While incidents of plagiarism have increased at UW-Madison in the last five years, administrators have not followed the lead of other schools in developing new policies, according Lori Berquam, assistant dean of students at UW-Madison.
This, while many universities nationwide have instituted honor codes, or strengthened codes already in existence, to minimize the prevalence of plagiarism. Administrators at these institutions say such honor codes put a higher burden on students, which results in more honorable practices.
Under UW-Madison's policy, plagiarizing a few sentences can result in up to a two-year suspension.
\If it's not your sentence, it's probably not yours to borrow,"" Berquam said.
The increase in incidents of plagiarism on campus can be directly linked to the growth of the Internet and how easy it is to cheat, according to Berquam.
""The option of plagiarism is pretty easy,"" she said. ""It's one of those easy carrots to hold in front of students' noses.""
Paul Barrows, vice chancellor of student affairs at UW-Madison, said he does not think a policy change like those at other universities has been necessary.
""There aren't many steps you can take,"" he said.
Plagiarism is not a new development, as Berquam points out.
""Plagiarism has been around for a long time,"" she said. ""I mean, people have been plagiarizing from books for years.""
Some students said they know plagiarism is illegal, but don't know where to draw the line between plagiarism and research.
""I've never taken whole paragraphs from a source,"" Samantha Staley, a UW-Madison junior, said. ""But aren't you supposed to use your research?""
Berquam said she thinks students are not educated enough about the ethical aspects of research and plagiarism would be less widespread if ethics were stressed to undergraduate students more.
""I'm not sure this is a topic in high school,"" she said.
However, Staley said plagiarism is less about ethics than it is about enforcement.
""How can they prove that you rephrased something?"" she said. ""There's a lot that's been written out there. I'm sure anything I could write someone else has already rephrased.""
While the administration has not taken steps to enact an honor code, Berquam said some UW-Madison professors have begun using their own.
