Plagiarism and Intellectual Property

across Cultures

Joel Bloch jbloch10@gmail.com

Ivan Stefanostefano.4@osu.edu

The Ohio State University

The Relationship between plagiarism and

intercultural rhetoric

The “Otherness” of the International Student

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Involves subtle differences between what is the relationship between

imitation and creativity that can be transmitted by culture and can positively

or negatively affect L2 writing Getty Images

Creating a Pedagogy for

Teaching about Plagiarism

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The Relationship between

Intellectual Property Law and

Plagiarism

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Extend the research and get students

involved in this debate

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●Both have been used extensively to explain why International Students plagiarize.

●Both developed in response to historical changes in how authorship developed.

●Both evolved over the last 300 years in response to social, economic, and historical forces, which has lead to inevitable cultural differences as well as similarities.

●Both have evolved with local differences, often reflecting unique cultural practices.

●Both have been institutionalized in both law and practice and then “pushed” down on users, without necessarily considering local needs or customs.

●Both share metaphors that deal with often horrific criminal activities

●Both have been criticized for stifling creative and pedagogical innovation.

●Reformers in both areas have sought new practices and metaphors for framing institutional change in an international context.

This research examines the attitudes towards plagiarism and intellectual property of international students

and teachers at a large Midwestern university.

Plagiarism cases at a large Midwestern university from 2000-

2001 through 2008-2009

Source: COAM

Data on Attitudes towards students on plagiarism and intellectual property

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●Attitudes of L2 Students Towards Intellectual Property and Plagiarism

●Attitudes of Graduate Teaching Assistants towards Intellectual Property and Plagiarism

●Attitudes of Staff towards Intellectual Property and Plagiarism

●Attitudes of the Institution towards Intellectual Property and Plagiarism

What are the problems teachers and students with the issue of plagiarism?

Where are there agreements and disagreements among students and teachers?

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Data Sources• Questionnaire

– 33 questions– Undergraduate and graduate students from all levels

(n=239)

• Two focus groups– One with GTAs (new teachers)– One with staff members (course coordinators)

• An interview with the coordinator of the Committee of Academic Misconduct (COAM)

Low Degrees of Agreement among Students

• Q. 9You published a paper with a friend. Now you want to hand in the paper to another course on a similar topic. You copy a couple of paragraphs and paste into your new paper. Your professor accuses you of plagiarism. Do you agree with this decision?– No, when I write a paper, it belongs to me, and I can do whatever I want

with it. (n=89)– Yes, plagiarizing yourself is the same as plagiarizing someone else, so the

punishment is justified. (n=68)– No, you can’t plagiarize yourself, so he shouldn’t have been accused,

but it may be a violation of the rules of academic misconduct. (n=81)

Low Degrees of Agreement among Students

• Q. 25You are a writing a paper and you copy a few words from another paper. Do you think this kind of copying is considered plagiarism?

– Copying even a few words is considered plagiarism. (n=95)– Copying a few words is only plagiarism if the words are very

important. (n=61)– Copying a few words doesn’t matter. (n=82)

Low Degrees of Agreement among Students

• Q. 15In a peer discussion group, you were asked to discuss your paper with your classmates before you started writing it. One of the members of your group gave you an interesting idea. Do you need to cite the idea in your paper just as you would cite a quotation from a paper?– Yes, cite your group member’s idea just as you would cite any other source.

(n=88)– No, you don’t need to cite it since the idea was never published. (n=59)– Put a footnote thanking your group member for the idea. (n=90)

High Degrees of Agreement among Students

• Q. 16You suspect that one of your professors has taken something you wrote for a course. Is this considered plagiarism?– No, it’s not considered plagiarism since you were a student in the class.

(n=167)– Yes, it’s considered plagiarism and you can report it to the Academic

Misconduct Committee. (n=26)– It doesn’t matter. It’s considered plagiarism but you can not do anything

about it. (n=43)

High Degrees of Agreement among Students

• Q. 23You pay another student to write a research paper. What do

you think about doing this? – Paying another student doesn’t matter. Writing these papers isn’t important

to me. (n=193)– Since presidents and businessmen pay people to write for them, students can

do it too. (n=32)– Handing in a paper you bought is the same as copying a paper – you

are trying to deceive your teacher. (n=12)

Agreement between Teachers and Students

• Q. 8A student was accused of copying a paragraph from his textbook and including it in a much longer paper. He was sent to the Office of Academic Misconduct. What do you think should be the appropriate penalty?

– Since, the student copied without citing, he should be treated like any other plagiarist. (students=95)

– Since it was only a small amount, he should only be warned but not given a harsh penalty. (students=107)

– Since what is in textbooks is usually common knowledge, the student did not commit plagiarism. (students=36)

Agreement between Teachers and Students

• Q. 13In your course, you are asked to write a research paper. You are new in the field, and much of what you know is from textbooks. This information is called common knowledge. How should you handle this kind of information in your paper?– Cite it the same as it was any other kind of literature.

(students=98)– You don’t need to cite it because it is common knowledge and

belongs to everyone. (students=59)– Cite it because it makes for a stronger argument in your paper.

(students=80)

Disagreement between Teachers and Students

• Q. 4Can you also plagiarize images as well as texts?– No, plagiarism refers only to copying texts, not anything else.

(students=164)– Yes, if you use an image in a paper, you should cite it just like a text.

(students=49)– Maybe, sometimes images are cited, but sometimes they don’t need to be.

(students=26)

Disagreement between Teachers and Students

• Q. 14You find a reference to an interesting article cited in another article you are reading. You can't find a copy of the original article, but you want to cite it anyway. This is called a secondary citation. What should you do?– Cite it just as if you had read it. (students=162)– Cite it but mention the article you read it in. (students=36)– Don’t cite it unless you can find the original article to make sure you don’t

misquote it. (students=40)

Attitudes of Graduate Teaching Assistants

When asked about how plagiarism cases should be handled:– a GTA would ask senior teachers. – another GTA would rather have a meeting with the

student to see what was going on.– none of the GTAs would send the student to COAM if

the assignment was a first draft because of the nature of process writing.

Attitudes of Staff When asked about how plagiarism cases should be

handled:– One staff member would investigate if it was linguistic issue, a

problem understanding conventions, or if the student was too lazy to pay attention to conventions. But first, the goal is to educate the students

– Another staff member would confront the student and lower the grade.

– A course coordinator would encourage his/her staff to bring plagiarism cases to him/her. From there, they would negotiate together and find a way to handle them.

Attitudes of the Institution When asked about how plagiarism cases should

be handled:– If faculty suspect plagiarism and it is part of course

materials, they are encouraged to send them to the Committee of Academic Misconduct. The Committee will determine if it is indeed a plagiarism case.

– Cases seem to be underreported, but the university does not expect all cases to be reported because of limited resources.

Implications for Research

Learn more about faculty attitudes towards plagiarism

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Implications for Pedagogy

Designed a course focusing on plagiarism

Read a series of articles about plagiarism Summarize, synthesize, and argue about plagiarism

Use data for research paper Blog about Plagiarizing Grammar exercises and exams about plagiarizing.

The slides are available at

http://www.slideshare.net/cherepaha/ohiotesol-presentation-2380254