A Study of Electronic Detection and Pedagogical Approaches for Reducing Plagiarism.

Abstract Plagiarism is an increasing problem in high schools and universities. To address the issue of how to teach students not to plagiarize, this study examined several pedagogical approaches for reducing plagiarism and the use of Turnitin, an online plagiarism detection software. The study found a significant difference between the control group and one instructional treatment group that was reflected in the reduced level of plagiarized text. This finding indicates that the lack of knowledge in proper documentation and paraphrasing is a primary reason why some students plagiarize, albeit perhaps inadvertently. Implications point to the need for consistent in-depth instruction in proper quotation, citation, and paraphrasing techniques. Keywords: plagiarism, pedagogy, paraphrasing, documentation, Turnitin Introduction Studies on various forms of academic dishonesty such as cheating on examinations and plagiarism have appeared in academic journals for over 60 years. The rates of student cheating reported in these studies ranged from 23% in 1941 as reported by Drake to 59% in 1964 (Hetherington & Feldman) to 76% in 1992 (Davis, Grover, Becker, & McGregor). Similar to cheating, plagiarism is a growing problem. According to a 1999 Center for Academic Integrity survey that included over 12,000 students on 48 different college campuses, 10% of the students admitted to using other people's ideas and words without proper citation (McCabe, Trevino, & Butterfield, 2001). In a later study (McCabe, 2005), 40% of the students surveyed admitted to plagiarism. Research has shown that plagiarism in the form of copying text from electronic documents available through the Internet and other electronic sources is an increasing problem in universities as well as high schools (Larkham & Manns, 2002; McCabe, Trevino & Butterfield, 2001). The rising trend of plagiarism has been attributed to several factors. With high speed Internet available in dormitories and computer labs, students can use search engines easily to find relevant electronic sources from which they plagiarize. Internet sites that proffer complete manuscripts on a wide variety of topics - over 100 such sites at last count according to TechTrends magazine (Talab, 2004) - make obtaining entire assignment papers as easy as copying and pasting. While some of these sites charge for downloaded material, others do not. In addition to using entire papers or portions of papers from these "paper mill" Websites, students also use other sites on the Internet. Many universities provide students access to innumerable electronic journal, newspaper, and magazine articles and other documents through the use of databases. Powerful databases such as ProQuest, EBSCOhost, LexisNexis and others offer full-text articles on all topics of interest. While reputable use of these electronic documents is expected, text from these resources can easily be cut and pasted and presented in a student's paper as his or her own work. While the widely available and easily accessible electronic information sources may have facilitated plagiarism, students' attitude toward cheating is another contributing factor. In the Center for Academic Integrity survey (McCabe, 2005), 68% of the students surveyed believed using someone else's ideas, words, or sentences without acknowledging was not a serious problem. Pressure to obtain and keep good grades and stiff competition for admission into college and for jobs were reasons students often give for cheating (Fanning, 2005; Maramark & Maline, 1993). Furthermore, students' indifference toward academic integrity and the prevalent culture of cheating could be a reflection of the "broader sociopolitical context of corporate fraud" and the "underlying cultural nod toward getting ahead while getting away with unethical behavior" (Robin son-Zanartu, Pena, CookMorales, Pena, Afshani, & Nguyen, 2005, p. 320). Besides student attitude, the lack of consistent enforcement of academic honesty policy by faculty members and university administration may have fostered a culture of cheating. …