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Exploring Web-Based University Policy Statements on Plagiarism by Research-Intensive Higher Education Institutions

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Abstract

Plagiarism may distress universities in the US, but there is little agreement as to exactly what constitutes plagiarism. While there is ample research on plagiarism, there is scant literature on the content of university policies regarding it. Using a systematic sample, we qualitatively analyzed 20 Carnegie-classified universities that are “Very High in Research.” This included 15 public state universities and five high-profile private universities. We uncovered highly varied and even contradictory policies at these institutions. Notable policy variations existed for verbatim plagiarism, intentional plagiarism and unauthorized student collaboration at the studied institutions. We conclude by advising that the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and other overarching academic bodies confer and come to accord on the disposition of these issues.

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Notes

  1. This policy for Caltech and all other policies cited in this work are referenced in Table 2

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Human Subject Research Protection Acknowledgments

No human subject interaction was involved in our research. We visited publicly accessible websites of the universities whose policies we reviewed for the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education, Georgia State University, 30 Pryor St., Suite 659, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA

    Ewa McGrail

  2. Department of Communication, College of Education and Professional Studies, Jacksonville State University, 700 Pelham Road North, Jacksonville, AL, 36265, USA

    J. Patrick McGrail

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  1. Ewa McGrail
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Correspondence to Ewa McGrail.

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McGrail, E., McGrail, J.P. Exploring Web-Based University Policy Statements on Plagiarism by Research-Intensive Higher Education Institutions. J Acad Ethics 13, 167–196 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-015-9229-3

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