Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
Room 217
Abstract
Within higher education, guidelines for plagiarism almost always state that whenever a writer uses the exact words from a source, that material must be identified by quotation marks or block indentation, and the source of the reused material must be identified and attributed to the source. Nevertheless, text recycling--the unacknowledged reuse of previously published material—is common practice in STEM fields within the world of professional practice. Further complicating matters, the rise of online plagiarism detection tools by journals in recent years has spurred confusion and debate about the practice of text recycling even in the scientific community—as a quick web search for “text recycling” AND “self-plagiarism” reveals. Depending on what you happen to read, the practice is represented as unavoidable, shameful or useful. Although scholars of plagiarism have repeatedly made the case that plagiarism is a complex, contextually-situated matter, the practice of text recycling remains largely invisible--from writing textbooks to library research guides. The result is that students are left largely on their own to negotiate the complicated intersection of school and professional norms. This talk will (1) describe the conventions and debates related to text recycling, (2) explain the challenges faced by students, teachers and librarians, and (3) offer ideas for addressing text recycling in the academic setting.
Presentation Description
According to school plagiarism guidelines, quoted material must be identified by quotation marks or block indentation and attributed to the source. Nevertheless the unacknowledged reuse of previously published material is common practice in many STEM fields. This talk discusses the conventions of text recycling and implications for academic settings.
Keywords
writing plagiarism science STEM quotation text recycling guidelines library
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Moskovitz, Cary A., "The complexities of text recycling in professional scientific discourse and implications for plagiarism prevention in higher education" (2016). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 2.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2016/2016/2
The complexities of text recycling in professional scientific discourse and implications for plagiarism prevention in higher education
Room 217
Within higher education, guidelines for plagiarism almost always state that whenever a writer uses the exact words from a source, that material must be identified by quotation marks or block indentation, and the source of the reused material must be identified and attributed to the source. Nevertheless, text recycling--the unacknowledged reuse of previously published material—is common practice in STEM fields within the world of professional practice. Further complicating matters, the rise of online plagiarism detection tools by journals in recent years has spurred confusion and debate about the practice of text recycling even in the scientific community—as a quick web search for “text recycling” AND “self-plagiarism” reveals. Depending on what you happen to read, the practice is represented as unavoidable, shameful or useful. Although scholars of plagiarism have repeatedly made the case that plagiarism is a complex, contextually-situated matter, the practice of text recycling remains largely invisible--from writing textbooks to library research guides. The result is that students are left largely on their own to negotiate the complicated intersection of school and professional norms. This talk will (1) describe the conventions and debates related to text recycling, (2) explain the challenges faced by students, teachers and librarians, and (3) offer ideas for addressing text recycling in the academic setting.
