Pedagogical Approaches to Plagiarism and Incorporating Sources:  ELI Policy and Recommendations for Students and Teachers

The ELI recognizes that plagiarism is an incredibly complex concept, one that often results in a variety of strong emotional reactions. The ELI’s policy statement aims to raise awareness about the complexities surrounding plagiarism, to recognize that what really underlies plagiarism is the incorporation of sources in scholarly work in ways that are considered appropriate by academic communities, and to promote a shift away from a paradigm of plagiarism that focuses on academic dishonesty to one that focuses on learners’ development of appropriate citation skills.

This policy is based on our belief that the majority of students want to learn, and want to get better at learning. A few important points about this policy are:

• The ELI acknowledges that scholarly work that includes plagiarism should not be acceptable; it can be considered a draft, but not a final academic product.
• We do not recommend that plagiarized scholarly work be ignored or accepted. It should be addressed, but . . .
• It should be addressed pedagogically.
• This policy applies to the context of the University of Hawai`i at Manoa. We recognize that other cultures may have very different views of plagiarism, incorporating sources, and intellectual property, and that other cultures’ perspectives are equally valid and deserving of respect.

Each of the links on the left takes you to a different section of the ELI’s plagiarism policy, or to tips for students or teachers.