Addressing Plagiarism
Information about Academic Honesty to Include in Syllabi and Share with Your Class:
The UMass Amherst Academic Regulations (p. 7) and Code of Student Conduct (p. 28) define plagiarism as: “Knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own work in any academic exercise. This includes submitting without citation, in whole or in part, pre-written term papers of another or the research of another, including but not limited to commercial vendors who sell or distribute such materials.” The Writing Program has prepared a more-detailed explanation of plagiarism: http://www.umass.edu/writingprogram/geninfo/plagiarism.html
The Code of Student Conduct (http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/) states: “The integrity of the academic enterprise of any institution of higher education requires honesty in scholarship and research. Academic honesty is therefore required of all students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Academic dishonesty is prohibited in all programs of the University. Sanctions may be imposed on any student who has committed an act of academic dishonesty” (p. 28).”
The Code also outlines the process by which student rights are protected in academic honesty cases, which are handled through the Ombuds Office.
Include the Academic Honesty statement from the Academic Regulations 2006-2007, pp. 7-8 (approved by the Faculty Senate on April 27, 2006) (http://www.umass.edu/registrar/media/academicregs.pdf):
Intellectual honesty requires that students demonstrate their own
learning during examinations and other academic exercises, and that
other sources of information or knowledge be appropriately credited.
Scholarship depends upon the reliability of information and reference
in the work of others. Student work at the University may be analyzed
for originality of content. Such analysis may be done electronically or
by other means. Student work may also be included in a database for the
purpose of checking for possible plagiarized content in future student
submissions. No form of cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, or
facilitating dishonesty will be condoned in the University community.
Sample Paragraphs
If you plan to use the Turnitin and/or My Drop Box plagiarism detection services for all assignments in your course, include this paragraph in your syllabus and review it during the first class meeting:
As a condition of continued enrollment in this course, you agree
to submit all assignments to the Turnitin and/or My Drop Box services
for textual comparison or originality review for the detection of
possible plagiarism. All submitted assignments will be included in the
UMass Amherst dedicated databases of assignments at Turnitin and/or My
Drop Box. These databases of assignments will be used solely for the
purpose of detecting possible plagiarism during the grading process and
during this term and in the future. Students who do not submit their
papers electronically to the selected service will be required to
submit copies of the cover page and first cited page of each source
listed in the bibliography with the final paper in order to receive a
grade on the assignment.
If you plan to use the Turnitin and/or My Drop Box plagiarism detection services for selected suspect assignments, include this paragraph in your syllabus and review it during the first class meeting:
Students should be aware that suspect assignments (e.g., those
without drafts, works cited pages, or papers which make large
departures in style) will be submitted to Turnitin and/or My Drop Box
by the instructor for the purpose of detecting possible plagiarism.
Submitted assignments will be included in the UMass Amherst dedicated
databases of assignments at Turnitin and/or My Drop Box. These
databases of assignments will be used solely for the purpose of
detecting possible plagiarism during the grading process and during
this term and in the future. Students must provide an electronic copy
of their assignment to the instructor for submission to one or both of
the services when plagiarism is suspected, in order to receive a grade
on the assignment and to avoid possible sanctions.
