Incoming Weinberg freshmen will be asked to sign a statement this week verifying that they understand the university’s bulletin on academic integrity in response to the discovery that 12 students plagiarized parts of their Spring Quarter final papers.
The bulletin, distributed by Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences freshmen advisers, includes a special section on Internet plagiarism.
Prof. Robert Coen, who served as Weinberg associate dean for undergraduate studies when the policy was implemented, emphasized that freshmen are not being asked to sign a pledge, noting that students already sign a pledge to maintain academic honesty in the course of completing their application materials.
“We just wanted to be sure that (the bulletin) was getting out to them and that they understand the gravity of being familiar with what’s in it,” Coen said. “Many of them are coming out of high school situations where there wasn’t very much attention given to all this. They need to understand that it’s a very vital issue in a university setting.”
The policy was prompted by the discovery that 12 students had copied text from sites including Encyclopedia Britannica and the Internet Philosophy Page in final papers for Asst. Prof. Axel Mueller’s Spring Quarter Introduction to Philosophy class.
Most of the students are enrolled in Weinberg and met with Coen to discuss the matter and be punished. Those enrolled in other schools were referred to their own schools for disciplinary action.
The students received punishments ranging from placement on probationary status to suspension for a quarter or more. At least one of those suspended had already been placed on probation for a prior offense.
Grading decisions were referred back to Mueller. Most of the students probably will be given a failing grade and not receive credit for the course, Coen said.
Teaching assistants Jason Leddington and Sebastian Rand became suspicious when they noticed inconsistencies in the writing styles of some of the papers. Several papers contained isolated paragraphs that demonstrated highly advanced levels of philosophical study next to large sections of basic or incorrect material.
Acting on their suspicions, the TAs entered various phrases from different papers into the Google online search engine and discovered that they were identical to material available on the Internet. A later investigation by Coen’s office confirmed their suspicions.
The 12 students implicated were members of a lecture class containing 90 students. The cases appear to be unrelated, Coen said.
The case was the first known case of Internet plagiarism at Northwestern, Vice President for University Relations Alan Cubbage said in June.
As students turn to the Internet more for their research, the allure of cut-and-paste technology has proven too strong for some. In May, 122 students at the University of Virginia were accused of cheating on term papers in an introductory physics class.
“As long as there’s an Internet, somebody’s going to get caught on it,” said Prof. Dan Garrison, chairman of the Undergraduate Academic Conduct Committee.
