Critical Conversations About Plagiarism. Michael Donnelly

      Preface

      As a field, composition studies acknowledges that writing is a complicated process; indeed, one might say its existence as a field of study is predicated upon that fundamental belief. Yet, discussions about plagiarism for students tend to remain flat and simplistic and often reinscribe a traditional, antagonistic divide between students and teachers. In Guiding Students from Cheating and Plagiarism to Honesty and Integrity: Strategies for Change, for example, a book intended to help teachers and students discuss issues of academic integrity and create more honest school climates, David Callahan describes academic culture as a “culture of cheating” that must be dismantled (xvi). This view, in which students are assumed to be criminals and their teachers are the police, is, we feel, counterproductive to the goals of higher education in general and of writing instruction in particular. In contrast, we believe that as teachers and scholars we must do more than simplistically define plagiarism and exhort students to “do honest work.” We must engage them in an intellectual and critical discussion of a multivalent issue.

      There has been groundbreaking work on plagiarism by a variety of scholars, from a variety of quarters (LaFollette; Robin; Woodmansee and Jaszi). The majority of critical scholarship has, unsurprisingly, emanated from English Studies. Some of this work appropriately falls under the category of literary history (Kewes; Macfarlane; Mazzeo; Randall), but the most significant body of work has been in or attached to composition studies (Buranen and Roy; Haviland and Mullin; Howard, “New”; Howard, Standing; Howard and Robillard; Vicinus and Eisner). Despite this growing body of work, the general approach to discussing plagiarism with students continues to focus on avoiding plagiarism rather than engaging in critical discussion of the issues (Fox, Johns and Keller; Francis; Gaines; Harris, Plagiarism; Harris, Using; Lathrop and Foss, Guiding; Lathrop and Foss, Student; Lipson; Menager-Beeley and Paulos; Rozycki and Clabaugh; Stern). As Lise Buranen and Alice M. Roy explain in their scholarly collection:

      [. . .] in textbooks and in university publications about academic integrity, plagiarism is often treated as a monolithic, uncomplicated concept or event, whose meaning is simply taken for granted. The assumption seems to be that we all know what we mean when we talk about it: it just is. In academia, in the sciences, and in writing handbooks and classroom instruction, the main emphasis is on prevention and punishment. (xvii)

      Critical discussion of the issues surrounding plagiarism is increasingly important in a world of rapidly developing technologies and changing attitudes toward language and literacy. Yet the significant scholarly work in this area, like Buranen and Roy’s, tends to assume an audience of other academics, scholars, and teachers and is not intended for nor accessible to those who are actually at the center of the issue, namely, our students.

      We envision this book serving an audience of advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students interested in specific discussions related to composition studies. Our essay chapters, written by teacher-scholars in composition studies, literacy studies, and literature, are written to engage advanced students in thoughtful, theoretical inquiry that is guided by pedagogical scaffolding in the form of reading response questions, thematic points for writing and discussion, and collaborative exercises. With this combination of theoretical challenge and practical application, our text lends itself to filling a critical gap in classroom reading and discussion as well as in graduate teaching assistant training.

      With this idea of conversation across approaches in mind, the authors in this collection represent a variety of positions within the academic world: fiction writer, graduate student, literary theorist, director of a writing center, middle school teacher, social psychologist, English professor. All of them are teachers, most of them in English studies at the university level. They bring to bear their different experiences with teaching and with encountering and addressing plagiarism. Their diverse experiences and approaches offer a gateway into conversations among and between teachers and students.

      Moreover, we believe our collection may also serve first-year students. With so many how-to/how-not-to texts out there, we understand the potential of our collection for use in programs that want to address issues of academic integrity within their freshmen seminar programs. We think some of the essays in this collection would help first-year students think about plagiarism in new, relevant ways.

      Critical Conversations about Plagiarism fills a student need in the current literature: nuanced, critical, scholarly discussions of plagiarism that are accessible to them. In so doing, we invite students and teachers into a conversation about a range of issues raised by plagiarism.

Works Cited

      Buranen, Lise, and Alice M. Roy, eds. Perspectives on Plagiarism and Intellectual Property in a Postmodern World. Albany, NY: SUNY P, 1999. Print.

      Callahan, David. Preface. Guiding Students from Cheating and Plagiarism to Honesty and Integrity: Strategies for Change. Ed. Ann Lathrop and Kathleen Foss. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2005. xv–xvi. Print.

      Fox, Tom, Julia Mary Johns, and Sara Keller. Cite It Right: The SourceAid Guide to Citation, Research, and Avoiding Plagiarism. Osterville, MA: SourceAid, 2007. Print.

      Francis, Barbara. Other People’s Words: What Plagiarism Is and How to Avoid It. Berkeley Heights,

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