What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is the “submission or inclusion of someone else’s words, drawings, ideas, or data (including that from a website) as one’s own work without giving credit to the source” (from wit.edu website: Academic Honesty Policy).
One common example of plagiarism in student papers is copying and pasting text from the Internet sources or full-text journal articles without proper attribution. In some cases, plagiarism is not intentional and occurs because students are not familiar with the proper citation guidelines or come from the environments where such practice is acceptable (e.g. due to differences in cultural norms). However, various types of intentional academic dishonesty and misconduct are also common and may require disciplinary action.
Ways to prevent unintentional plagiarism at Wentworth
Set clear expectations for proper writing etiquette, citation guidelines and academic honesty. Provide information regarding training, resources and support available to students at Wentworth. This can be done in multiple areas, such as in the course syllabus or in Blackboard. Resources to provide may include links to or contact information for:
Success Studio
Douglass D. Schumann Library & Learning Commons
LinkedIn Learning training options (selected)
Note: LinkedIn Learning training can be embedded in Brightspace courses. Contact TLC for more information.
This video is part of a longer course on information literacy.
Unintentional plagiarism self-check
Look for the Turnitin self-check site in Brightspace. Click on the Discover link in the Navbar and then click on the tile for “Turnitin Paper Self-Check”. You’ll have an option to enroll which will allow you to use the site. The site will now be listed under Academic Resources in your My Courses widget on the home page
Turn on Turnitin for your assignment
Ways to Detect and Report Intentional Plagiarism
Using Turnitin in Brightspace
Academic honesty can be enforced by collecting writing assignments via Brightspace and enabling anti-plagiarism tools (Turnitin). This tool checks for text similarities against sources (such as websites, journal articles and previously submitted student papers) in multiple continuously updated databases. Turnitin is integrated into the Assignment workflow in Brightspace and is accessed in the evaluation and feedback section of the tool.
It is important to note that neither tool conclusively determines that plagiarism has occurred, nor does it detect all cases of plagiarism. Rather, both provide originality reports meant to assist faculty in making that determination. The tools can also serve as a deterrent – when students expect to have to submit their assignments to Turnitin, they may be less likely to submit plagiarized work.
For more information on using Turnitin, contact teach@WIT.EDU
Handling incidents of plagiarism
Unfortunately, intentional plagiarism can and does happen. At Wentworth, a set of procedures has been developed to help faculty handle incidents of plagiarism or any other violations of academic honesty. Information about this process can be found on the Academic Affairs website.