Analysis Of Plagiarism Policy

Summary of Argument

At Umass Boston, the policy on plagiarism is very cut and dry. Academic Honesty is something that should be taken very seriously. After analyzing the policy there is many things I would change. From the way things are handled when getting caught, to the reasons some things are considered plagiarism. You can not deny the fact that plagiarism is a big part in higher education. Schools everywhere have created zero-tolerance policies on plagiarism. Of course while these policies are well-intended, they actually do more to create a climate of fear among students and that, in turn, creates not a desire to play honest, but a desire to try and defeat the systems that check for plagiarism.

In short, educators have accidentally created a plagiarism war and, rather than educating their students in how to cite sources correctly have, in many cases, encouraged them to learn on their own how to better get away with plagiarism. This is creating real consequences for both the education system and for content creators outside, problems that are, in many cases, avoidable.

Efforts to prevent student cheating have always been about universities being seen to be doing something but higher education is part of the problem. Students in the academic arena have many reasons that could cause them to plagiarize parts of paper-like laziness, academic pressure, and time management. Plagiarism is a grave academic offense because copyright violation is like another form of property theft and thus deserves the penalties imposed. It is now well-known that it is easier to plagiarize than before due to internet technology.

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Argument

When it comes to the policy of academic honesty we need to make sure we are all on the same page. Most times plagiarism comes from miss citing certain things, not giving people their credit. Most professors in their syllabus violate the academic honesty policy. There should be an agreement that professors should have to do, In order to comply with the same rules, students have to follow as well. Professors do not only plagiarize when it comes to the syllabus, even taking each other’s assignments and tests. As I said before having everyone on the same page goes very far. If we as students see professors doing these types of things, we’re in no wrongdoing it as well. Therefore professors should have to go through some type of agreement, that will make sure they will not participate in these type of actions so it’s fair for both parties.

As a first-year student when entering this discourse community we are expected to know a lot about academic honesty and the ways to prevent it. However, some students may unintentionally plagiarize. Perhaps they didn’t fully comprehend what plagiarism is, or didn’t know that quotation marks were necessary, or perhaps they failed to properly cite their source each time they took away from that piece of writing. First-year students do not always have this knowledge coming from high school so in the Umass Boston it states “The university presupposes that any work submitted by a student for academic credit indicates that the work is the student’s own and complies with university policies. In cases where academic dishonesty is discovered after completion of a course or degree program, sanctions may be imposed retroactively up to and including revocation of the degree.”. As you see it assumes we are all aware of plagiarism.If one doesn’t know about academic honesty.

How should they go about pushing someone who absolutely doesn’t know? The way it should be handled and be revised in the academic honesty policy is that there should be a short mandatory online course that informs us before entering the discourse community. Having a mandatory course will leave out every questionable activity that a first-year student might come across when dealing with plagiarism. As it says in Pass It On: Revising the ‘Plagiarism is Theft’ Metaphor “One whole class period early in the term would be given over to a definition of plagiarism and a stern lecture on why it is the academic world’s equivalent of a capital offense”. Also in these cases, there will be fewer situations like that occur. Therefore any punishment after that can be the same because everyone will be aware of what is plagiarism and what is considered not.

Whenever talking with students and teachers on the topic of plagiarism, the conversation turns toward the issue of punishment. Professors and committee of faculty members feel that there is not adequate enforcement of plagiarism and that even major cases of academic dishonesty are treated fairly. Students, however, talk about a climate of fear, an environment where they feel even a mistake could cost them their academic careers. To make matters worse, the Umass Boston’s Appendix B: academic honesty is already filled with dreadful warnings about the consequences of plagiarism. But with both students and instructors struggling to come to grips, what should the punishment for plagiarism be? I would advise bringing an end to having the professor decide what plagiarism is.

It states in The Scarlet P: Plagiarism, Panopticism, and the Rhetoric of Academic Integrity “Just as some students will choose to cheat, teachers choose how to respond”. The correct way to do this is bring all suspect plagiarism to a committee of people who will determine what should be the punishment, depending on circumstances. The UMass Boston Code of Conduct policy explains the process of what will happen if one was to get caught. The process seems like it depends on the professor. If one wanted to give you a zero and leave it as is they can, but if another professor wanted to they could give you a zero and then report you. This method is not efficient. In the policy, there should be consent when it comes to the punishment process. Therefore professors would have to report everything that they assume might be plagiarism.

Furthermore UMass Boston Code of Conduct policy states “. Submitting substantially the same work to more than one course without prior approval from all instructors involved: i.e., dual or multiple submission.” Based on this violation it states that you can’t use your own paper for different subjects, which seems absurd. I believe you can’t plagiarize yourself. Plagiarism is about passing off someone else’s work as your own. Reusing work is not the same thing at all, but is a separate issue — and one that doesn’t really seem to be much of a problem once you think about it. I see why professors might have a problem with it because, in my experience, professors expect unique coursework for individual classes.It becomes a matter of coursework integrity/ethics.

To be fair, I am not saying it is flat-out wrong to reuse your assignment, but it seems a crazy thought you can’t use your own work. In the education system, there is an expectation that students must succeed and earn exceptional grades. To meet this expectation, some students are willing to use alternative methods or cheat on academic work to gain higher grades. The number of students who engaged in acts of academic dishonesty has increased exponentially. Acts of academic dishonesty can also ruin the reputations and credibility of schools. Academic dishonesty is more prevalent in education in the United States today and has negative effects on students and academic institutions. Academic dishonesty is easier to commit today due to the increased access to the Internet and advancements in technology.

Conclusion

In the UMass Boston Code of Conduct is expected to be honest at all times even when no one is watching them, but they’re all some faults in their policy. Plagiarism is wrong and the claim of ignorance on the subject is very valid when it comes to plagiarism. Therefore we have to make an effort to learn and understand plagiarism, and what are ways we can use to avoid it.

I also agree that plagiarizing is wrong because it can delay a students’ educational growth. I am aware of certain difficulties that occur in students’ lives that tempt them to plagiarize. If one is ever tempted to plagiarize, he or she should consider the fact of robbing other individuals of their original ideas.As a result of writing this, I have learned to take academic integrity very seriously after researching the repercussions of misconduct and will make note of this on my future assignments and choices in life.