On Thu, 2 Dec 1999, pamela wrote:
> Someone mentioned high school English classes as the root of
> students' misunderstandings about quoting, paraphrasing, and plagiarism.
I can think of something else. If you examine the statements of many
universities on plagiarism, including handbooks (as I did some time
ago) you'll see that they almost never explicitly refer to the issue
of improper paraphrasing (that's the terminology I use for
almost-copying). This is despite the fact that this is probably one of
the most common types of plagiarism. They warn you always to give
credit for borrowed material, but they never tell you that it can
still be plagiarism even if the author's name is attached.
So it's no wonder students are confused. I think it's time for
universities to examine their statements on plagiarism and to make
sure that improper paraphrasing, even with the author's name attached,
is prohibited in official regulations. For example, consider our new
regulations at Bishop's University (and guess how they got there):
"Plagiarism includes...paraphrasing too closely the exact words of
the originating author".
Now it's true that students don't pay much attention to official
regulations. But I think the fact that it's not in them is an
indication that many professors themselves are unclear on the concept.
-Stephen (2nd today, and I may even have a third...forgive me)
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Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661
Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lennoxville, QC
J1M 1Z7
Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at:
http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/
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