How Do You Handle Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is a plain and simple method of taking the words or work of others without giving proper credit. When a student uses the work of another without citing, is the use intentional or can it be due to misteaching? Do you award a zero for the grade or bestow the opportunity for a learning experience? There are instructors who give no credit for the work. A zero on a paper worth 100-200 points can easily impact a grade.

When I discover potentially plagiarized content, I spend a lot of time verifying the suspected content to the original work. I pay attention to punctuation, spelling, sentence arrangement etc. to determine if the content was lifted by copying/pasting. I look for the lack of quotation marks, higher level verbiage than expected, different color font [pasted content tends to show up lighter in color] and inconsistent paragraphs that surround the plagiarized piece.

Once identified, I send an email to the student professionally addressing the seriousness of the issue of using another person's work without citing properly. I grade the paper from zero to partial credit. Depending upon the response of the student will determine the direction of the next step. It has been my experience that the student will be willing to make corrections in their paper by adding the appropriate citations, quotation marks and sentence structuring such as Thio (2010) states, "Deviance is seen as ..." I am more in favor of a student learning from their mistakes than the situation turning into a now win situation. After all, convicted criminals receive more than a single chance to do things in life the right way.

It is most important that you do contact your Chair alerting him/her of the situation so that they can become involved as needed. Also, if the student has a history of plagiarizing, talking to your Chair can be helpful of finding an alternative way of handling the student. There are times when a tougher form of punishment is warranted such as academic suspension or expulsion, and you will need fully informed support who understands the issue at hand.

Remember to always remain in control, respectful, professional, and fair. Using email for communication to address the problem provides a way to document the exchange between the student and instructor rather than personal phone calls. Listen to the student. It is not unusual for a student to not use quotes and only list the references in a *Works Cited* page thinking this is the appropriate way to use citations. It might help to upload a sample template into your classroom to show what format you expect to be followed for writing assignments and citing references. This leaves little room for *misunderstandings.*