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An important component of
the library's mission is to promote and develop information and
research skills in Cerritos College students. Information
competency, also known as information literacy, is a key factor to
keep in mind when approaching the subject of plagiarism among college
students. By making sure Cerritos College students are information
competent in today's online world faculty will help promote academic
integrity and fight plagiarism.
"Information competency is the ability to find,
evaluate, use, and communicate information in all its various formats.
It combines aspects of library literacy, research methods and
technological literacy. Information competency includes consideration of
the ethical and legal implications of information and requires the
application of both critical thinking and communication skills."
from
Information Competency in the California Community Colleges
http://www.academicsenate.cc.ca.us/Publications/Papers/Info_competency.html
The Cerritos College librarians work with classroom
faculty to help students develop the information skills that are essential in
college and beyond. The research process is a brand new concept to
most incoming freshmen. Even the most web-savvy students need to be
made aware of the various types and formats of information and how to
use information resources fairly and honestly in an academic setting.
Preventing
Plagiarism Through Library Focused Assignments
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Assign and/or approve topic.
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Make sure the topic is neither too broad nor too narrow.
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Check with the librarians to see if the topic can be
easily researched using Cerritos College Library resources.
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Structure your assignments so that they
include the use of sources that can be found in the library or on
the internet via the library's home page. This includes
books, journal, magazine, and newspaper articles (both in print and
online), and internet sites.
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Require that students use a certain number of each
type of source. (e.g. one book, one newspaper article,
two academic journal articles, one popular magazine article, one web
site).
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Refer students to the Research Guides on the
library home page. These guides outline the research process and
list books, online resources, and web sites for a wide variety of topics
and subjects. There are also guides on documentation of research and
proper citation formats.
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Have students hand in assignments in
stages and have them include their source
lists, working bibliographies, and even copies of articles, web pages, and
book chapters they'll be using.
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Require references and a bibliography in the final
paper and ask students to briefly summarize their research process as
well.
Preventing
Plagiarism Through Library Instruction
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Librarians can play an important role in plagiarism prevention by
introducing students to the information resources available
through the library.
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The online catalog, subscription databases, and
subject specific research guides provide students with a starting point
for their projects and papers.
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Schedule a one-hour library instruction
session in which a librarian will introduce the students to the concept of
academic research.
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Librarians
explain how to select and use appropriate sources, whether housed
in the library or available on the web.
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Search strategies and handy searching tips are demonstrated in the
different databases.
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Librarians emphasize the importance of evaluating internet web
sites.
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Librarians explain the importance of maintaining source
lists, citing references, and creating proper documentation using
standard
citation styles.
Tips for Recognizing Plagiarism
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Advanced language or vocabulary
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Lack of quotations
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Anachronisms
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Unrelated sentences or paragraphs
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Mixed citation styles
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Mixed or unusual format or layout
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Suspicious bibliography
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Paper sounds familiar
Plagiarism Detection
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If you suspect a student has plagiarized, ask him or
her to summarize the process they followed as well as their findings.
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If a bibliography is present in the student paper,
request copies of cited web sites and articles. Request call numbers
of cited books.
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If the student can't provide these things, ask a
librarian for help gathering this information. While the librarians
can't tell you if a student has ever checked out a particular book we can
tell you if we own it and where it's located.
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Librarians can also assist you by confirming citations
and searching online for passages you feel might have
been plagiarized.
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There are many fee-based plagiarism detection services
and software packages. Cerritos College does not subscribe to any of these services
at this point but many are available for individual subscription.
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Search paper mill websites
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If you want to locate original documents that you
suspect were used but not properly cited, try searching for an uncommon,
uncharacteristic, or jargon-filled phrase in one of the following:
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The library's subscription databases
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Search engines such as Google, Ask Jeeves, Yahoo,
Altavista, About.com, Hotbot
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Amazon.com Search Inside the Book
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Look for free essays and research papers on the web
Books On Plagiarism Available in
The Cerritos College Library
"Combating Plagiarism." The CQ Researcher.
19 Sep 2003. Vol. 13, No. 32.
Harris,
Robert A. Using sources effectively: strengthening your writing and
avoiding plagiarism. Los
Angeles: Pyrczak, 2002. (REF LB2369 .H37 2002/LB2369 .H37 2002 ReserveRm)
Lathrop, Ann.
Student cheating and plagiarism in the Internet era: a wake-up call.
Englewood: Libraries Unlimited, 2000. (LB3609 .L28 2000)
Mallon, Thomas.
Stolen words: forays into the origins and ravages of plagiarism. New
York: Ticknor & Fields, 1989. (PN167 .M28 1989)
Perspectives
on plagiarism and intellectual property in a postmodern world. Albany:
State University of New York, 1999. (PN167 .P47 1999)
Teaching the
research paper: from theory to practice, from research to writing.
Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1995. (PE1404 .T397 1995)
Articles On
Plagiarism
Search EbscoHost
MasterFile Premier for articles on plagiarism and cyber-plagiarism.
Suggested search terms: plagiarism;
plagiarism and college; plagiarism and "community college"; cyberplagiarism or "cyber plagiarism"; cheating and college; "academic
dishonesty"
Web Sites
There are many web sites dedicated to stopping, detecting, and teaching
students about plagiarism. Unfortunately, there are almost an
equal number of web sites dedicated to selling research papers and essays.
A very small number of these sites are listed here. To get more, use
you favorite search engine.
General Interest
Avoiding Plagiarism - Purdue University Online Writing Lab
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_plagiar.html
Plagiarized dot com - The Instructor's Guide to Internet Plagiarism
http://www.plagiarized.com/index.shtml
Plagiarism and How to Avoid It by David Gardner
An interactive guide and lesson for students
http://ec.hku.hk/plagiarism/introduction.htm
Plagiarism and Intellectual Honest - Dalhousie University
http://plagiarism.dal.ca/
Plagiarism Workshop - Northern Valley Regional High School
http://mail.nvnet.org/~cooper_j/plagiarism/
Preventing and Detecting Plagiarism - Millikin University
http://www.millikin.edu/staley/plagiarism.html
Synthesis: Using the Work of Others - University of Maine at
Farmington Writing Center
http://www.umf.maine.edu/~library/plagiarism/
Northwest Missouri State University Library - Faculty Plagiarism
Pages
http://www.nwmissouri.edu/library/services/facplag.htm
University of Alberta Libraries - Guide to Plagiarism
http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/plagiarism/
University of Mississippi - Library Instruction - Plagiarism Guide
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/general_library/files/bi/plagiarism.html
Fee-Based Detection Programs and
Software
TurnItIn
http://turnitin.com
Glatt Plagiarism Services
http://plagiarism.com
Essay Verification Engine (EVE2)
http://canexus.com/eve
A Paper Mills
BigNerds.com
http://www.bignerds.com/
Brainia
http://www.brainia.com/
Essay Swap
http://www.essayswap.com
Find Free Essays.com
http://www.findfreeessays.com/
Online Essays.com
http://www.onlineessays.com/
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