I evaluated a brief homework assignment designed to reduce citation problems in research-based term papers. Students in 2 developmental psychology classes received a brief presentation and handout defining plagiarism with tips on how to cite sources to avoid plagiarizing. In addition, students in 1 class completed 2 brief homework assignments in which they had to identify information in 1 page of text that required a citation. Results found that students who completed the homework assignments had fewer problems with citations, believed that they had a better understanding of situations that comprised plagiarism, and had more confidence in their ability to avoid plagiarism.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AaronJ. E. (1998). The Little Brown compact handbook (3rd ed.). New York: Longman.
2.
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
FroeseA. D.BoswellK. L.GarciaE. D.KoehnL. J.NelsonJ. M. (1995). Citing secondary sources: Can we correct what students do not know?Teaching of Psychology, 22, 235–238.
4.
GroarkM.OblingerD.ChoaM. (2001). Term paper mills, anti-plagiarism tools, and academic integrity. Educause Review, 36(5), 40–48.
5.
HaleJ. L. (1987). Plagiarism in classroom settings. Communication Research Reports, 4, 66–70.
6.
HowardR. M. (1999). The new abolitionism comes to plagiarism. In BuranenL.RoyA. M. (Eds.), Perspectives on plagiarism and intellectual property in a postmodern world (pp. 87–95). Albany: State University of New York Press.
7.
JulliardK. (1994). Perceptions of plagiarism in the use of other author's language. Family Medicine, 26, 356–360.
8.
LandauJ. D.DruenP. B.ArcuriJ. A. (2002). Methods for helping students avoid plagiarism. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 112–115.
9.
LoveP. G.SimmonsJ. (1998). Factors influencing cheating and plagiarism among graduate students in a college of education. College Student Journal, 32, 539–550.
10.
McCabeD. L.TrevinoL. K. (1993). Academic dishonesty: Honor codes and other contextual influences. Journal of Higher Education, 64, 522–538.
11.
RoigM. (1997). Can undergraduate students determine whether text has been plagiarized?Psychological Record, 47, 113–122.
12.
TroykaL. Q. (1999). Simon & Schuster handbook for writers (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
