To the Editor:
“For Students in Internet Age, No Shame in Copy and Paste” (“Cheat Sheet” series, front page, Aug. 2) illustrates the challenge of combating academic dishonesty on college campuses.
As an associate professor of history and academic integrity officer at
the New York City College of Technology, CUNY, I hear a range of
responses from students charged with dishonesty.
While it is certainly true that Wikipedia and digital file sharing have
contributed to an increase in plagiarism, academic dishonesty can also
be attributed to a broader societal “culture of cheating” that
emphasizes ends over means.
As this article makes clear, many students who know exactly what they
are doing when they plagiarize do so because they are lazy. The response
I hear most from students who have plagiarized is not having had time
to write their papers themselves. Because the reasons students
plagiarize are so various, our efforts to combat this serious problem
must also be various.
Peter Parides
Astoria, Queens, Aug. 2, 2010
To the Editor:
Your article draws attention to an increasing problem facing college
professors and administrators. In some cases, students genuinely do not
know what does and what doesn’t constitute plagiarism, but in many
instances they know exactly what they’re doing.
My approach is to distribute a plagiarism “quiz” on the first day of
class that we take and discuss together. The “quiz” is designed to make
clear what academic dishonesty is; address the reasons students
plagiarize; explain why it is a serious offense; warn students how easy
it is for them to get caught; spell out what the consequences will be if
they are found to have plagiarized; and go over the guidelines for
citing sources properly.
Although the “quiz” has not completely eliminated plagiarism in my
undergraduate courses, it does ensure that students know what it is and
what will happen if they resort to it.
John Gruesser
Union, N.J., Aug. 2, 2010
The writer is a professor of English at Kean University.
To the Editor:
Although digital technology may contribute to blurring the lines of
academic honesty, equally important may be the reluctance of colleges to
expel students for plagiarism, a violation that cuts to the core of the
academy’s mission. The prospect of expulsion would clarify matters
quickly.
Adam Clark Arcadi
Trumansburg, N.Y., Aug. 2, 2010
The writer is an associate professor of anthropology at Cornell University.
To the Editor:
Your coverage of plagiarism on campus has emphasized the uses of new
digital technologies by students and instructors. But it has not
recognized one of the most important contributors to the problem: the
use of writing assignments that promote plagiarism.
If instructors simply call for a 10-page paper to be handed in on the
last day of class, they are inviting the sort of “cut and paste”
plagiarism that has become all too common on our campuses.
But if they take the time to design more complex assignments, which
might require multiple drafts and peer review, they can circumvent this
problem. At the same time, they will do much more to enhance students’
writing skills and learning.
Instead of bemoaning the state of today’s youth or relying on anti-cheat
software, we should understand the current plagiarism problem as a sign
that we need to find ways to teach more effectively.
Mark Wilson
Charlotte, N.C., Aug. 2, 2010
The writer is an associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
To the Editor:
As a lawyer and adjunct law professor who has caught too many law school
students plagiarizing papers recently, I fully appreciate your
article’s emphasis on the legal and sociological aspects of
academic-context plagiarism. But one concern here may transcend even
intellectual property, copyright law and the Internet generation’s
concept of authorship: fraud on the professor.
The purpose of journalism and other published writing is to inform,
educate or entertain. But the purpose of student writing is very
different: demonstrating original thought and grasp of the material.
Copyright violations and the concept of author’s credit may be only a
secondary issue when a student submits a paper to an audience of just
one, with no expectation of pay.
Think about that duped professor, up late in bed grading a
well-plagiarized paper, haplessly scribbling “Great point!” or
“Trenchant analysis!” or just “Yes!” but inadvertently critiquing the
thought of some Wikipedia-page writer or author of some decades-old book
review. Our professor—whether he awards the paper an A-plus or a
B-minus (pretty much the full spectrum in today’s grade-inflationary
economy)—is a chump wasting his time evaluating the wrong person’s
ideas and crediting a thief.
Donald C. Dowling Jr.
Scarsdale, N.Y., Aug. 2, 2010
To the Editor:
To put one’s name to language crafted by others is public acknowledgment
that the perpetrator lacks all sense of pride and self-worth. Such a
thief will never know the deep pleasure, the joys, of creativity and
deserves only our pity and contempt.
Richard C. Doenges
Gainesville, Fla., Aug. 2, 2010
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 