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Plagiarism

Scientific Misconduct includes Fabrication, Falsification, and Plagiarism. A formal definition of Scientific Misconduct from the DHHS is still pending, however there is general consensus of the elements.

Definition: Plagiarism is the intentional use of someone else's words (e.g., direct quotes), thoughts (e.g., paraphrased quotes), ideas (e.g., charts, data), or internet materials in your own writings/presentations as if you had come up with them on your own. Plagiarism is the theft of intellectual property and is not unlike stealing from a commercial business. A special case of plagiarism is the unacceptable practice is "self plagiarism" in which an author will use segments of his/her own published material (e.g., methods section of a scientific paper) in a new publication without reference.

Although the University of Miami has established strict policies against plagiarism by students there are currently no web-based courses on plagiarism available.

University of Miami Resources

• University of Miami Undergraduate Honor Code
• What Constitutes Plagiarism. By Christopher F. Colby, President, University of Miami, Undergraduate Honor Council
• Composition Symposium 2002 "Punishing Forgery, Preventing Plagiarism, and Teaching to Motivate" with Rebecca Moore Howard

Web Based Resources Available

United States DHHS, Office of Research Integrity (ORI)

• 1993 Conference on Plagiarism and Theft of Ideas
• ORI Provides Working Definition of Plagiarism

Other Resources on the Web

• Comprehensive Plagiarism Site at the University of Illinois
• Case study of Plagiarism , by Terry Ann Krulwich, Dean of Graduate School
  Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY from the ONLINE ETHICS CENTER
• "Plagiarism" by Earl Babbie, Professor Sociology Department, Chapman University,
• "What is Plagiarism" By S.E. Van Bramer, Widener University.
• "What is Plagiarism?" The History News Network staff has posted three different definitions of plagiarism provided by the American Historical Association, Modern Language Association and the American Psychological Association.
• On Being A Scientist: Responsible Conduct In Research from the National Academy of Science.
• Keeping Kids Honest in the Information Age: Dealing with Cyber-Plagiarism Lorraine Sherry, a Senior Research Associate at RMC Research Corporation (Denver, CO) put together this article as part of her work with the STAR Center (Support for Texas Academic Renewal). Sherry discusses some reasons why students use the internet to "cut and paste" information to complete assignments. She also presents data about term paper providers and other sites that "encourage" plagiarism. Tips on how to teach about plagiarism, detection strategies, and methods to help prevent plagiarism are also covered.
• Rebecca Moore Howard--Articles Rebecca Moore Howard, Associate Professor of writing and rhetoric, and Writing Program Director at Syracuse University, is one of the most well-known researchers in the area of composition and plagiarism. This site provides access to a number of Howard's articles on the topic of plagiarism. Howard present a seminar at the University of Miami in September 2002. A video of Howard's talk is available from the Office of Research Education (305 243-7970).