Plagiarism at the OU Detection and Prevention Dean Fletcher, Academic Conduct Officer, Faculty of Business and Law Mychelle Pride, Head of Student ...
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Plagiarism at the OU Detection and Prevention Dean Fletcher, Academic Conduct Officer, Faculty of Business and Law Mychelle Pride, Head of Student Experience, Faculty of Business and Law
Is it plagiarism when…?
Plagiarism is the act of
taking someone else’s
ideas or work and
presenting them as
your own.
Question 1
It is okay for a student to submit paragraphs
of one assignment s/he has written in part of
a second assignment.
True/False?
14/05/2018
Question 2
It is plagiarism if a student quotes/cites
excessively.
True/False?
14/05/2018
Question 3
It is plagiarism when a student gets a friend
or family member to answer an assignment
question because they have expertise in this
area and will get better marks than if the
student tries to do it him/herself.
True/False?
14/05/2018
Question 4
It is plagiarism when a student comes
across the answer to part of their
assignment on a website and cuts and
pastes this into their assignment.
True/False?
14/05/2018
Question 5
Scenario: When all the project work assignments from a module are run
through plagiarism software, the report reveals that seven scripts exhibit an
unusually high level of similarity compared with all other submissions. When
these scripts are carefully examined, it appears that the students have worked
on the answers as a group rather than completing them individually.
When questioned, several students say they were told to work collaboratively
on the project and so some level of similarity is to be expected.
The main problem is that the project write-up in each script has the same
structure, cites the same lines of evidence (with each student claiming this to
be their own), uses the same range of examples and contains the same errors,
omissions and misunderstandings throughout.
This is plagiarism. True/False?
14/05/2018Question 6
It is plagiarism when a student uses
someone else’s work or opinion to support
an answer, rewriting in their own words and
including in-text references.
True/False?
14/05/2018Question 7
By constructing a summary of the
information presented in several different
source materials this new piece of work
represents common knowledge and does
not need to be referenced.
True/False?
14/05/2018Question 8
Plagiarism is a(n)
a) Legal issue
b) Ethical issue
c) Moral issue
14/05/2018Question 9
I have copied this picture
from the Internet site below:
https://www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com
/speakers/
Have I plagiarised?
Who is this man?
14/05/2018Key concepts
• Plagiarism
• Auto-plagiarism
• Unintentional plagiarism
• Intentional fraud
• Intentional plagiarism
• Common knowledge
• Collusion
• Copyright
Adapted from: https://learn1.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=100043
14/05/201801 How do we detect plagiarism?
A look at our software packages and how these are
used to detect plagiarism within assignments
02 How do we deal with plagiarism?
The processes we adopt when a student is found to
have plagiarised
03 Sanctions
A look at what sanctions are available and how these
are applied
04 How do we prevent plagiarism?
The methods used to seek to ensure plagiarism does
not occur
05 Philosophical approach
A look into how plagiarism is viewed by the OU and
what messages are being conveyed
06 Questions/Discussion
An opportunity to raise any questions or queries or
discuss points raised
1401. How do we detect plagiarism? The software we use and how we use it
01. How do we detect plagiarism?
Detection and software:
• The process from assignment submission to detection of plagiarism
• The software used to detect plagiarism:
• Turnitin - carries out the equivalent of an internet search, looks for matches
between the text included in a piece of work submitted by a student with all forms of
information and resources publicly available on the internet. The main use of
Turnitin is to check for cases of direct copying, and/or not properly referencing
various types of source materials. It can also be used to compare each student’s
assignments with the module materials and other commonly used or provided
references.
• CopyCatch - which compares work submitted by one student with assignments
submitted by all other students on the module (as well as previous presentations of
the module where appropriate). The main use of CopyCatch is to check for cases of
collusion.
16Turnitin report example
17CopyCatch report example
1802. How do we deal with plagiarism? The processes we adopt when a student is found to have plagiarised
02. How do we deal with plagiarism?
The process:
Assignment run through software
Module Team Chair reviews software reports
No action taken
Referral for Study Skills session
Referral for investigation
Session arranged and recorded
ACO investigates
Letter to student requesting explanation
10 working days to respond
Decision made by ACO 2002. How do we deal with plagiarism?
The process:
• Study Skills referral:
• The MTC determines suitable for a study skills session
• The relevant Student Experience Manager notifies the tutor/student to arrange a session
• The tutor/student arrange a one hour session to improve academic practice
• No obligation for student to attend the session
• No sanction for non-attendance
• ACO referral/Investigation:
• MTC determines suitable for investigation (other avenues for referral too)
• ACO seeks explanation from student
• Student has 10 days to respond
• Determination as to sanction made by ACO
Both will appear on our records so can be taken into account for future offences
2103. Sanctions A look at what sanctions are available and how these are applied
03. Sanctions
Those available at investigation level
Code of Practice for Student Discipline sets out the cautions and penalties
• No action taken
• Study Skills referral
• Can be used on conjunction
• One to one session with a tutor
• Not mandatory to attend
• Not a disciplinary penalty but able to see it has been recorded
• Informal caution
• Offence not sufficiently serious to warrant a disciplinary or academic penalty
• Does not go on student record (but correspondence can be seen)
• Formal caution
• Remains on student record
• Disciplinary penalty
• Disallow, in part or whole, any piece of assessed work
• Award a piece of assessed work a ‘capped mark’
• Disallow all of a piece of assessed work
• Referral to the Central Disciplinary Committee
• Serious academic misconduct
• In addition to a penalty
2303. Sanctions
Application:
a. proportionate (a first offence from an inexperienced student is unlikely to command the same penalty as a repeat
offence by an experienced student);
b. consistent (regard should be given to the penalty applied to similar students in similar situations);
c. appropriate (academic penalties should only be used for academic offences, for example, penalties under Section SD
2.2 should only be used for offences under Section SD 1.2).
24Factors to consider
• Amount and type of plagiarism detected in the work
• Whether the student knew what they were doing (i.e. accidental or intentional plagiarism)
• Academic experience of university-level studies
• Previous offences
Personal mitigation - the underlying reason why some students plagiarise is frequently due to some other
personal issue that has temporarily affected their studies (e.g. work or family pressures reducing the
amount of time available to study; trying to catch up after a short period of ill-health, etc.). These reasons
do not diminish the fact that plagiarised work has been submitted for assessment and this is still not
acceptable practice.
The final penalty will not take these circumstances into account, but the student will be informed about
the appropriate route of how to make the University aware of any issues affecting their studies.
25Tariff
2604. How do we prevent plagiarism? The methods used to seek to ensure plagiarism does not occur
04. How do we prevent plagiarism?
Application:
• Online quiz
• Plagiarism Policy
• Online materials DGAP
• Animated videos
• Library services • AL engagement/TGF
• TMA submission tick box • Study Skills sessions
• Investigative sanctions
• Advice with decision letters
STUDENT RELIANT
2805. Philosophical approach A look into how plagiarism is viewed by the OU and what messages are being conveyed
05. Philosophical approach
Education vs Discipline
EDUCATION DISCIPLINE
• The ‘Open’ nature of the OU • Understanding the importance
• Developing a skill • Not giving credit for work not yours
• Retention and progression • Student accountability
• Potential implications
MESSAGING
• Prevention rather than cure?
• Active part of learning and development – module content
• Access to Turnitin
• Reasons – education issue?
30Questions/Discussion Contact details Dean.Fletcher@open.ac.uk Mychelle.Pride@open.ac.uk
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