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LaMont Durstein was excited about his midterm research essay for History 120!  This would be his first college research essay, and it had given him the opportunity to explore various facets of his essay’s subject that he either had not previously known or for which his knowledge on the subject had been expanded. Fine beautiful, nicely written, and error-free pages, he thought, and so he submitted it. About a week passed before the essay was returned, and LaMont was devastated by what he saw at the top, written by his professor:  “I have given you a temporary F for this assignment as it has been plagiarized throughout. Please make adjustments and resubmit.” Plagiarized! How could that be?  LaMont knew he would never knowingly submit someone else’s work as his own.  But then he read the rest of the professor’s note: “You failed to give credit for your quotes and paraphrases, a must in any research. Be sure to use our resources and the PG library so you can resubmit this with correct citations.”  LaMont had made a mistake that so many students – as well as professionals – do, but not on purpose, simply by not knowing:  understanding the how and why of giving credit to authors of any work used in one’s writing.

There have been many instances in history where plagiarism was done purposely; often, it cost people jobs, promotions, and reputations.  There are many instances where we have read and heard about this with high-profile folks, such as politicians and corporate executives. One of the most infamous plagiarism cases that still has an impact today occurred in 2003. Jason Blair, a respected and on-the-rise reporter for The New York Times, was found to have plagiarized several of his stories of what was supposedly his own work. Not only did The New York Times take a big hit in credibility, but a warning shot was thrown across the bows of all corporations: be sure that any story has appropriate credit given to original sources. This has carried through to 2024.

With students, however, plagiarism on purpose is not the norm; rather, overwhelmingly it is by accident:  not knowing how to correctly cite sources (as was the case with LaMont’s essay), being rushed to “just get it in,” or guessing how to cite – and getting it wrong. Depending on the professor, students can have the opportunity to resubmit (as LaMont’s professor did), will fail an assignment or a course, or can be expelled from the school (this has been in the paper more than once from military academies, such as West Point and the Air Force Academy).

There is also “a new player” in town:  Artificial Intelligence/ChatGPT.  The two top reasons students don’t like to write are (1) the time writing takes (e.g., if I say “Let’s go to lunch” there is no need to spell “to” – the listener knows the intention is to leave Point A and arrive at Point B for lunch; but if “Let’s go to lunch” is written the author must decide if it is “to,” “too,” or “two” … and the list goes on) and (2) the large number of rules and exceptions to the rules in writing.  Why not use AI to get rid of these two hurdles?  More and more students are using this, and because of AI detection software, more and more students are being accused of plagiarism.

LaMont did not go the route of AI, however; rather, as his professor indicated, while LaMont did his own writing and included research. it could easily be mistaken for plagiarism, and if that AI detection software gave even the slightest indication AI was used this could result in a failing grade. More than that, however, LaMont’s professor made one final and most important point:  how much better to know one’s writing is one’s writing, not the result of “technologyspeak.”

So … how could LaMont be sure he would never again have that big P word pointed at him?   Using guidelines given by his professor, a  chat with a PG librarian, and a close look at his course readings, a nice “Guide to No Plagiarism” mini-pamphlet was the result:

• For every quote and every paraphrase and every piece of external information (that is not common knowledge, such as “Humans breath oxygen.”) always give proper credit in the form of an in-text citation and corresponding citation on a References page.
• Use Academic Writer: find it through Purdue Global’s Library link (login required), then go to the References tab for help in creating always correct in-text citations and References page citations through its citation builder software.
• Check Turnitin for similarity scores – if the similarity score is high but the work contains little or no research be sure nothing was accidentally copied, or if research was included, all citations were included.
• Be sure to reach out to the PG librarian for a chat; this person can be a big help in locating solid research and making sure any citations are correctly formatted.  Also, use the Writing Center: not only a great help for writing but a valuable second pair of eyes when it comes to making sure there is no accidental plagiarism.
• Visit the PG Writing Center, and check out these links to help avoid plagiarism:  AI and Writing: General Guidelines for Students (login required:  https://campus.purdueglobal.edu/article/artificial-intelligence-ai-and-writing-general-guidelines-for-students; APA Formatting and Citation  (https://campus.purdueglobal.edu/page/using-sources); Common Citations in APA Format (https://purdueglobalwriting.center/common-citations-and-references-in-apa-style/); and Understanding a Turnitin Similarity Report (https://youtu.be/RpwXp4HGIWs).  Also, under Search, at the top of the Home Page, type in Internet Research: Avoid Plagiarism.
• Don’t hesitate to reach out to the class professor for assistance in any area relating to giving correct credit – and placement of that credit – for research; never guess.

LaMont was surprised: when finished with this mini-pamphlet, he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted; he was pretty sure that he never again would have anyone point a “Shame, Shame, Plagiarism!” finger at him. When he turned in his redo of that research paper, he was convinced of this: not only did he earn an excellent grade but Professor Naismith had a note – “Perfect selection of research sources with a citation for each and a corresponding References page; each was also nicely formatted and placed.  Very nice improvement!”  LaMont knew he had kicked aside any hint of plagiarism – forever.