Author: Joan Gajadhar

The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand

Keywords: Plagiarism, authenticity, assessment, ethics, information technology, internnet, teaching and learning, Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.

Article style and source: Moderated. Original ultiBASE publication.

Contents

• Abstract
• Introduction
• How `Free' is the Internet?
• How Common is Plagiarism on the Internet?
• Why Do Students Plagiarise?
• What are our Options
• Bibliography

Abstract

This paper examines the need to reflect on current assessment procedures, keeping in mind ethical implications of increased student use of the Internet. Its purpose is to highlight concerns, focusing in particular on plagiarism and authenticity issues. It presents several examples and options for consideration, such as case studies and scenarios.

The paper argues that these core ethical issues need addressing immediately and proactively. In order to benefit present as well as future students, it is of utmost importance to consider the impacts of information technology in designing assessments.

Introduction

As more students become inveterate users of the World Wide Web , there is real potential for advancement of learning. Billions of pages of readily accessed information are available with a choice of free and easy to use search engines. Viewed in this way, the Internet has boundless opportunities for tertiary education. However, there is a down side. How "free" is the information, and how is it being used? With the rapid increase in student usage of the Internet , there has also been commensurate rise in a new form of an old ethical problem, "cyber" or Internet plagiarism.

This core ethical issue needs addressing immediately. Educators will need to consider how students are interacting with information technology and how ethical these interactions are. Unprecedented and unparalleled access to information without consideration to its ownership or authenticity, provides ongoing concerns for society. Although the technology is new and lacks legal precedents, the fundamental moral issue is as old as Plato and Aristotle. Moreover, it is now a global issue transcending borders and boundaries. Conger and Loch put it very succinctly. "For every new technology, new situations arise." (Conger, Loch, 1996).

If a student faces an ethical dilemma, such as considering the use of someone else' s work off the Internet without acknowledgment, it is possible for them at that moment to stop or pause to consider the consequences. However once a judgment is made and an action is carried out or effected, plagiarism i.e. a crime is committed. Once a message is sent online, a sender loses ownership. Information can be altered, distributed and even attributed to someone else. The words no longer belong to the original sender. They can be replicated and kept with the original sender unaware of their existence. They can remain in 'virtual space' until they are physically deleted. Johnson argues that this goes against moral values of property and personal privacy. (Johnson, 1997) If a student uses material from the Internet without sourcing, the original owner would have little or no knowledge that an act of plagiarism has been committed. top

How `Free' is the Internet?

I was recently approached by a colleague who was puzzled by the apparent similarity of two essays. I read and compared the two papers. Paper A bore a disturbing resemblance to Paper B, which was a web page. It was apparent that the student had used the web page in an effort to pass the work off as original thinking. There was no referencing or acknowledgment as to any other source. Had the student plagiarized the information from the Internet and if so, why? The consequences of a moral judgment could in this case be profound and irrevocable. The ethical dilemma of the student had now become one for the assessors.

There were several possibilities. The student may not have realized that information freely available on the Net was not " free" but someone else's intellectual property. It is also possible that the student may have assumed that by changing a few words the essay was paraphrased and therefore did not constitute an unethical act. Then again, the student could have considered that perhaps the action was wrong, but there was a low risk of plagiarism being detected. With millions of items available on the Internet the chances of a lecturer having read and recognized the essay would be minimal and the consequences would be weighted in the student's favor.

English philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill suggest that any action should produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Although the consequences of the action are heavily weighted, the intentions or motives of the agent are not. Spinello points out that when applying utilitarianism to ethical dilemmas involving information technology one needs a definition of " happiness." He explains that in a utilitarian analysis the costs and benefits of alternatives that maximize benefits for the parties affected by the decision need to be identified. (Spinello, 1995)

A book has a physical, tangible presence, whereas the Internet is almost ephemeral. Without exception a book has a specific warning such as " all rights are reserved." Alas, this is not a prominent feature of the Internet. The student in this case admitted to using the webpage but had assumed that since it came from the Net and a few words had been changed, there was no harm in doing so.

