develop ideas, and it cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.

For the sake of clarity we have listed possible scenarios for academic fraud. A student is guilty of academic fraud if he does ANY of the following:

  • "Cuts and pastes" printed or electronic text (from the Internet or elsewhere) into his paper, and presents it as his own.
  • Retypes material from a printed or electronic source into his own paper, and presents it as his own.
  • Submits a paper written by someone else, including a tutor, while claiming to be the author.
  • Submits a paper he or she has written in another course.
  • Puts another person's ideas "in his own words," without documenting the source.
  • Takes another person's expressions--a key word, a phrase, or a longer passage-without telling the reader precisely what has been done. This is considered academic fraud even when the student's own ideas are being expressed.

GUIDELINES TO AVOID PLAGIARISM AND ACADEMIC FRAUD

Because "virtually all the writing academics do is built on the writing of others" (Rose 180), and academics need to know an individual writer's contribution to a subject, they have established certain conventions for attributing the source of an idea. Academic conventions dictate that a writer must provide full and proper acknowledgment of all ideas and expressions that are not his own. To provide full and proper acknowledgment, a writer must do all of the following:

  • Indicate clearly where direct quotations within a paper begin and end by using quotations and introductory phrases.
  • When paraphrasing, make it clear to the reader that the ideas expressed are someone else's, by using introductory phrases and/or transitions.
  • Include internal documentation of the source quoted or paraphrased. (For documentation in English papers use the most recent MLA guidelines, which can be found in any recent writing handbook.)
  • When citing from the Internet or another electronic source, follow citation conventions, as they are articulated in any recent writing handbook.
  • Include a "Works Cited" page at the end of the paper. (A Works Cited page alone is useful, but it is not full and proper acknowledgment, since it does not tell the reader precisely what parts of the paper present another person's ideas.)
  • When in doubt about citing sources and documenting them, a student should consult his instructor, as the penalties for plagiarism and academic fraud are severe and strictly enforced. If a student has any doubts about plagiarism, academic fraud, or academic misconduct after reading this document and speaking with his instructor, he should consult The University of Connecticut's Policy on Academic Misconduct, available on the University's Web page: http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~ml201vc/misconduct.html .


Works Cited

Howard, Rebecca Moore. "Sexuality, Textuality: The Cultural Work of Plagiarism." College English 62.4 (2000): 473-491.

Rose, Mike. Lives on the Boundary: A Moving Account of the Struggles and Achievements of America's Educationally Underprepared . New York: Penguin Books, 1989.

Resources

Freshman English
Office of the Director (CLAS 126, 486-2866)
Office of the Assistant Director (CLAS 162, 486-2859)

University of Connecticut Writing Center (CLAS 159, 486-2143)
http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~engadm12/wrc.htm

University of Connecticut Academic Misconduct Faculty Handbook
http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~ms170vc2/2001webpage/misconduct-examples.htm

Council of Writing Program Administrators
"Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Promising Practices."
http://www.ilstu.edu/~ddhesse/wpa/positions/WPAplagiarism.pdf