Educational Technologies at Missouri
A division of the Office of the Provost
Academic Honesty Recommendations and Resources
Ten Practical Ways to Encourage Academic Honesty
- Show that you care about academic honesty. If your college or department does not promote an honor code, consider creating one for your course.
- Include information in your syllabus about intellectual property and academic honesty. Go over that information with the class.
- Provide online resources that further explain the details (and examples) of plagiarism and adhering to copyright law. This is sometimes more meaningful at the time of the assignment.
- Be a role model. Point out how you provide attributions for sources.
- Explain where and how you obtained your own online resources or examples.
- Exemplify and discuss ways to cite resources.
- Discuss the libraries’ role in helping access electronic reference materials.
- Prepare your TAs to be role models, and to know how to detect plagiarism in grading.
- Discuss the negative impact of online “paper mills” that allow students to purchase work instead of creating their own.
- Indicate that you utilize search engines or software to detect plagiarism.
MU Resources
These MU sites provide references for citation styles, MU’s description of plagiarism and the process faculty should follow, as well as links to topics related to academic honesty.
- MU Academic Integrity – http://academicintegrity.missouri.edu
- Citing Sources, University of Missouri Libraries - http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/guides/citationguides/default.htm
- Faculty Handbook: Academic Integrity, MU Faculty Council - http://facultycouncil.missouri.edu/handbook/article-6.html
- Plagiarism resources, University of Missouri Libraries - http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/distance/internet.html
General Resources
These sites are a select sample of relevant published articles, resources to assist faculty, and recommended techniques for encouraging academic honesty. If you have limited time to read, our recommendation is the 24 page article “Combating Plagiarism” in CQ Researcher, published by Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
- Avoiding Plagiarism, OWL Online Writing, Lab, Purdue University - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html
- Rutgers University - http://library.camden.rutgers.edu/EducationalModule/Plagiarism
- Halls of Justice, Teachopolis, a Virtual City for Teachers - http://teachopolis.org/justice/justice.htm
- Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices, Council of Writing Program Administrators - http://www.wpacouncil.org/node/9
- Owens Library Guide to Diagnosing Plagiarism, Northwest Missouri State University – http://www.nwmissouri.edu/library/services/plagiarism.htm
- Plagiarism and the Web, Western Illinois University - http://www.wiu.edu/users/mfbhl/wiu/plagiarism.htm
- Sites for Copyright, Citing Resources, and Plagiarism - http://www.rcas.org/websites/copyright.htm
- Strategies for Reading Comprehension - RAFT Papers - http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/readquest/strat/raft.html This resource was cited in a workshop on developing plagiarism-resistant assignments.
- Student Plagiarism in an Online World, by Julie J.C.H. Ryan, ASEE Prism Magazine - December 1998 - http://www.prism-magazine.org/december/html/student_plagiarism_in_an_onlin.htm
Search Engines
The following is a list of powerful search engines and meta-search engines. Instructors find that they are a quick, inexpensive first-level approach for detecting plagiarism. Be sure to use advanced searches (when applicable) to ensure the most accurate results.
- Google - http://www.google.com
- AltaVista - http://www.altavista.com
- Yahoo! - http://www.yahoo.com
- Mamma – http://www.mamma.com (meta search engine)
- KartOO – http://www.kartoo.com (meta search engine with visual display interface)
Detection Software
MU now supports SafeAssign as part of Blackboard. SafeAssign flags text copied from the Internet, journals (via the ProQuest ABI/Inform database), or other papers. For documentation, caveats, or usage suggestions, see: https://courses.missouri.edu/faculty/blackboard/safeassign.
Other detection software is available and marketed to instructors, but there may be FERPA or student copyright issues with some packages. Most of these packages require funding for licensing, either by individuals or by institutions.
Free
- MOSS - http://theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss (for computer programming language, free)
- JPlag - http://www.jplag.de (programming plagiarism, free)
Fee
- EVE 2 (Essay Verification Engine 2) – http://www.canexus.com/eve
- Glatt Plagiarism Services - http://www.plagiarism.com
- MyDropBox - http://www.mydropbox.com
- TurnItIn – http://www.turnitin.com/static/home.html (Not approved for MU use)
- Copy Catch - http://www.copycatchgold.com/index.html (30-day free demo)
Paper Mill Sites and Discussions
- Cheating 101: Internet Paper Mills, Kimbel Library, Coastal Carolina University - http://www.coastal.edu/library/presentations/mills2.html (A resource of 250 paper mill sites and is updated every 6 months.)
- The Plagiarism Resource Site, Charlottesville, Virginia – http://www.plagiarism.phys.virginia.edu/links.html (Provides some interesting information relating to paper mill sites and detection software.)
