Plagiarism and the Web

In “It wasn’t me, was it?” Plagiarism and the Web, article in Computers and Composition which were authored by Danielle DeVoss and Annette C. Rosati, they dealt with the definition of plagiarism to first year composition and literary students based on their shared experiences and the effects of plagiarism with regards to research and writing with using the internet. The steps involved with writing a paper includes research of the topic at hand and learning to reference the information or ideas used, this includes research that is done on the World Wide Web. This article describes stories they have either personally encountered and/or shared from their colleagues regarding plagiarism and its effects of reproduced information and the ever changes in research spaces.

Plagiarism occurs to varying degrees in practice and the lack of knowledge to commit intentional fraud was encountered by the first story where Annette approached the topic by introducing what plagiarism was and by the design of the assignments to encourage original ideas and multiple drafts. With the topic in King Lear, she discovered by curiosity that there were at least three that were verified plagiarized from the internet. She provided an opportunity to the students to meet her in her office to avoid getting into trouble, and it was at that time she realized by the 14 students who visited her, they did not have a clear understanding of what plagiarism was and that many of them feared they had done something wrong, unintentionally.

Danielle spoke about a time where she met with a student after assuming due to his prior academic experience he would be familiar with the resources in the library and he understood about what plagiarism was and its consequences. She soon realized that he only utilized the internet and the sources he cited were not credible let alone be the basis for which he should have completed his assignment. She proceeded to show him in person at the library the proper way to search databases for credibility in starting electronic research, and then checking on the credibility of the author, the manner for which they were published and being able to create the correct bibliography for a proper credible citing for academic reference.

Then the example was given about a foreign student for which English was not the first the main language spoken. Although the student had great ideas and the writing was decent, however, it lacked flow and certain academic style. The student wanting to please his teacher and not realizing it was wrong, copied a paper found on line. The student ultimately knew it was unacceptable for students to copy one’s paper in its entirety and turn it in as their own. There were two beliefs from the examples in this article, one, students adapting to the web when it comes to their research, reading and learning to write. And secondly, these first year composition and literary instructors have a key role in teaching and molding the students into this space of the World Wide Web but also to encourage them to do proper research to include validating the credibility of sources they choose to cite or reference.

Educators take plagiarism personally. They ask students for their insights but their original ideas may not be correct as in the correct intellectual shared discourse for the purpose of the writing assignment. It is difficult to conduct research on the web and some are used to cutting and pasting that it is almost natural, however, it should not be done without the acknowledgment to the original author and to merely copy and paste and turn it in as our own work. The teachers must help the students to be effective searchers of the Web and the ability to evaluate the information they find for their academic writing progression. Not only is it important for the students to learn the function of academic writing, they must also be able to be fully engaged in appropriate academic processes, such as research and writing spaces since there are temptations students face on line and the complications they face in adapting their literacy, research, and writing skills to the virtual space.