This case illustrates what is happening globally in tertiary education. Internet plagiarism, or as it is often referred to now as "cyber cheating" or "cyber shoplifting,' is on the increase. If we do have an" ethical vacuum in cyberspace," as pointed out by Conger and Laudon, (Conger, 1995, Laudon, 1994) there is an imperative need for educators to recognize this "cybervacuum" and begin to fill it with specific policies which address this issue. Walker argues that," Student plagiarism subverts the system of course evaluation, debases qualifications and offends against academic integrity." (Walker, 1998, p. 89)

The purpose of this paper is three fold:

1. to highlight ethical concerns
2. to open debate on them and
3. to formulate assessment procedures to lessen their occurrence.

First, online plagiarism is examined using a variety of sources, including the Internet. Then to indicate the awareness of teaching staff of online plagiarism being an ethical problem in their courses, a sample survey was taken. Responses from this sampling were described and compared to other studies which have highlighted these particular concerns. Next, to provide a framework for debate on these issues, methods to control or lessen plagiarism were reviewed. Finally recommendations for designing future assessments were presented for discussion. top

How Common is Plagiarism on the Internet?

Authentic Success prices range from $4 to $16 per page depending on student choice of already written or customized research paper. All major credit cards are accepted and delivery is guaranteed within twenty four hours. A browsing student could spend just a few minutes and shop for the best service or the best price. Several offered two hour turnaround time, using Email for urgent shoppers and several offered budget prices, undercutting Authentic Success. Each ad also includes a disclaimer stating that all papers supplied through the service are meant as models or aids and any misuse of contents were not the responsibility of the providers.

Hickman maintains that online plagiarism is a growing problem. As a Yale graduate of 1997, he explains that in the space of a few years, students were able to buy papers on a variety of subjects using the Internet. Thousands of "hits" are visiting the sites each week. When he tried entering "Term papers" using a search engine, his search yielded five million matches. Although the majority turned out to be warnings of the dire consequences of using term paper sites, he did obtain a few links which led to other links which in turn offered "library like catalogs of thousands of prewritten papers." (Hickman, 1997.)

Doreen Vigue, writing for the Boston Globe, sees the explosion of web sites advertising ready made papers as making it easier for students to plagiarise and more difficult for detection. She cites one example The Evil House of Cheat which not only provides essays, reports, research papers and field study papers but free tips on how to cheat in class while taking an exam. (Vigue, 1997, http://www.boston.com/technology/nytsyn/ )

Kenny Sahr posts university essays on the World Wide Web from a base in Houston. Joe Chidley describes Sahr as an entrepreneur who, a year and a half after launching his site, `School Sucks', attracts 5,000 to 6,000 Web-surfers a day. Sahr plans to do the same in fifteen different languages in addition to English and Hebrew, which he already offers. He defends his service claiming it is not about plagiarism but providing a research tool for students. He explains that he is doing a service in catching out those educators who continue to use the same topics each year. It is, as Chidley reminds us, easier to cheat with access to the Internet. (Chidley, 1997)

And who are the perpetrators of this "crime" ? Abigail Witherspoon, a pseudonym to protect her identity, explains that she is an "academic call girl", writing term papers for students to make a living for a company she calls Tailormade. She explains that when faced with unemployment and living in a strange city, only armed with her degree, she is "like other prostitutes, very accommodating." (Witherspoon, 1995) Plagiarism and open access to the Internet is not just a case of buying from companies like Tailormade or what Vigue refers to as "unethical , high tech cheat sheets "( Vigue, ibid) but using information from it in unethical ways. A typical definition of plagiarism is the presentation or submission of work that is nearly identical to that of another person or student.

