Teaching to Avoid Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious problem in higher education, and one that the majority of university teachers have encountered. This book provides the skills and resources that university teachers and learning and development support staff need in order to tackle it.

As a complex issue that requires thoughtful and sensitive handling, plagiarism simply cannot be addressed by warnings; detection software and punishment alone. Teaching to Avoid Plagiarism focuses on prevention rather than punishment and promotes a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to dealing with the issue.

Topics covered in this book include:
The causes of plagiarism
How universities currently deal with plagiarism
How teachers can support students in effective source use
The role of technology
Issues for second language writers and international students
Drawing on her teaching experience as well as her academic research, Diane Pecorari offers a unique insight into this pervasive problem as well as practical advice on how to promote good source use to students and help them to avoid plagiarism. With a series of activities to help readers solidify their grasp of the approaches advised in the book, Teaching to Avoid Plagiarism is an essential guide for anyone in a student-facing role who wants to handle plagiarism more effectively.

"Diane Pecorari’s book provides practical examples and activities on handling plagiarism blended with research-based findings. It is useful for teachers wanting to improve their understanding and practices in managing plagiarism, but also student advisors and academic support skills staff who deal with issues of academic integrity. This book makes a unique contribution to the field of plagiarism management as its structure affords direct professional development opportunities. Assessment tasks, broad questions and activities are provided at the end of each chapter, encouraging readers to understand both policy and practice in their own institution to better manage plagiarism and source attribution."
Dr Wendy Sutherland-Smith, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Australia

"Teaching to Avoid Plagiarism successfully turns attention away from the detection and punishment of plagiarism and focuses instead on understanding and prevention through the promotion of good source use. Combining practical activities based on real-life examples with wide-ranging original research, this important book should be required reading, not only for staff development officers and lecturers, but more widely throughout the higher education community."
Maggie Charles, Oxford University Language Centre

"Diane Pecorari’s insightful research and scholarship on plagiarism is used to excellent effect in this book which advocates a proactive rather than reactive approach to the difficulties faced by students in learning how to integrate their source texts. Thoughtful activities and discussion questions aimed at staff development are teamed with advice on ways to build in support within disciplinary writing which will help students master the necessary academic skills to avoid plagiarism. The emphasis, quite rightly, is also on helping students understand how plagiarism disrupts the ethical values of the academy, and is not just another hurdle placed in their way by academic insiders."
Dr Ann Hewings, Director, Centre for Language and Communication, The Open University

"As stated by Diane Pecorari in the first sentence of this excellent volume, 'plagiarism is a problem in our universities'. The volume demonstrates clearly how teachers and students can deal with this 'problem' by developing a better understanding of the phenomenon, on the one hand, and developing specific skills in dealing with it, on the other. Working from the principle that ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’, Diane Pecorari argues for a proactive approach to handling issues of plagiarism, with an emphasis on the need to train students how to deal appropriately with sources. As well as a clear exposition of the theoretical issues at stake, the book contains a wealth of practical activities and discussion questions which will allow readers to develop the sort of competence in dealing with plagiarism that is the goal of the volume."
Professor John Flowerdew, City University of Hong Kong