Plagiarism on the professional level. Plagiarism Continued from

by ReneeTomcanin managing editor

Plagiarism is not limited to the student level. In the past year alone, many famous authors have been accused of plagiarizing passages from their books. The consequence~ of these allegations are still not clear, but it has shown the public that an author's word may not be solely their own.

The· most recent allegation of plagiarism has been made against historian Stephen Ambrose. Ambrose, author of many books including "Band of Brothers;' has been accused of taking some of the lines in his book "Wild Blue" from a work of Thomas Chiders, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, according to CNN. Ambrose mentioned Chiders in the bibliography, but not in the specific passage.

"There are something like six _or seven sentences in three or four of my books that are sentences of other writers," Ambrose said at a lecture at Maryville University on Jan. 31. He said the only thing he failed to do was place quotation marks around the statements.

Other history writers are also under suspicion. Doris Keams Goodwin has been accused of plagiarism, and David McCullough in bis recent book "John Adams" misquoted Thomas Jefferson. This does not stop at non-fiction. In 1999, Tom Stoppard, a screenwriter, was accused of stealing the idea for the Oscar-winning "Shakespeare in Love" from Faye Kellerman. Kellerman said she had written a novel similar called the "The Quality of Mercy" which has a love-lorn William Shakespeare similar to Stoppard's. However, the similarities seem to end there. In "Shakespeare in Love," the woman is used as the inspiration for "Romeo and Juliet" whereas in Kellerman's book, Shakespeare tries to solve a murder, and his lady works on freeing Jews from the Spanish Inquisition.

Cabrini graduate Chris Vesci, permissions and research coordinator at a middle-sized publishing company in Philadelphia, now deals with making sure no allegations of plagiarism are made against his company. He deals mainly with pictures, but he explained that the process of securing a permission.

Vesci said that permission is needed to print anything that appears from another source and is not yours. Most permissions are for a one time only use, and you must get it in writing. You must also tell whoever holds the permission what you intend to do with the picture or writing. Sometimes you will have to pay for permission. This can cost as much as $200 for one image, according to Vesci. page 1

There are three types of permissions, electronic, which is anything on a CD-ROM or like source, print and Internet. If you wish to use something from another medium on the Internet, you need to get a separate permission for that. If permissions are not secured, lawsuits can follow.

While a lawsuit in the Ambrose case is still not certain, the issue of plagiarism and honesty has become a hot topic. According to CNN.com, college professors have taken Ambrose off of their reading lists and are discussing plagiarism more openly with their classes. Professionals are also taking a stand. In a CNN article on Jan. 23, Anita Jones, executive director of the American Historical Association, said, "This saddens me because I've always been an advocate of historians trying to reach a public audience, and I would hope the next generation of historians will not be dissuaded."

Vesci, however, feels there is an easy way not to get caught in a lawsuit. "The best solution is not to borrow anything or at least to limit your borrowing," he said.

As it stands now, there is a form that the teacher fills out stating the student's name and the offense. That form now goes to the student to sign. The problem with the form, however, is that once the student signs the form he or she has admitted guilt to the accusation. Heiberger said _thatthey are working on re-tooling the form so that it is no longer an admission of guilt but a statement letting the student know that they have been accused of plagiarism. The student can then either accept the charges or go before a committee to contest.

Penalties for plagiarism vary from professor to professor. "The student will receive an F for plagiarizing a paper," McGuinness saicf."If the plagiarism is extensive, the student may fail the course." McGuinness does make clear that the long-term effects-of plagiarism are not damaging to the student. "It just stays on file. Other teachers do not know," McGuinness said. Heiberger agrees that a student's anonymity is important for both the teacher and the student. "I start each semester with a clean slate towards each student. I think the information should remain private." But Heiberger does believe that if the student is a chronic plagiarizer, the professor should know about it or the student should be asked to leave the college.

McGuinness thoroughly explains on the first day of class and in the syllabus that plagiarism will not be accepted. McGuinness, however, said that she comes across at least two cases of plagiarism each year. Plagiarism, though, is not always an intentional offense. "In some cases it's more stupidity than intent to deceive," Heiberger said. Heiberger also says that he strongly encourages research, just as long as the student cites the sources used. Senior Joe McCullough said, "I use other people's work for ideas, but never word for word." Senior Eric Dittler, an education major, agreed, "I use other papers for ideas. The library· has examples that are helpful for coming up with lesson plans and things." Heiberger says that if a student finds an idea he must expand on it, not paraphrase it.

The grounds for plagiarism differ from school to school. Cabrini does not incorporate an honor system, which mandates a zero tolerance policy for all wrong doings within the institution. Some honor systems require a student signature verifying that it is the student's own original work and not an act of plagiarism. McGuinness said, "An honors system would be ideal, but it can't happen overnight. It is something that would take years to initiate."

What is plagiarism? Caught? What now?

"Plagiarism is the attempt to present research, ideas and writing of another person as original work. Some guidelines for avoiding such misinterpretations are: taken from page 167 of the Student Handbook

1. All direct quotations of any length from another author must be enclosed within quotation marks and a complete citation, using any consistent and generally accepted citation method, must be given for sources.

2. All direct quotations, while not enclosed within quotation marks, must be credited to their sources by a citation method as in guideline number one.

3. In most cases, paraphrasing or changing the words of a direct quotation, while keeping the ideas without giving credit to the original author, is considered plagiarism. Merely recasting the ideas of one author into different words does not make the ideas yours.

4. The research, ideas and writing of another student is considered to be that of another author, in the same way that they would be if the other student were an established scholar in the field of question.

5. All books, periodicals and research materials are never completely accurate. Information -in one book may be contradicted in another."

"In the event of a suspected violation of the College's Academic Honesty Policy, the individual instructor will follow the procedures listed below:

1. The instructor will notify the student verbally of a suspected act of academic dishonesty, specifically the act and reasons for the charge. The instructor will also tell the student what penalty is intended for the student's action (see options below). That faculty member should assure student confidentiality in all matters pertaining to the charge and intended action.

2. The instructor will then complete the "Academic Honesty Violation Charge Form" and submit a copy to the academic affairs office and to the student involved. Faculty members may obtain copies of the "Academic Honesty Violation Charge Form" from the office of academic affairs.

3. The student has the option to present his/her position to the instructor and ultimately to an Academic Honesty Board if the student disagrees with the charge. He/she may also discuss the charge with a student ombudsperson appointed by the Students Academic Council. In any event, students will sign the "Academic Honesty Violation Charge Form" after reviewing its options to signify that they accept the prescribed penalty for the alleged offense or elect to challenge the charge.

Penalties include:

1. Assigned or test failed.

2. Course failed taken from page 141 of the Student Hand.book

3. Course failed with recommendation for suspension or expulsion."