Webster University-Greenville Metropolitan Campus

Cheating, Plagiarism and Procedures for Handling

The most successful approach to potential problems of plagiarism and cheating is to try to prevent them.
Effective methods include:

Monitoring the administration of an exam or activity
Reiterating to the students the meaning and results of plagiarism
Insuring that testing materials are new or rearranged from previous examinations

Another effective method is to make written assignments unique and/or individualized
(e.g. an analysis of one's own workplace).

The word "plagiarism" comes from the Latin word, plagiarius, meaning "kidnapper".

Writers commit plagiarism when they do not document their sources.
There are three instances when documentation (acknowledging the source) is required:

Using another person's words or thoughts
Phrasing another person's argument as your own
Statistics and studies that the reader will want to verify particularly if arguable or questionable

There are two ways in which to document and acknowledge another person's words, ideas, or arguments:

Paraphrasing the source.
(This is particularly useful when you wish to reduce or clarify the source's information.)
Directly quoting the source.
(Use this method when the source has stated the information with such impact and clarity that there would be no better way to express it yourself.)

Documentation must be done in-text or at the end of the paper in a Works Cited, Bibliography, or Notes section.
Students should refer to the APA style guide available on the Webster University Greenville website http://www.webster.edu/greenville/apa_research_writing.htm or log on to www.apa.org.
Particular attention should be paid to the correct method for citing electronic sources such as the internet and CD-ROMs.

Instructor's should announce at the first class meeting that students who are discovered cheating or committing plagiarism will be awarded a failing grade for the course and may be subject to dismissal or further discipline.

Source: Webster University Graduate Students, September, l996.

Procedure for Dealing with Incidents of Plagiarism

Any student suspected of plagiarism should be dealt with as follows:

The instructor is to meet privately with the student to determine if the incident was intentional or due to lack of understanding of what constitutes plagiarism.
The instructor files a one- or two-paragraph report to the director or department chair that includes a summary of the incident and of the interview, plus a recommendation for appropriate action. The options may include:

Resubmission of the paper or project.
Lowering of the assignment grade or course grade to F.
Withdrawal from the course
(If the withdrawal deadline for the term has not already passed.)
Dismissal from the program.

With the exception of withdrawal from the course or dismissal from the program, the consequences proposed by the instructor are applicable if the director, academic director, or department chair and the instructor are in agreement. In this case, the vice president for academic affairs is to be notified of the decision.

When the instructor and the director, academic director or department chair are in agreement in recommending withdrawal from the course or dismissal from the program, the recommendation is forwarded to the vice president for academic affairs for endorsement and/or appropriate action.

If the director, academic director, or department chair disagrees with the instructor's recommendation, further discussion to assess alternatives is required. If the director, academic director or department chair and the instructor cannot agree, the vice president for academic affairs is asked to arbitrate.

Student may appeal the decision made at the local level to the vice president for academic affairs.
All decision at the local level must be communicated to the vice president for academic affairs.

In cases of suspected plagiarism or cheating, the instructor is urged to use good judgment and to be accurate in the assessment of the situation. The situation is to be resolved with a minimum of personal embarrassment and disruption of the class.

TURNITIN-The Plagiarism Database

We are pleased to announce that Webster has purchased as site license to www.turnitin.com based on positive feedback from faculty who participated in the free trial.

www.turnitin.com is available to all Webster University Faculty and Students who wish to check assignments and papers for originality against 1.5 billion Internet pages as well as a growing database of previously submitted student work. Within 24 hours, the www.turnitin.com website will return an Originality Report™, which consists of a copy of the paper or assignment highlighting any matching text found on the Internet with links to the original sources for comparison.

Papers are submitted electronically by pasting the papers’ text (in any recognized electronic format) into the www.turnitin.com form . Papers may be submitted by the faculty member or by students. Turnitin.com can further be customized to enable students to review their originality reports as a teaching and revision tool prior to submitting a final draft.

For Faculty

To begin using Turnitin.com, please fill out an account request form at http://library.webster.edu/turnitin.html and you will be emailed an account login and password as well as instructions for using your Turnitin.com account. (Note: Faculty who participated in the trial may continue to use their accounts.)

For a brief overview for faculty, select “Faculty Quick-Start from the following link: http://www.turnitin.com/tutorial.html

To have your students submit their own papers, you will need to complete the following steps:

1. Create class(es) (including class ID and password).
2. Create assignment(s) for each series of papers to be submitted.
3. Give your students the class ID and password (that you created previously) to have them submit their own papers.

For Students

Step 1.Go to http://www.turnitin.com, enter database, and click on "new user."
Step 2.Fill out a brief user profile and assign their own Turnitin password for their Turnitin hompage.
Step 3.From the Turnitin homepage, "join the class" using the class ID and password given by the instructor.
Step 4.Select the assignment name given by the instructor, and click on the "turnitin" icon on their Turnitin homepage and paste the text of your paper (s) (in any recognizable electronic format, e.g., Word) in the form.

Note: You may also refer to "Student Quick-Start at http://www.turnitin.com/tutorial.html for a brief overview of this process.

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