Turnitin - Syllabus Info

Instructors might ask students to include a statement on their work such as the following:

"I have read, understand, and am in compliance with the Academic Honesty policy. In particular, I have not committed any kind of plagiarism. There are no unattributed direct or indirect quotations or paraphrases from printed materials, websites, other students' papers, or any other sources in my essay."

The syllabus might also state briefly that plagiarism-detection software is being used in the course to ensure academic integrity. This plagiarism software detects:

• essays patched together from the Web,
• previously submitted essays by students at institutions all over the world,
• essays purchased from commercial databases, and
• material from library subscription databases.

Relevant text from the Student Handbook might be included, along with some commentary and a link to the library's plagiarism tutorial:

ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM POLICIES:

The following statement on Academic Honesty appears in the 2002-2003 edition of the Student Handbook (p. 72):

When cheating is discovered, the faculty member may give the student an F on the work involved or in the course. If further disciplinary action is deemed appropriate, the student should be reported to the dean of students.

In addition to being a violation of academic honesty, cheating violates the code of student conduct and may be grounds for probation, suspension, and/or expulsion.
Students on disciplinary suspension may not enroll in any courses offered by The University of Southern Mississippi.

Students enrolled in online courses are expected to observe the same strict code of academic honesty required of students in the classroom.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, submitting another's work as your own, cheating on quizzes or examinations, accepting questions or answers to quizzes or exams from another person, giving questions or answers to quizzes or exams to another person, and plagiarizing in any way. Note that plagiarism of any kind will result in immediate failure of the course and the reporting of the infraction to the Dean of Students for possible further action.

Plagiarism is also explicitly defined in the Student Handbook (73-74):

A. Plagiarism is scholarly theft, and it is defined as the unacknowledged use of secondary sources. More specifically, any written or oral presentation in which the writer or speaker does not distinguish clearly between original and borrowed material constitutes plagiarism.

B. Because students, as scholars, must make frequent use of the concepts and the facts developed by other scholars, plagiarism is not the mere use of another’s facts and ideas. However, it is plagiarism when students present the work of other scholars as if it were their own work.
1. Referring to commonly known facts is not plagiarism.
2. Students may refer in their own words to generally known and widely accepted ideas or theories without fear of plagiarism as long as they do not copy the plan or organizational scheme used by another scholar.

C. Plagiarism is committed in a number of ways:
1. Reproducing another author’s writing as if it were one’s own
2. Paraphrasing another author’s work without citing the original
3. Borrowing from another author’s ideas, even though those ideas are reworded, without giving credit
4. Copying another author’s organization without giving credit.

D. Plagiarism is avoided when students give credit (footnotes or other documentation forms) to the source in the following instances:
1. When quoting directly from someone else’s writing (A direct quotation must always be enclosed in quotation marks.)
2. When paraphrasing someone else’s writing (To paraphrase means to restate a passage from someone else’s writing in one’s own words.)
3. When following the outline or structure of another author’s argument, explanation, or theory—even though the material is summarized in one’s own words

E. When in doubt about how widely known ideas are, observe these steps:
1. Ask your instructor.
2. Document the source.

F. Plagiarism is a serious offense. An act of plagiarism may lead to a failing grade on the paper and in the course, as well as sanctions that may be imposed by the student judicial system.