Plagiarism! What do you do?

[HigherEd7]

How would you handle a case of plagiarism? Would you give the student a "0" on the assignment or a failing grade in the course.

[Parasaurolophus]

I give the assignment a 0 and refer the case to the Academic Integrity people, who then check to see if the student has other cases. If so, they may decide to take further action and fail the student, put them on probation, etc.

Every time I do this I have to meet with the student first, however. And that's always a pain.

[arcturus]

It depends on the circumstances. As Parasaurolophus says, my university also requires me to have a meeting with the student first. After the meeting, I must file a form with the university's office of student ethics. The form includes a description of the incident, a summary of the meeting with the student, associated documentation, and a summary of the sanctions applied. I usually decide on a sanction of 0 for the assignment if it is "classic" plagiarism: copying parts of their submission from a web site. However, I have done less than this, and more than this, depending on the severity of the plagiarism. I have definitely failed students, when their actions were egregious. [side note: if it happens early enough in the semester, students sometimes try to drop the class to avoid the F on their transcript. Our office of student ethics is very good, and communicates directly with the registrar to make certain that the transcript has the appropriate grade.]

You need to meet with this student. Be open ended in the questions you ask. Let them confess.  Then decide the severity of the sanction.

[the_geneticist]

I give a 0 for the assignment.  If it's on a tiny assignment, I write a note to the student to let them know why they earned the 0 and that's as far as I go (e.g. worth less than 1% of their grade).  If it's on a major assignment, I would hope that the scaffolding built-in would prevent most cases.  But that's not always a deterrent since students can turn in lousy drafts, panic, and then plagiarize the final paper.  In that case, I'd give a 0 on the assignment and contact Academic Integrity.  If the paper is worth a large enough chunk of their course grade, it means they will fail the course anyway.

[traductio]

One of my favorite things about my university is that it has a special committee to adjudicate plagiarism cases. Essentially I pull together the materials (usually a copy of the paper, a copy of the webpage plagiarized, and a copy of my syllabus with the plagiarism policy) and submit everything to the Dean of Students, who organizes the committee. The committee then returns its response to me. I think we end up collectively being much more consistent across the board, and I find that the committee returns very fair verdicts.

[Caracal]

How would you handle a case of plagiarism? Would you give the student a "0" on the assignment or a failing grade in the course.

You need to check the rules at your school. If it isn't clear to you what the procedure is, talk to your chair, director of undergraduate studies or the appropriate dean's office. Rules vary enormously.

[mamselle]

Sadly, I can't seem to access the old Forum at the moment, or I'd be linking to the recount of the wonderful "Black Binders of Doom" that Anthroid put together for such an occasion.

That was a major hearing because the student appealed (and lost) after two hearings, as I recall.

M.

[writingprof]

The plagiarism paperwork at my school is now so punitive (for the professor) that I try very hard not to catch any.  I am not alone.

[ergative]

One of my favorite things about my university is that it has a special committee to adjudicate plagiarism cases. Essentially I pull together the materials (usually a copy of the paper, a copy of the webpage plagiarized, and a copy of my syllabus with the plagiarism policy) and submit everything to the Dean of Students, who organizes the committee. The committee then returns its response to me. I think we end up collectively being much more consistent across the board, and I find that the committee returns very fair verdicts.

My university has a similar policy. It's a pain, but once I've filled out the paperwork I send it off to our academic integrity person, and she is pretty ruthless under her smiley bubbly exterior.---including to me! You should see the smack-down she delivers when I fill out the forms wrong. She meets with the students and assigns penalties, and I usually agree with their severity.

[writingprof]

She is pretty ruthless under her smiley bubbly exterior.---including to me! You should see the smack-down she delivers when I fill out the forms wrong.

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but these academic staff types become academic staff precisely for that reason: to force their betters into punitive paperwork situations. Similarly, there is someone on each of our campuses for whom the opportunity to take professors' temperatures before allowing them in the building represents a dream come true.

[jerseyjay]

Every semester I (and probably every other history professor) has at least one case of plagiarism. How I handle it depends on several variables, including my mood at the time.

What type of plagiarism is it? Was it on purpose or was it due to not being able to follow citation standards? Is it on a small assignment or the senior research thesis? Was it the first time the student plagiarized in the class or is it a repeated problem? Is this an introductory class or an upper-level class for majors?

I tell my students that plagiarism is plagiarism regardless of intent. However, in practice, I treat a student who paraphrases the textbook without citation in a discussion thread on Blackboard in an introductory class differently than a student who blatantly copy and pasted their entire term paper for an upper-level class.

I will usually put something in my syllabus that plagiarism can result in anything from failing the assignment to failing the class to being reported for university discipline.

Most students usually stop plagiarizing after being caught out once--sometimes with profuse apologies about time pressure--sometimes with defiance about "I learned it from the book so I wrote it like the book". Usually I will just fail them for the relevant assignment.

I have had some students continue plagiarizing, including in exams and assignments. If this happens I will fail them in the class.

I tend to not escalate beyond that because, to be honest, I don't have the time or the inclination to involve myself in a process that seems to be designed to discourage professors from engaging in it.

I also tend not to become obsessed with students' plagiarism. If I can catch it and prove that a student is plagiarizing, I will take action. I do not go out of my way to hunt down every case of plagiarism.

[downer]

First you should be aware of your own college's policy regarding plagiarism. It may be simple to follow that.

But as others have mentioned, following it can be onerous for you.

You should strongly discourage plagiarism with your policies in the syllabus and your statements to the class. If you do find a case that you really don't want to let it go, then without violating any student privacy you should aim to inspire horror in other potential plagiarists with your treatment of the student.

But often it is not worth it. Those who plagiarise will often find ways to fail themselves whatever actions you take. Often the plagiarized work is still weak because it does not do what you asked students to do, and you can fail the student anyway.

Sometimes I don't make direct accusations of plagiarism, but I send out reminders to the whole class about plagiarism policy and give a plagiarist a chance to redo the work.

It also depends on the student population and the particular student. You need to work out what works best for you. Experiment a little.

[ergative]

She is pretty ruthless under her smiley bubbly exterior.---including to me! You should see the smack-down she delivers when I fill out the forms wrong.

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but these academic staff types become academic staff precisely for that reason: to force their betters into punitive paperwork situations. Similarly, there is someone on each of our campuses for whom the opportunity to take professors' temperatures before allowing them in the building represents a dream come true.

Whoa--yikes, 'their betters'? Good grief. First of all, ick. Second of all, she's academic staff herself. Third of all, she outranks me.

[writingprof]

Whoa--yikes, 'their betters'? Good grief. First of all, ick.

Oh, give me a break. From Merriam-Webster: "Better, n., a superior, especially in merit or rank." Not every piece of diction is moral commentary.

Second of all, she's academic staff herself.

Yes, obviously so. My point was to extrapolate a general principle about academic staff from the behavior of the specific academic staffperson whom you mentioned.

Third of all, she outranks me.

How intriguing that you both oppose hierarchies (as in your horror at my use of "betters") and appeal to them when needed.