According to the guidelines from Monash University

"Plagiarism occurs when students fail to acknowledge that ideas are borrowed. Specifically it occurs when:

• phrases and passages are used verbatim without quotation marks and without a reference to the author
• an author's work is paraphrased and presented without a reference
• other student's work is copied
• items of assessment are written in conjunction with other students ( without prior permission of a relevant staff member)
• a piece of work has already been submitted or assessed in another course. " ( http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/Registrar/SMMP/Assessment/s6.html )

He then surveyed British research studies and found that the figures were very much the same. He then did a survey of academic staff in New Zealand tertiary institutions to determine awareness of plagiarism issues. It is an interesting point the universities surveyed have well-established codes of ethics and statements on plagiarism, but it is still occurring. Of note in these studies is the fact that no direct connection or increase was attributed to open access to the Internet as a factor.

Baylor School of Medicine published a table online with citations of plagiarism from 1965 to July, 1996. The table is set up in four year periods. In the four year period 1965-1969, there was one citation, by 1980-84, there were 12 citations, 1990-1994, 37 citations. In one year, 1995, there were 11 citations. In 1996 up to July there was one citation. The total from 1965- 1996 was 81 citations. The table is interesting as it shows that citations increased gradually, and then jumped from 1990 on. As the introduction of the Internet occurred in the 1980's and was popularised in 1992, one wonders if there is a correlation. (http://condor.bcm.tmc.edu./Micro-Immuno/courses/igr/citmedl.html) top

Why do students plagiarise?

In the minds of many students there is confusion about what constitutes plagiarism. In an academic debate via the Internet, an ethical scenario was presented for views and comments. In brief, the case concerned a graduate student (B)who downloaded the resume of Student A from (A's) homepage. Student B replaced all the information with his own except style, format and background. Student A brought a case of plagiarism against Student B. There was no copyright statement.

In total there were 58 responses in the debate which were almost evenly divided : 28 said "Yes, this was plagiarism", while 30 said," No, it was not plagiarism." Those who concluded it was plagiarism gave a variety of reasons for their stand: the right to privacy, no authorization to copy, private property, not asking for permission to do so. The majority of no' responses pointed to the lack of copyright of the material and the open access or nature of the web. One student's reply summed up many of the `no' responses.

"Since the Internet is open to everyone, anything that one places on the net with no copyright is fair game. Therefore anyone should be able to use any information gathered from the Internet and use it any way they see fit. " (http://ei.cs.vt.edu:8000/Public/View/CS3604DebatesFall1998/)

If plagiarism is increasing and students view it in different ways, how aware are staff at tertiary institutions regarding the issue? In particular, is there any correlation between plagiarism and an increased access to the Internet? As pointed out by Walker in his study dealing with plagiarism in universities, there has been very little research into plagiarism thus far in New Zealand. ( Walker, 1997) For this reason, ten lecturers in a tertiary institution in New Zealand were selected for a sample survey.

The participants were chosen for their use and understanding of information technology in both assessment and student support. The method chosen was interview with ten open questions. These began with generic ones on plagiarism and why students plagiarize , then to more specific ones regarding plagiarism and use of the Internet. The concluding section dealt with measures and guidelines provided by their institution and in their own courses to prevent or lessen its occurrence.

First, the lecturers were asked to explain their understanding of plagiarism. All ten concurred in their definitions, unanimously explaining that plagiarism is copying someone else 's work and passing it off as their own. Five responses added "with no acknowledgment."

Why students plagiarized brought a greater variety of replies and more discussion. As this was an open question , several responses were made by academic staff members. Laziness or avoiding work gained the highest result (70%) while a desire for a higher mark or quality of work (60 %) came very closely behind. Five instructors emphasized that in many cases students didn't realize that what they were doing was wrong. Time pressure, a coping mechanism and not being aware they could get caught were mentioned least frequently.

No respondents could think of any instances where plagiarism was acceptable, although one person said perhaps group work could be a case where cooperation, rather than plagiarism occurred. This person explained that this had happened where two students working together on a project presented identical work.

There were three major areas of response on how they thought plagiarism might happen using information from the Internet. They all pointed to easy to access information, huge amounts of information and no way to get caught with so much data available. Several points were raised here about good and not so good information, bogus information, authenticity and accuracy of information. One commented on 10,000 items added each day onto the Internet with no way to read it all, as a factor in plagiarism.

