Ethical dilemma re: plagarism

[Siligurl]

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hi! i was told by a student ("Bob") that he has submitted a 30pg paper to his advisor that is supposed to represent his 1st draft of his 1st year paper that is 90% plagarized (i.e., copied/pasted from journal abstracts). his CYA to his advisor was that he needed to "rephrase" chunks of it to ensure that it wasn't plagarized.

while i think we all agree that this is wrong... my question is what, if anything, i should do about it (such as tell his advisor). in my mind it's such an egregious violation of our ethics and honor code, plus i don't want to be in the position of having to defend myself if it ever came out that i knew and didn't report.

thoughts???

 

[TenaciousGirl]

hi! i was told by a student ("Bob") that he has submitted a 30pg paper to his advisor that is supposed to represent his 1st draft of his 1st year paper that is 90% plagarized (i.e., copied/pasted from journal abstracts). his CYA to his advisor was that he needed to "rephrase" chunks of it to ensure that it wasn't plagarized.

while i think we all agree that this is wrong... my question is what, if anything, i should do about it (such as tell his advisor). in my mind it's such an egregious violation of our ethics and honor code, plus i don't want to be in the position of having to defend myself if it ever came out that i knew and didn't report.

thoughts???

Cheating is definitely unacceptable. What is your school's policy on this? My school has a zero tolerance policy. Do you have a mentor you can talk to about this in the let's-talk-about-a-scenario way? you ask what you should do ... what do you think you should do? Would you feel okay (and guilt free) if you did nothing? If something is holding you back from reporting this, what is it? (these last few questions are rhetorical, food for thought) good luck ...

 

[ClinPsycMasters]

hi! i was told by a student ("Bob") that he has submitted a 30pg paper to his advisor that is supposed to represent his 1st draft of his 1st year paper that is 90% plagarized (i.e., copied/pasted from journal abstracts). his CYA to his advisor was that he needed to "rephrase" chunks of it to ensure that it wasn't plagarized.

while i think we all agree that this is wrong... my question is what, if anything, i should do about it (such as tell his advisor). in my mind it's such an egregious violation of our ethics and honor code, plus i don't want to be in the position of having to defend myself if it ever came out that i knew and didn't report.

thoughts???

Why would he tell you that?

 

[PhDToBe]

Is it possible that he is going to rephrase the journal extracts and CITE them? It's probably a long shot, but he might be wanting to make sure the info is correct, and is then going to put the journal abstracts into his own words and cite them.

 

[loveoforganic]

"Hey, my student said "...". He may end up citing everything, but if that isn't the case, just a heads up." You could even contact the student, let him know you were obligated to pass what he said onto the professor, and that you highly recommend fixing what he's done.

 

[Marissa4usa]

I'm not sure what your exact position is in this situation but being a TA I usually have to read papers by students and it almost always is clear when they just copied and pasted information from articles. If it's their first offense that I am aware off, I usually just speak to them in person (since I am the one handling it), tell them what they need to fix and go with them over the plagiarism guidelines my school has. Then I usually give them an additional three days to fix everything with the warning that if there is anything that doesn't fulfill my expectations, I will need to report it to the professor.
Sadly, most of the time, the kind of students who plagiarize the first time around, don't put much effort into it, even they are threatened to receive an F in the class, so most of the time they put minimal effort into fixing things, i.e. they change a few words or use an abundance of quotation marks, etc. When this happens, I then report them to the professor, they most of the time get another chance (especially if they are freshman or sophomores) and otherwise receive an F on the paper. If they are second time offenders they will just an F for the class.

Since I don't know whether you have direct access to the paper, I would recommend going a similar route as described, otherwise I would probably give heads up to the professor, maybe hinting that you overheard that student talking about having plagiarized the paper or something along those lines.

 

[deleted176373]

hi! i was told by a student ("Bob") that he has submitted a 30pg paper to his advisor that is supposed to represent his 1st draft of his 1st year paper that is 90% plagarized (i.e., copied/pasted from journal abstracts). his CYA to his advisor was that he needed to "rephrase" chunks of it to ensure that it wasn't plagarized.

while i think we all agree that this is wrong... my question is what, if anything, i should do about it (such as tell his advisor). in my mind it's such an egregious violation of our ethics and honor code, plus i don't want to be in the position of having to defend myself if it ever came out that i knew and didn't report.

thoughts???

