King’s pushing dialogue, not expulsion on plagiarism

However, one student says more discussion of the issue is still needed

14 FYP students were accused of plagiarizing last year with over half found guilty. Photo: Andrew Miller

Academic integrity officers at the University of King's College and Dalhousie University say continuing education is the key this year following a high-profile case of plagiarism at King's 10 months ago.

There is a fine line between a plagiarized idea and common knowledge. According to Stephen Kimber, a past King's academic integrity officer, some past students that were caught plagiarizing were particularly confused about attribution for websites such as Wikipedia.

King's faculty alleged 14 Foundation Year Program students committed plagiarism in December 2010; the plagiarism charges involved an essay with information that had been copied and pasted from Wikipedia. Over half were found guilty, losing some or all marks. No one was expelled.

Bob Mann, the manager of discipline and appeals at Dalhousie, believes that changes are not needed.

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Oliver Burrows, a FYP student, calls for a more in-depth dialogue on plagiarism, not a “quick blurb” on the matter. Photo: Andrew Miller

"It is also not unusual to have a number of cases arise from a single course or even a single assignment," he said. Ten plagiarism cases were in King's classes last year. Not all of them involved King's students.

Stephen Kimber, a professor of narrative non-fiction in the journalism school, was King's academic integrity officer at the time. According to Kimber, education is key: "Ending academic careers is not the goal."

He added that communication between professors and students is essential when it comes to curbing plagiarism, especially if it's unintentional.

Oliver Burrows, a 19-year-old FYP student, said that the tutors gave a "quick blurb" on plagiarism on the first day of FYP, telling the students to check their FYP handbooks in regards to plagiarism. He contends that there was no in-depth discussion - something he said was needed. With some History of Science and Technology courses, though, students are required to sign a plagiarism contract with each essay. FYP doesn't have that.

The King's College 2011-12 academic calendar states that plagiarism is "the submission or presentation of another's work as if it were one's own." Some of those who were caught plagiarizing seem to have thought that using Wikipedia without attributing it was okay, since their professors didn't believe it counted as a source, according to Kimber, a past academic integrity officer.

In regards to Wikipedia, Kimber says students don't attribute it because their professors discourage using the website as a source. Other websites that follow that strain of thought on the professors' part are SparkNotes and Yahoo!'s Associated Content. The 14 FYP students also used both.

Simon Kow has been the academic integrity officer at King's since July 1. He notes that there is a high frequency of plagiarism in academia.

"Copying and pasting articles are too rampant," he says.

Kow first looks at the allegations and then meets with the accused student if it's merited. King's once allowed direct contact between the professor and the student, with a conviction leading to a 0 per cent or a 50 per cent on the assignment. This is no longer the case.

Kow thinks the current process for adjudicating an alleged violation of academic integrity is fairer.

Further clarity, dialogue and shared understanding should be the priority in addressing plagiarism at King's.

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