Notes

Outline

Academic Honesty: The Legal and Ethical Use of Information

So what’s the problem? Widespread phenomenon On the increase Academic dishonesty is an ethical issue Academic dishonesty is a legal issue

Copyright…that’s just books, right? Copyright respects the authors’ or producers’ ethical and legal ownership of their work Ownership of intellectual property includes books, articles, music, movies, artwork, photographs and the Internet You must acknowledge copyrighted information when you write a research paper, create a poster, post a web site or do a presentation

Academic Dishonesty/ Plagiarism…it’s like... “lip-synching to someone else’s voice and accepting the applause and rewards for yourself” Owl Online Writing Lab. “Writing a Research Paper.” Purdue University. 2002

What counts as plagiarism/ academic dishonesty? using an essay from another course/source copying a friend’s homework or project using another person’s ideas as your own copying and pasting from an electronic encyclopedia, online database, or the Internet

What counts as plagiarism /academic dishonesty? buying a paper from the Internet or another source finding an essay in a foreign language and then using a program to translate it faking a citation direct quoting of a source without citation paraphrasing but not citing the source

Why do students plagiarize? They tell us…. I didn’t know I was plagiarizing I don’t really understand the concepts of academic honesty and plagiarism I didn’t think I could do a good job on my own I’m not confident that my research and writing skills are as developed as they should be                                     ….

"I didn’t have time" I didn’t have time I have a heavy workload at school, a part-time job, responsibilities at home I was under a lot of pressure School is very competitive and I need top marks to get into college or university I thought I could get away with it Lots of other students do

Caught! Teachers know how it is done Teachers know you and your writing style Teachers are content experts and read widely Teachers, teacher-librarians and administrators  work as a team to trace questionable information High-tech programs are available to detect plagiarism

Busted! Consequences might be… a zero dismissal from a course suspension or expulsion legal proceedings

Who gets hurt? The creator of the work Students Parents Teachers Society

Please remember... The goal of every teacher is to ensure that you develop the skills and attitudes that will make academic dishonesty a non-issue Teachers mark “process”.  They want to see a progression from the initial selection of a topic, the gathering of resources, the synthesis of information, and the transfer of learning.

Academic Honesty: Give credit where credit is due… Acknowledge your sources of ideas and information when you write a research paper, create a poster, post a web site or do a presentation

Using information in a legal and ethical way Don’t look for “short cuts”. Give yourself time Be confident in the value of your own ideas Be yourself in your writing Develop strong research and literacy skills Ask for assistance

What research and writing skills are needed ? Asking key questions Note-taking Organizing Paraphrasing Revising and editing Citing sources

Help is there for the asking Teachers and teacher-librarians School research  and essay writing guides On Your Own TDSB Student Research Guide Books       Large variety of books on writing essays. The Internet The University of Toronto Writing Centre www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html OWL at Purdue University: Avoiding Plagiarism owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/REsearchW/plag.html