You should tell "Bob", that he's stupid for doing this... If you haven't seen the paper you can't determine if he has actually plagiarized or not, and to be honest it's not your business... However, you should feel duty bound to notify his adviser that he has made that statement, and I would do it anonymously.

This allows you to report (keep a copy for yourself) and keep yourself out of the middle of it. I would simply say to the adviser the following:

Dear Professor X,

In accordance to the honor code, I am reporting what I believe is a violation. It has recently come to my attention that one of your students may have engaged in intentional plagiarism on a paper submitted for review and that this student knowingly did so. This student further stated that if the violation was detected that he would state "That he would need to rephrase portions to ensure that he did not plagiarize." upon turning in the work for evaluation despite knowing that approximately 90% of the work was not his.

I do not wish to be involved in this, but this student had the audacity to tell me this and expect that it would not be reported. I hope that it will be obvious to you which student may have engaged in behaviors that should be clearly unacceptable to all students and faculty in the program. I have no direct or indirect proof that this has transpired and cannot speak authoritatively about the content of any particular papers or behaviors of specific students. Hopefully no cheating or plagiarism has transpired and this is simply a misunderstanding, but the honor code requires that I report any transgressions. I will keep a copy of this letter for my personal files should this become an issue in the future.

Thank you for your attention to this and for respecting my privacy in this matter.

A concerned student

 

[HopefulStudent8]

I agree with this, but I might be a bit more specific in identifying him so that the ordeal doesn't turn into a witch hunt.

You should tell "Bob", that he's stupid for doing this... If you haven't seen the paper you can't determine if he has actually plagiarized or not, and to be honest it's not your business... However, you should feel duty bound to notify his adviser that he has made that statement, and I would do it anonymously.

This allows you to report (keep a copy for yourself) and keep yourself out of the middle of it. I would simply say to the adviser the following:

Dear Professor X,

In accordance to the honor code, I am reporting what I believe is a violation. It has recently come to my attention that one of your students may have engaged in intentional plagiarism on a paper submitted for review and that this student knowingly did so. This student further stated that if the violation was detected that he would state "That he would need to rephrase portions to ensure that he did not plagiarize." upon turning in the work for evaluation despite knowing that approximately 90% of the work was not his.

I do not wish to be involved in this, but this student had the audacity to tell me this and expect that it would not be reported. I hope that it will be obvious to you which student may have engaged in behaviors that should be clearly unacceptable to all students and faculty in the program. I have no direct or indirect proof that this has transpired and cannot speak authoritatively about the content of any particular papers or behaviors of specific students. Hopefully no cheating or plagiarism has transpired and this is simply a misunderstanding, but the honor code requires that I report any transgressions. I will keep a copy of this letter for my personal files should this become an issue in the future.

Thank you for your attention to this and for respecting my privacy in this matter.

A concerned student

 

[teo3099]

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[ClinPsycMasters]

Personally I wouldn't involve myself. That probably reflects my personality more than anything else. It is a rare occasion when I interfere/intervene in others' affairs and that's when there is potential for danger or immediate harm.

I agree with Markp here: "If you haven't seen the paper you can't determine if he has actually plagiarized or not, and to be honest it's not your business," though not here, "however, you should feel duty bound to notify his adviser that he has made that statement." REBT taught me there are no "shoulds." Kidding aside, if the advisor reads the student's paper that is "90% plagiarized" and doesn't think something fishy is going on, the advisor is the one I'd worry about not the student.

Also, why would this person tell you about it? Is he testing your loyalty? Wants to get you in trouble? Is he that stupid?

Regardless, you're the one who can make that decision and live with the consequences, the good and the bad. I'm just offering my opinion here.

 

[deleted176373]

"however, you should feel duty bound to notify his adviser that he has made that statement." REBT taught me there are no "shoulds." Kidding aside, if the advisor reads the student's paper that is "90% plagiarized" and doesn't think something fishy is going on, the advisor is the one I'd worry about not the student.

LOL, There is that military value of integrity getting in the way of my personal growth... nice catch on the "should" though. 🙂

Mark

 

[student til 30]

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[jdawgg]

I tend to be more of a Kantian than a Utilitarian in such cases. What if everyone who witnessed plagiarism did nothing? What if you decide not to report Bob but you then start witnessing other students commit plagiarism? You'd undoubtedly feel more pressure to report one of the later offenders, but that would be giving Bob an unfair advantage.