Awareness of plagiarism in their subject areas, had four unaware of any or doubtful, four aware of one or two cases, not involved with the Internet, while two of these also cited cases definitely involving the Internet. Two were noncommittal, citing the difficulty of detection. One person commented on the care which had to be taken if there was a suspected case of plagiarism.

The responses to guidelines available in the institution brought mixed responses. Most knew there were some regulations but were not clear as to the specifics of the policies. However, in the subject areas, all lecturers clearly indicated that policies were in place in their courses. These ranged from sample plagiarism cases for discussion and assessment, to information provided in course materials and news letters early in the course. These included clear instructions on how to acknowledge sources, to penalties and an honesty declaration. One lecturer suggested Listserv discussions as a deterrent.

The findings in this sample indicate that overall the staff members recognized that plagiarism existed but found it difficult to detect. In guidelines to students the major point that came across by the majority was that clarity of instructions given to students regarding plagiarism was of greatest importance. Several pointed out that one of the reasons why they believed there was not a great deal of plagiarism in their subject areas came in the nature of the assessments they used. They felt the key was in asking for application of knowledge and in the use made of case studies. One person pointed out that assessments which were skills based had less opportunity for plagiarism. Using a case study for assessment which dealt with plagiarism was pointed out as a positive deterrent. One lecturer explained that when students were asked to present their research orally, this was difficult to do if the student had not done the original research.

The conclusions from this brief survey point to a need for more in-depth research and statistics such as the Medline citations to track the incidences of online plagiarism to determine the dimensions of the problem. top

What are our options?

Educational institutions are turning to information technology to detect online plagiarism. One possibility is to use high tech programs such as Scam to track the text, scanning and looking for similarities. The system does work but the cost is fairly high, not only in dollars but indeed, as Hickman points out, these impinge on the whole idea of the Internet which is accessible, free, and shared information. He advocates a move to smaller classes and more 'old fashioned vigilance' to keep online plagiarism under control. (Hickman, 1998)

Honesty declarations and written regulations on the penalties of plagiarism are useful deterrents but real solutions lie in the nature of our assessments. Assessments which remain unchanged from one year to the next or follow the same formula can encourage online plagiarism. Vigue examines several solutions proposed by Tiane Donohue. An English Department lecturer at Northeastern University , Donohue suggests that "the best way to eliminate even the temptation to plagiarize is for professors to be more creative, assigning papers and essays that call on a student to relay personal experiences or that draw from classroom discussions." (Vigue,1997

Both Donohue and Robert Kloss, a professor of English at William Patterson College lay much of the problem of plagiarism on the assigned research paper. Kloss questions the validity of research papers in acquiring either knowledge or writing skills. He explains that although some of the research skills could be developed, the chances of plagiarism, are heightened unless carefully supervised in all stages of the process. He argues that although we encourage students 'to write up', we should be teaching them to 'write down.' He encourages short writing exercises to gain active involvement. (Kloss, 1997).

Active involvement is a key to effective learning. One of the main characteristics of online learning is its potential for interactivity. It behooves us, as educators to consider our uses of the research paper and instead look to other options such as case studies and scenarios as viable options. After all they have been advocated and used in business schools, such as Harvard, for many years, and effectively. In using these methods, individuals can be challenged with problems and situations which they could and possibly do encounter in the workplace. Students can be encouraged to use critical thinking , using material from the Internet in a constructive way. Students can be provided with the opportunity to transfer theoretical concepts and apply these in` real world situations' in a `virtual format'. And the methods can lessen plagiarism. Wilhoit points to the excellent use Brookes has made of hypothetical scenarios of situations involved with plagiarism for students to solve and discuss. (Wilhoit, 1994) Moreover, scenarios could be developed in formative assessments to involve online plagiarism.

