JMU Resources
- JMU Honor CouncilThe James Madison University Honor Council is committed to instilling, promoting, and upholding individual and collective academic integrity.
- JMU Writing CenterThe Writing Center offers writers help with all types of writing, including arguments, scholarly articles, fiction and personal narratives, business writing, formatting and citation, grammar and punctuation, and research strategies. We welcome the brainstormer, the procrastinator, the perfectionist, the disorganized, the perplexed, and you.
We empower students, faculty, and staff to develop writing skills and confidence by providing one-to-one consultations, resources, and programming that support and enhance writing across campus. Come see what our team of professional writing consultants, graduate assistants, and peer tutors has to offer:
-Free, individualized writing consultations
-Faculty consultations for designing assignments and for responding to student writing
-Online resources
-Online tutoring for those who have trouble visiting the center
-Computer lab and study space - JMU Learning CentersThe Learning Center houses the following:
-Science and Math Learning Center
-Communication Center
-English Language Learner Services
-University Writing Center
-Peer Assisted Student Sessions
Madison Research Essentials Toolkit
Citation Resources
- Citing SourcesThis guide contains information on how to cite sources in a variety of styles (including MLA and APA) as well as why you should care.
- Excelsior Online Writing LabThis section features instructional videos that show you how to set up your papers in APA, MLA, and Chicago formats, interactive checklists, and visual support for both in-text documenting and referencing at the end of your paper.
- Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue UniversityThe Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.
Helping Your Students Avoid Plagiarism
It is important to proactively discourage plagiarism. Many students attribute their plagiarism to ignorance or helplessness. Accordingly, it is imperative to engage your students on the topic of academic integrity and provide them with campus and online resources. The following are some recommended practices:
- Include a definition of plagiarism in your syllabus and require students to sign off on the definition before submitting any written assignments.
- Design assignments that discourage plagiarism.
- Provide students with links to campus resources on citation and writing help.
- Make use of the library's instruction program in order to help students learn how to find and use appropriate sources.
Several best practice documents will help you design assignments, including:
- Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism - Council of Writing Program Administrators
- Best Practice Strategies to Promote Academic Integrity in Online Education - WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies
- Anti-Plagiarism Strategies - Robert Harris, Vanguard University
Identifying Plagiarism
James Madison University has a license agreement with Turnitin.
JMU Libraries provides helpful instructions on Turnitin and integration into Canvas.
The following also provide helpful ways to informally evaluate a student's work for instances of plagiarism:
- Pay attention to the formatting, style, and language used. Use a search engine (like Google) to search any phrases that are inconsistent with the student's writing or knowledge.
- Note any inaccuracies that date a paper. For example, Madeleine Albright is no longer Secretary of State. If outdated information is included in a paper, the paper is likely not original.
- Confirm the sources cited available to students.
- Check the citations. If citation styles are mixed, they may have been taken from another source.
The Turnitin Educator Network Blog provides perspectives and strategies on plagiarism.
Content Credit
Credit for the compilation of select lists of resources is given to the University of Memphis.
Bookshelf
Teaching plagiarism prevention to college students : an ethics-based approach by ISBN: 9781442264403
Stop plagiarism : a guide to understanding and prevention by ISBN: 9781555707163
