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Plagarism: Yea or Nay?


Honey Badger

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I had a group marketing project where one person was slacking. Long story short, she submitted a page of work and didn't cite anything, and I was immediately suspicious. It read like marketing material. Sure enough, a quick googling found she just copy-and-pasted from a corporate website. Because it was "copy-pasta" I didn't use any of it of course, but used a small snippet and properly cited it.

On a practical level, this is no harm as it was caught early and it won't affect the group grade. But there is the ethical dilemma of whether to turn her in. She is a foreign student, so if she's kicked out with the scarlet letter of cheating, she'll probably have to go home as no accredited college is going to want her after this. Seems like a harsh punishment, but maybe she deserves it.

I've been running through this problem all week; should I have no sympathy and just report it to the teacher, or do I give her a warning and let her off the hook?

Edit: Oops, just realized I spelled plagiarism wrong. Can't edit the title.

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She is a foreign student, so if she's kicked out with the scarlet letter of cheating, she'll probably have to go home as no accredited college is going to want her after this. Seems like a harsh punishment, but maybe she deserves it.

It is not your concern whether and how she will be disciplined. Leave that up the college judiciary system. In all honesty, even if you report it, the professor may or may not file a formal report. It's a hell of a lot of work (trust me) to do so. Nevertheless, I encourage you to inform your professor. After that, your ethical obligation ends and you can rest easy knowing you've done your part.

As far as she being a foreign student, that's neither here nor there. If she is not familiar with the standards of academy honesty, then it's either her own failing (due to language or apathy towards the issue) or it's the school and instructor's failing for not enunciating the expectations properly. In all my course syllabi, I cite the school's webpage on academy honesty and I explain it in class at the beginning.

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Thanks for the reply! I've been leaning towards the idea of telling the teacher and washing my hands of the situation. I went around polling co-workers, and got a full spectrum of opinions. It's surprising how little consensus there is in terms of whether she deserves punishment or not.

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don't be a F****** rat

take her aside and explain she can do whatever crap she wants on her own work, but when she is working in a group it could screw all of you. explain how you are doing her a big favor here.

also, since it was not turned in it's kind of your word vs her's. she can claim after she submitted it that she followed up with citing in person or whatever. bottom line is they will believe you over her but it won't be much more than a slap on the wrist and a pain in your ass to deal with.

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From what foreign culture does she hail from? Not to bring up ~* Asian cultures *~ again (and i know terraprime will know much more about this than me) but the concept of plagiarism is really different in China and Korea. It's not seen as self evident that sources have to be cited in college-level academic work - the concept is more of "sharing" ideas than of the idea as individual property. At least that's what some professors who have taught in both Korea and the US discussed in a seminar on the topic a few weeks ago here in Korea...

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LOL! I don't give a shit about poisoned cobras, but academic honesty we badgers have a storied history of doing right.

This student is from China. I'm aware that the Chinese have very different views on academic cheating and unfair business practices. Americans seem to have the higher standard, although we do screwed up stuff too.

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Although I view academic dishonesty very harshly, I agree with CH that it would be difficult to prove and might very well not amount to much. I think his approach is the best.

Regarding Addien's comments, interesting cultural difference though it may be, it doesn't matter. Someone attending an institution here is expected to abide by that institution's policies on plagiarism (and other topics). By and large, they're against it.

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The relative standards on properly citing work between China and the U.S. academia is not really germain here, since the incident took place in a U.S. institution. The student is responsible for knowing the rules and following those rules, just as the school and instructor are responsible for educating the students about these rules.

On a more personal note, I did my education from 12th grade to PhD in the U.S., so I really don't have first-hand experience with academic honesty standards in higher ed in China or elsewhere. In my own experience, I've encountered plenty of American students in my courses who need a reminder or two about plagiarism.

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Well, if it's a marketing project, you'd better advise her to at least learn how to change just enough of the original work so that you can't get in any actionable trouble over it.

Because that's exactly what most marketing jobs in the real world expect you to do.

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On a practical level, this is no harm as it was caught early and it won't affect the group grade.

Have you even talked to her about this? Did she ask why none of her work made it into the final project? There's no reason to escalate this - just tell her that sort of thing is not cool and then let it go.

Edit: Oops, just realized I spelled plagiarism wrong. Can't edit the title.

If you edit your first post, you should have the option to correct the thread title.

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Yeah, I'm not saying it excuses her plagiarism, I'm just wondering how good her advisors have been in bringing her up to speed on the differences here. I know the impetus should be on her, but sometimes you don't even know you need to know something, if that makes sense.

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I know the impetus should be on her, but sometimes you don't even know you need to know something, if that makes sense.

I get what you're saying.

I think it will be up to the professor of the course, as well as the student judiciary committee if it comes to that, to judge how culpable she is of being ignorant of the expected standards. My advice to Honey Badger as this student's teammate is to go ahead and report it, because knowledge of plagiarism taking place without reporting it can be viewed as implicit endorsement afterwards, even though Honey Badger had turned around and given proper citation at the finished product.

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Colder Hands has the truth of it. Pull them up on it, but don't drop them in it with the uni authorities

What's more likely to actually correct this behavior?

A: A talking-to from a fellow student who despite his/her objection, had finished the assignment and turned in the project in a proper way.

B: A sit-down with the course instructor being told that if this were to happen again, she will receive an automatic F for the course and be referred to the student judiciary committee?

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Well, if it's a marketing project, you'd better advise her to at least learn how to change just enough of the original work so that you can't get in any actionable trouble over it.

Because that's exactly what most marketing jobs in the real world expect you to do.

I love the Don Draper avatar as you say that. Perfect! :laugh:

For other replies, I tried editing but it gave me the body of the text but not the title.

Also, it was the only thing she submitted, and she even put her name on it. I think it was rather clear she was claiming the work as her own, as there were no citations or followup explanation.

The annoying thing is I warned her for weeks to contribute, but she waited until the last minute. Then I only needed a single page from her, but she gave me garbage instead. Couldn't use most of it.

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I think if I were you, I would hand her back the paper, and tell her exactly where she copied it from, and that her lack of effort on the group project is not appreciated. She may not care, and her lack of effort is therefore self-evident.

Then again, maybe she performed as she thought was expected, and will be baffled as to why you are handing her back her paper. Then you could be a real team player by explaining how she should have researched for this paper. She would therfore be a better team player next time.

Again, this is what I would do if I were you. I wouldn't run to the teacher, I would handle my own business.

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