World History
When is using your own words plagiarism? Technically, it never is. Dictionary.com defines is as, ?the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.?
You can define plagiarism in many ways. However, the essence of plagiarism is using the words or ideas of another person and claiming them as you own. As such, anyone using their own words multiple times (regardless of how they cite it) is not really guilty of plagiarism.
Many scholars write dissertations. They often ?recycle? this writing into a book and multiple articles. The ?smallest publishable pieces? technique often results in the award of tenure to many academics. As we all know, this often is the only contributions to scholarship that some of our colleagues make.
Is this intellectually dishonest? Most of us would agree it is not. If you are using your own previous work, it is OK to build upon it and use your own previous writing in the process.
Why then do we hold undergraduate students to a different standard? Many institutions of higher education (and some secondary schools as well), consider the recycled works of undergraduate students as plagiarism.
Consider how The Australian National University treats recycled work. It says recycling ?is the submission for assessment of work which, wholly or in large part, has been previously presented by the same student for another assessment, either at the Australian National University or elsewhere. In some cases, lecturers will specifically allow this practice. If no specific provision to the contrary is made, submission of work for assessment a second or subsequent time constitutes a breach of this Code.? I wonder if any Australian National University faculty have ever recycled their work in their scholarly endeavors?
Looking at hundreds of plagiarism codes around the world, you are likely to see something similar expressed. Undergraduates are expected to never use their own words a second time. Considering what the definition of plagiarism is, and how scholars often use their own prior work, this seems hypocritical.
I gave my institutions definition of plagiarism to undergraduate students to a class this spring. One of the students immediately challenged me. He said, ?If it is my work, I own it. I have automatic copyright to it and I can use it however I like. How dare this university accuse me of cheating when I wrote it in the first place??
This really got my mind working. Indeed, why is this considered plagiarism based on an honor code?
Good assignments can discourage recycled work. If instructors do not want recycled work, they can give assignments which do not lend themselves to recycling. Do not assign work that asks students to write about broad topics like abortion or global warming. Instead, ask students to write about these topics more specifically. Ask instead, how has abortion impacted your home town? Or, how might global warming impact the economy of the state you live in?
If the undergraduate can reuse the work they have used previously, more power to them. It is their work, good for them. They can use it however they please. Good and original writing assignments will minimize recycling but this will still happen sometimes.
I have some concerns about automated plagiarism detection systems. Since sites such as Turnitin.Com anonymously record the writing of students, they could easily provide a false positive. A student using a few paragraphs from an essay they wrote in the spring could be falsely accused of plagiarism from recycling some of his/her own work from the last semester. Is this really plagiarism?
Those of us in higher education need to rethink this issue. If we as scholars can recycle our work, why can?t our undergraduate students? After all, it is their work.
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World History
Recycling and Plagiarism
When is using your own words plagiarism? Technically, it never is. Dictionary.com defines is as, ?the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.?
You can define plagiarism in many ways. However, the essence of plagiarism is using the words or ideas of another person and claiming them as you own. As such, anyone using their own words multiple times (regardless of how they cite it) is not really guilty of plagiarism.
Many scholars write dissertations. They often ?recycle? this writing into a book and multiple articles. The ?smallest publishable pieces? technique often results in the award of tenure to many academics. As we all know, this often is the only contributions to scholarship that some of our colleagues make.
Is this intellectually dishonest? Most of us would agree it is not. If you are using your own previous work, it is OK to build upon it and use your own previous writing in the process.
Why then do we hold undergraduate students to a different standard? Many institutions of higher education (and some secondary schools as well), consider the recycled works of undergraduate students as plagiarism.
Consider how The Australian National University treats recycled work. It says recycling ?is the submission for assessment of work which, wholly or in large part, has been previously presented by the same student for another assessment, either at the Australian National University or elsewhere. In some cases, lecturers will specifically allow this practice. If no specific provision to the contrary is made, submission of work for assessment a second or subsequent time constitutes a breach of this Code.? I wonder if any Australian National University faculty have ever recycled their work in their scholarly endeavors?
Looking at hundreds of plagiarism codes around the world, you are likely to see something similar expressed. Undergraduates are expected to never use their own words a second time. Considering what the definition of plagiarism is, and how scholars often use their own prior work, this seems hypocritical.
I gave my institutions definition of plagiarism to undergraduate students to a class this spring. One of the students immediately challenged me. He said, ?If it is my work, I own it. I have automatic copyright to it and I can use it however I like. How dare this university accuse me of cheating when I wrote it in the first place??
This really got my mind working. Indeed, why is this considered plagiarism based on an honor code?
Good assignments can discourage recycled work. If instructors do not want recycled work, they can give assignments which do not lend themselves to recycling. Do not assign work that asks students to write about broad topics like abortion or global warming. Instead, ask students to write about these topics more specifically. Ask instead, how has abortion impacted your home town? Or, how might global warming impact the economy of the state you live in?
If the undergraduate can reuse the work they have used previously, more power to them. It is their work, good for them. They can use it however they please. Good and original writing assignments will minimize recycling but this will still happen sometimes.
I have some concerns about automated plagiarism detection systems. Since sites such as Turnitin.Com anonymously record the writing of students, they could easily provide a false positive. A student using a few paragraphs from an essay they wrote in the spring could be falsely accused of plagiarism from recycling some of his/her own work from the last semester. Is this really plagiarism?
Those of us in higher education need to rethink this issue. If we as scholars can recycle our work, why can?t our undergraduate students? After all, it is their work.
- Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia And The Future Of The Past
Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past. This article is from the Journal of American History, Volume 93, Number 1 (June, 2006): 117-46. It was written by Roy Rosenzweig. Obviously, this article deals with the coverage of history...
- Cfp: Teaching History
CFP: Teaching History. This is a call for papers that relate to the teaching history from Academic Exchange Quarterly. From the site: Focus: We welcome manuscripts on teaching any historical subject, time period, or region. Here are some questions...
- How To Teach Writing With The Help Of Technology
Ironically, at the same time one of my classes is starting to write a research paper, I received an email from Robert Morris asking if he could write a post for my blog. His write-up is so useful I am putting it up in its entirety. ...
- Catching Cheating Using Technology
I like to think that when I teach I am embarking on an adventure with my students, but kids are kids and there are lots of pressures they feel from trying to impress their friends, pleasing their parents and, in some cases, not even being aware of cheating...
- Cheating Using Technology
Normally I like to assume the best from my students, but I know they are not perfect. Some would say that is reason enough to not use anything other than paper, but I see enough kids in the halls copying each other's paper assignments or using...