Exploring and Preventing Accidental Plagiarism in a Digital Age

In our online only college writing center, we often hear from students that they are not sure that they need citation or references in their papers because they did not use any research but instead only looked at a few web sites. Students sometimes present with plagiarism issues in their writing and attest that they did not borrow any outside wording when a quick Internet search confirms that they did, in fact, use text verbatim without directly quoting the words. These scenarios and others seem to be instances of accidental plagiarism, and helping students work through them raises the following key questions which will be addressed and explored in this poster session in order to promote a beneficial and engaging exchange of ideas among conference attendees: Does the use of the Internet to casually locate information (i.e. surf the web) cause students to be less careful researchers who are more prone to plagiarize in a more formal, academic setting? Do online students use Internet research differently than students who are attending classes in a more traditional campus setting? Does the ability to quickly copy and paste information from the Internet contribute to plagiarism in students’ writing? How can we best help students to cognitively switch from casually using the Internet to locate information to carefully using and documenting their use of outside sources in their academic writing? How can educators best assist students who complete online research and present with plagiarism issues in their writing in this digital age