About plagiarism
Plagiarism is the misrepresentation of authorship. Typically, words and ideas conceived by one person are attributed to another person. Plagiarism is a form of intellectual theft or fraud, and it undermines the intellectual economy that values ideas, words, and understanding. Even when an act of plagiarism appears superficially a victimless crime, it nonetheless devalues the currency of human thought and thereby weakens society.
In the most common form of plagiarism, one author's words are inserted verbatim in the work of a second author, without quotation, acknowledgement, or attribution. But there are many other forms of plagiarism, including some that are often accepted or even encouraged by society, notably ghostwriting, speech-writing, and paraphrasing.
Plagiarism is not a black-and-white issue, because many of our ideas and words derive from those of others, and what constitutes true intellectual theft or fraud often involves some degree of subjectivity. Moreover, each context has its own rules regarding the need for accurate attribution of authorship, and those rules are not always obvious to everyone. Reasonable people may even disagree about those rules, so defining them clearly and explicitly is always a good idea.
Using WCopyfind fairly
WCopyfind finds shared wording; it doesn't decide what that wording means. Some suggestions for instructors:
- Tell students in advance that their papers may be compared with one another and with sources, and explain what counts as plagiarism in your course. Clear expectations prevent many problems.
- State the goals of each assignment. Students who understand why they're writing are less tempted to assemble papers from other people's words. (See the essay On stating the goals for assigned work.)
- Read every match yourself. Check whether matching text is quoted and cited, whether it's common phrasing, and whether two students simply used the same source.
- Give students a chance to explain. A report is evidence, not a verdict.
- Keep student work private. WCopyfind runs entirely on your computer and never uploads papers, which respects your students' privacy and avoids sending their work to third parties.
Essays
Lou Bloomfield has written several essays about plagiarism, writing, and education. Read the essays.