It's also conceivable he told you about his plagiarism because on some deeper level he actually wanted you to report it.

 

[LHPsych]

One thing I'm still not clear on. How do you know this student? Is this a student in a class, or is this a patient of yours? If it is a patient then I think you enter into a whole other ballgame of patient confidentiality etc. If it is just a student then you would think the loyalty would be to the professor and the integrity of the school.

 

[zzzz2]

One thing I'm still not clear on. How do you know this student? Is this a student in a class, or is this a patient of yours? If it is a patient then I think you enter into a whole other ballgame of patient confidentiality etc. If it is just a student then you would think the loyalty would be to the professor and the integrity of the school.

Good question. If we extend the skepticism further, this "student" could potentially be the poster too. You know how we ask questions indirectly by saying "My friend X..." Not that this really matters, especially in an anonymous forum like SDN.

 

[ClinPsycMasters]

If it is just a student then you would think the loyalty would be to the professor and the integrity of the school.

There is also the loyalty to the friend who shared a secret with the poster.

I think the posts on the thread show that most would report him but in different ways, and for different reasons.

Look, this is partly a matter of values and posters have touched on a number of them, and here's a sampling : loyalty to friend (as noted by TenaciousGirl), program (Markp), professor (LHPsych), but also fairness issues (jdawgg), consequences such as school's reputation affecting graduates (as "student til 30" and "teo3099" noted), etc.

Personally I have been more curious as to why this student would inform the poster so I have taken a more laissez-faire approach till more info is available. Interestingly, "zzzz2" and "jdawgg" are speculating on the psyche of both the poster and the student.

I would certainly report plagiarism if it were widespread and people were getting away with it. Of course, I might leave the program too if nobody had picked up on this, assuming that plagiarism was even obvious to me as a student. I would not want to be part of such a program. However, if it's one person who simply claims his paper is plagarized (nothing as high as 90% which should be obvious to advisor), I'll just have a talk with him (after I have seen the paper for myself to confirm.) I like to give people a second chance. In addition, if he's a friend, I like him to know what I value and where loyalty and secret keeping fits in. I'll tell him about the consequences for himself, myself, school, immediately and in the long-term. If he persists in doing that and I find out about it, I'll let the school know.

 

[deleted176373]

There is also the loyalty to the friend who shared a secret with the poster.

I think the posts on the thread show that most would report him but in different ways, and for different reasons.

Look, this is partly a matter of values and posters have touched on a number of them, and here's a sampling : loyalty to friend (as noted by TenaciousGirl), program (Markp), professor (LHPsych), but also fairness issues (jdawgg), consequences such as school's reputation affecting graduates (as "student til 30" and "teo3099" noted), etc.

Actually, mine was loyalty to self... I wanted to comply with the requirements I agreed to in the honor code yet not get involved. Yes, selfish, but in a healthy way.

Mark

 

[ClinPsycMasters]

I'm confused. How is that not loyalty to the program too?

 

[teo3099]

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[deleted176373]

I'm confused. How is that not loyalty to the program too?

I could understand it as being a matter of personal integrity. He would act without primary consideration to other factors, such as helping out the program or making it fair for everyone. He signed the his name to the honor code and he will abide by his word, damn the consequences, for better or for worse.

That's how I might frame it as self-loyalty, though I can't speak for anyone but myself.

Pretty much it... Just because my actions appear altruistic to the program does not mean that it captures my motivation.

Mark

 

[ClinPsycMasters]

Okay, I understand now.

 

[Siligurl]

heh... ty all for the feedback. for what its worth-- in an anonymous forum-- "Bob" is not me. "Bob" really IS that stupid to both do the offense and to tell me because we're "friends" and he figures anything goes and I wont say/do anything. 🙁

ultimately, i hate doing this because it feels like the coward's way out, but im not going to confront him about his behaviour unless he comments on it again to me, i wont report him because the politics are such that it'll cause more problems for me than i want or deserve, but i will also NOT collaborate with him EVER in the future.

