Every academic year there are hundreds of student-executed plagiarism cases that are forwarded to the dean of students, but few result in dismissal from UCLA.
Because motivations and other factors related to plagiarism can vary greatly, the spectrum of consequences for such offenses is very wide.
Since the advent of programs like Turnitin, it has become easier to catch students plagiarizing, and when they are caught, the consequences are often handled informally, much like faculty plagiarism cases.
“We rely on the instructor to determine whether there was plagiarism. We ask the student and usually they will admit to it. If they deny it, then we see if there is enough evidence to investigate it,” said Cary Porter, senior associate dean of student affairs.
“The consequences vary. The student could get a zero on that particular assignment and when that zero is averaged into their grade they may get a failing grade in the class. They may face suspension or dismissal. Usually, it is some form of suspension. If it’s premeditated, maybe they will be suspended for a couple of quarters. If it’s not, then maybe just one quarter,” Porter added.
Porter and others in his office work to handle each case differently as there are many factors influencing the eventual execution of plagiarism. The mitigating consequences are often the cause for the wide degree of consequences.
“There are still hundreds of cases given to our office ““ which to some may seem like a lot,” Porter said. “But don’t forget that there are 38,000 students, … three quarters and in each quarter a student is taking three or four classes and there are (multiple) assignments in each class. … So we’re hoping that we’re down at the minimum level.”
Programs like EndNote also facilitate citing and referencing sources in a paper; the program is widely used at UCLA and at other institutions nationally.
“EndNote is the leading bibliographic and reference management tool, used by millions of researchers, librarians and students worldwide,” said Dave Kochalko, vice president of business strategy and development at EndNote.
“By automating the steps of collecting, organizing and citing references, EndNote allows researchers to focus on writing and helps to maintain the mechanics of citing others’ work throughout a particular paper,” Kochalko added.
Even with tools like EndNote and Turnitin, plagiarism still occurs.
The most common excuses are sloppiness, lack of time, poor planning or inaccurate records of references. Others blame it on pressure to please their parents or to turn in an assignment under deadline, Porter said.
Some students complain they have run out of original ideas and almost everything they think of has already been written down, so a common argument may be that it has become hard not to plagiarize. But Porter has a different take.
“I don’t think it’s hard not to plagiarize. I think that if you have someone else’s words in front of you and you sit there and try to change it around, that is still going to lead to plagiarism if you don’t reference it,” Porter said.
And for those students who feel original thought is impossible on topics that have already been written about, Porter’s remedy is simple: If only primary sources are consulted, it’s probably OK. Otherwise, cite it.
Porter explained that certain situations can still be confusing to students, but he stressed that it is in a student’s best interest to consult with a professor to sort out any uncertainty.
To learn more about UCLA’s policy on plagiarism visit www.library.ucla.edu/bruinsuccess.