Re: Plagiarism Issue

[epiedmontmarton@mail.utexas.edu (Elisabeth Piedmont-Marton)]

Chari--

Though I can't take credit for the idea entirely, I'll share what a friend
and I did one summer when we were beleagured grad student instructors.  We
required the students to methodically go through all the steps  toward
producing a researched argument:  submitting a proposal, an annotated
bibliography, an outline or plan, photocopies of sources.  We may have even
asked them to give brief oral presentations on their research.

The only thing we did not require was the paper itself.  Of course they
didn't know that they didn't have to write the paper until the last minute.
This worked especially well in the short summer term, but I would
definitely do it again.  Think also about how much time we saved by not
having to read stacks of 10 page papers, wondering about the source of some
of them.

Yes, there are ways to catch plagiarism after it happens, but I'm more
inclined to concentrate my efforts toward eliminating the opportunities and
the incentives for it.

Elisabeth

Elisabeth Piedmont-Marton,Ph.D.
Coordinator
Undergraduate Writing Center
FAC 211
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78712
(512) 471-6222
epiedmontmarton@mail.utexas.edu