 

[KillerDiller]

i wont report him because the politics are such that it'll cause more problems for me than i want or deserve, but i will also NOT collaborate with him EVER in the future.

Sorry you were put in this situation and had to make this difficult decision.

I'm just going to throw out an additional possibility. Maybe it will make you feel a little better, or maybe it won't make any difference at all 🙂. Anyway, my first thought was that "Bob" was misguidedly trying to look smart and cool by pretending that he put no effort into his assignment. After all, we all know that effort is so passe 🙄. Maybe he really did do his work properly, but wanted to come off as someone who doesn't care about trying.

...Or maybe he really did plagiarize. Either way, he has some things to learn about grad school.

 

[jdawgg]

I'd just like to remind people that APA Ethical Principles mandate reporting in cases of verified plagiarism.


8.11 Plagiarism
Psychologists do not present portions of another's work or data as their own, even if the other work or data source is cited occasionally.


1.04 Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations
When psychologists believe that there may have been an ethical violation by another psychologist, they attempt to resolve the issue by bringing it to the attention of that individual, if an informal resolution appears appropriate and the intervention does not violate any confidentiality rights that may be involved. (See also Standards 1.02, Conflicts Between Ethics and Law, Regulations, or Other Governing Legal Authority, and 1.03, Conflicts Between Ethics and Organizational Demands.)


1.05 Reporting Ethical Violations
If an apparent ethical violation has substantially harmed or is likely to substantially harm a person or organization and is not appropriate for informal resolution under Standard 1.04, Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations, or is not resolved properly in that fashion, psychologists take further action appropriate to the situation. Such action might include referral to state or national committees on professional ethics, to state licensing boards, or to the appropriate institutional authorities. This standard does not apply when an intervention would violate confidentiality rights or when psychologists have been retained to review the work of another psychologist whose professional conduct is in question. (See also Standard 1.02, Conflicts Between Ethics and Law, Regulations, or Other Governing Legal Authority.)

 

[zoistaffy]

I would talk to the student but don't rat him out. It's not cool to set him up like that, give him some time and a chance to correct himself. I really think it will make you look bad to the prof to turn him in-- I once worked with a graduate student who was unethical and told my mentor (also his) and it totally backfired on me. The prof ended up lecturing me about not being professional.

I think the most adult thing to do is talk to him, or email him. Offer to help him, or tell him you "heard" the the prof is using an application to check for plagarism (which is common), so you could "warn" him in advance if you don't feel comfortable confronting him directly.

Above all else, don't rat him out. Please.

 

[teo3099]

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[deleted176373]

Above all else, don't rat him out. Please.

He ratted himself out. You can't control his actions, you can only control your own actions. You are not responsible for his choices, he is responsible for his choices.

This is disturbing. If you took an oath or agreed to uphold an honor code and walk away from it, your word is then worth nothing. Would you want to be associated with someone who not only doesn't respect themselves but doesn't respect the reputation of their school and their peers?

Where is your integrity? "No Snitches..." Save it for a rap video.

Mark

 

[zoistaffy]

I shouldn't have have said "rat out." I do think you should tell the student/ express your concerns about what he is doing and give him the opportunity to correct his mistakes. If he still doesn't do anything, then report him. If he has 30 pages to rewrite, he has a lot of work to do. For my thesis, I spent about 4 months doing research so I really understood my topic, and didn't feel the need to quote sources as I got the concept pretty well. This guy probably doesn't understand his paper whats so ever, so he may have A LOT of work to do to make it interpretable without being copy and pasted.

Sorry for my thoughtless answer previously. For the student and his professional development, you should do something to bring change to his unethical behaviors.

 

[ClinPsycMasters]

I do not think your answer was "thoughtless." In your previous post, you point out the downsides to reporting the friend: First, there is the "other-centered" matter of loyalty to the friend, which you take quite seriously. Second, there is the more self-centered matter of being perceived as unprofessional by the professor--and this is based on personal experience.

And your recent post makes the same point essentially. You simply elaborate on your previous reply, putting more emphasis on sympathy and taking the perspective of the other student, instead of saying "don't rat him out" which effectively shifted the blame from the cheating student to the one reporting him. I think your consideration of the student's situation is commendable. At the end of the day, it's a balancing act, really, of the student's situation but also one's values, duties to other students and the program, formal rules, self-centered concerns, and so forth.