Plagiarism has been a problem for years. However, the ease of doing research over the Internet has introduced a new set of problems to educators trying to prevent plagiarism. Not only can students buy papers online, but they're also having problems with citing these new sources.

Students from all levels of academic ability have been caught plagiarizing others work.

“We have run into continuing problems with plagiarism,” said John D. Overby, Chair of the Department of Management, Marketing and Political Science.

One group of students was caught with photocopies of another student's paper, a “floating copy” the student had given them.

Another student was given an F for not citing references in their paper. They were reportedly asked by one of their parents, “How can you NOT know this is plagiarism?”

Another problem is that plagiarism isn't always properly punished.

The Kansas City Star reported that former Piper, Kansas Biology teacher Christine Pelton flunked 28 students in one of her classes for plagiarism.

However, a few parents complained, and the school board decided to allow the students partial credit for the non-written parts of the work. Pelton left the next day, feeling that the school district didn't support her as it should have.

“I went to my class and tried to teach the kids, but they were whooping and hollering and saying, ‘We don't have to listen to you anymore,’” the Star reports Pelton as saying.

At UTM, Overby says that a few professors may look the other way when students plagiarize others. However, he also says that the majority of them take plagiarism very seriously.

“I think we should [pursue cases of plagiarism] as part of our teaching,” said Overby.

In fact, the Faculty Handbook says that preventing plagiarism is one of the duties of instructors. Part of this involves teaching students what plagiarism is.

So, what does UTM consider to be plagiarism? A summary of The Faculty Handbook's definition follows.

A student may be charged with plagiarism if they assist or are assisted by someone else during a test, turn in another student's research paper as their own, use or act as a substitute during a test, assist or are assisted in any way forbidden by their professor, don't cite references in papers, knowingly allow someone to plagiarize from them, “attempt deceitfully” to change their grade, or cause any type of disruptive behavior that infringes on the rights of others during class.

What are the penalties for plagiarism, and who determines them? These both vary with the situation.

A single student caught committing plagiarism will likely get a reduced or failing grade in the course, at the discretion of the teacher.

However, in cases where more than one student is involved, or where it involves a student not in the class (such as a student letting other students copy their paper), it may be referred to Student Affairs.

Victoria Seng of the Division of Academic Affairs, said that lately the faculty senate has been looking at the issue more closely. However, any changes they make will have to go through the full senate. Also, changes would require student input and representation, most likely though SGA.

Overby said that most cases of plagiarism involve not citing sources properly. People may not cite properly, especially when they use newer sources of information such as Web sites.

He went on to say that “there is no reason for a student to not know how to cite something.” The English department talks about citing sources in English 111 and 112.

Another good place to learn about proper citing is the Hortense Parrish Writing Center in room 209 of the Humanities. Writing Lab Assistant Mary Beard gave the following tips on avoiding plagiarism.

Direct quotes must be in quotation marks, followed by a writer’s citation. Paraphrases of another's work do not have to be in quotations, but should still be credited.

“If the student doesn't write it, then its not theirs,” said Beard. Beard recommends that, if a student isn't sure how to cite something, to drop by the Writing Center and ask. The center has a number of books on how to improve your writing, and how to cite others. Furthermore, the lab has a binder full of links to Web sites about writing and how to determine if a Web site's information