Meriam Webster on line dictionary defined to “plagiarize” as to “to steal and pass off the idea or words of another as one’s own and its usage (another’s production) without crediting the source. It also means to commit literary theft; That is, presenting as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source”. Plagiarism is also defined as “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and the thoughts of another author and representation of them as one’s original work”. (ATSU,2019).
It is important to avoid plagiarism in order to maintain academic integrity and also to make sure that one actually knows what they claimed to know. (Levine, 2019). Effort must be made to make sure that plagiarism is avoided in any of our work by making sure that we “first come with an original idea while at the same time not hesitating to use the work that is already been done by others. Adequate planning, not hesitating to take note and never to forget to cite sources when in doubt according to Turnitin, 2017” will go a long way in addressing the menace of plagiarism.
Addressing Plagiarism in Online Programmes at a Health Sciences University: A Case Study by Helen Ewing, Ade Anast and Tamara Roehling, a report of the work done by the authors to reducing the incidence of plagiarism in an online programme. They stated the prevalence of plagiarism, the causes of plagiarism and the challenges faculty had with fighting plagiarism.
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They described the software developed to combat the menace, also the procedure and the ground work adopted for the implementation of the program. They noted that through the implementation of this program, the incidence of academic offence reduced significantly. They attributed their success to the grassroot leadership style they adopted and also stated the next frontier they would like to conquer is to address cheating and falsification of data (Ewing,Anast& Roehling 2013).
I found this work very interesting in the way it was carried out and also by choosing a software with “higher successful detection rate and lower false detection rate (Ewing,Anast& Roehling 2013). The setting up of a remedial tutorial by the university writing centre and the change in the wording of the message for the first offence, really helped in changing the focus of the program from being punitive but rather helping students to develop their writing skills and also help to prevent plagiarism in my view.
Another important reason for the success they recorded was their choice of grassroot leadership approach. “May, Susskind and Shapiro,2013,” stated that nurturing grassroot leadership is as much a function of campus cortex and culture as it’s of individual motivation”. The faculty culture in the institution helped them to start the process by getting faculty involved in discussing the problem and the importance of academic integrity. The authors also contributed to getting the faculty interested by suppling the necessary data and literature to support academic integrity.
The approach was successful because focus is not to be punitive but to help students clearly develop scholarly writing skills and adapting the grassroot leadership model. I would recommend this approach for any institution to combat plagiarism.
References
- ATSU (2019), Post Professional DPT Resources: Plagiarism resources; Plagiarism. Retrieved. https://guides.atsu.edu/c.php?g=7425&p=36246
- Ewing. .H, Anast, A and Roehling T (2015), Addressing Plagiarism in Online Programmes at Health Sciences University; A Case Study. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher education, 2015. Retrieved from. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ce.2013.47A2005
- Levine J(2019), Academic Honesty and Plagiarism. HP 805 TDPT Foundation. Retrieved from; https://a8053-267108.cluster205.canvas-user-content.com/courses/8053~2294/files/8053~267108/course%20files/LM%202/Plagiarism%20Lecture%20folder/presentation_html5.html?download=1&inline=1&sf_verifier=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoiODA1MzAwMDAwMDAwMDk0MTAiLCJyb290X2FjY291bnRfaWQiOiI4MDUzMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMSIsIm9hdXRoX2hvc3QiOiJhdHN1Lmluc3RydWN0dXJlLmNvbSIsImV4cCI6MTU2MDYzMjIyMH0.JCy9Ug46LaL7Y_lx7PicCCECXUGECzKZLs3geI_YvlcSDeiVooPvTKk2i46Yy8JGV6subA2I30jf0ZsX_YBesA
- May. D., Susskind. D,and Shapiro,N (2013). Fculty Grassroots leardership in education reform; Considerations for institutional change, culture and context. Creative Education 4 (7A2);22 – 31 Retrieved. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1033612
- Merriam- Webster (1828) on line dictionary, Plagiarize. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarizing
- Turnitin (2017) Preventing Plagiarism when writing. Retrievd https://www.plagiarism.org/article/preventing-plagiarism-when-writing