At the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, a distance learning institution, case studies have been developed in business education. Students are asked to use theory and application of their real world experiences to demonstrate understanding. Using information from both library and the Internet is encouraged with a proviso that sources are referenced. To increase awareness of the necessity to cite sources, students in an information access course are asked to write a paragraph explaining why this is done. One of the issues which is derived from this exercise is an understanding of ethical issues in their research activities.

In interviews held with academic staff reported on earlier in this paper, a lack of plagiarism was attributed to a) students using their own experiences in their research work and b) an emphasis on the application of information in their assessed work. Janicke- Hinchcliffe, explains that if students are required to engage and apply ideas, rather than describing them, they will find it unnecessary to copy other people's work. (Janicke, 1998) If we can, for example, place an emphasis on process rather than final product this could lessen acts of plagiarism.

Robert Harris of Southern California College provides a selection of strategies which can be useful in assigning research papers. He suggests that making assignments unique and encouraging students to value the assignment will reduce the desire to plagiarism. He also finds asking students to prepare an oral presentation on their research is very useful in ensuring students do their own writing. (Harris, 1997)

On the other hand, Linda Bensel- Meyers argues that harsher punishments and assignments that prevent the possibility to cheat are not the answer. She argues that what students need to avoid plagiarism, in particular the online variety, is to lead students to take responsibility for their actions, to encourage them to consider the consequences of their own actions " Receiving an 'A' for someone else's work may make them appear successful but it will make them 'feel' on some level, a fraud." (Bensel- Meyers, 1997) Although student responsibility is an ultimate solution to the problem, it is necessary to reflect upon what and how we are assessing as a first measure.

Case studies and scenarios, could be considered in all levels of tertiary institutions as useful assessments. Computer based assessment, is another consideration. Why not use technology to assist students as well as testing their subject knowledge? We can, with the assistance of CBA create a powerful learning environment, or so we are informed by adherents. Case studies and simulations, can be delivered by floppy disk, CD Rom, online or on a student's hard drive In this way feedback is instant. It may be worth consideration.

In some cases, however, a decision is made to assign a research paper as the only viable alternative to meet course outcomes. In these instances, Wilhoit recommends requiring students submit photocopies of documented material with their final drafts. In this way they will be cautious in their referencing and discouraged to use someone else's work without attribution.. ( Wilhoit, 1994).

When dealing with online plagiarism, the clear message coming from our students is that we need to be creative in order to be supportive. Using the vast data base of the Internet can provide unparalleled opportunities for them to plagiarize but it can also be a powerful tool for learning. With features of scope, interactivity, and speed, computers are already becoming the libraries of the future. We need to ensure that they are being used in the same way as our present ones are used, as tools for research and learning.

Meyer and Scrivener suggest that for assessments to be effective in evaluating learning we need to consider two major factors, the intention and motivation of our students. Their intentions may be motivated by a desire to succeed or a fear of failure. ( Meyer, Scrivener, 1994) If students can be encouraged to use data from the Internet in ethical ways, opportunities will begin to outweigh the concerns. We can do this by making a conscious decision to provide quality in our assessments. Codes of ethics and honesty declarations may deter plagiarism, but are they solutions? Laudon suggests that there is a necessity to be open, explore options and support individuals who are facing ethical dilemmas. (Laudon, 1994)

This paper examined the issue of online plagiarism as an ongoing concern which needs immediate response from educators. Reasons for its occurrence were suggested by describing a brief survey of academic staff about online plagiarism. Several options that could be considered by educators were offered and discussed with several recommendations suggested.

Online plagiarism is a definite concern now and can only be more so in the future. The newness of the technology and its resulting ethical issues hold challenges for everyone involved in education. In the country of the Internet, where physical laws do not apply, we are going to need to be proactive in our approaches to assessment and do so ,with immediacy. This research is only a beginning into the complexities of the ethical issues which arise from new technology. We must begin to civilize cyberspace or as Barlow succinctly puts it, " Pretending that it ain't broke, won't fix it." ( Barlow, 1995, p.18) top

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