plagiarise/plagiarize (v) = copy someone else's work and pretend that it is one's ownplagiarism (n) = an act of plagiarisingNote: copying is not clever. Copying someone's work and putting it on MyEC does not help a member learn English. That learner would learn 100 times more English by writing a very short blog full of mistakes than by copying an entire book of perfect English. However, there are times when copying is acceptable - but in all cases it should be made clear who the original author was. It is acceptable to copy a short extract from a living author, if the extract is relevant and in "quotation marks", and the author is named. It would be acceptable to copy an entire Shakespeare poem (Shakespeare is long dead and his work is in the public domain) - BUT his name should still be mentioned.OUR GOALWe are doing our best to CLEAN UP MyEC. We want this to be a learning environment where members can practise using English while interacting with English teachers and learners around the world. Each time a member uploads duplicated content unlawfully, the reputation of EnglishClub.com is harmed. We have recently added a new field to the membership page. New members have to "agree" that they will not copy material from other pages on the web. We hope this helps draw attention to the rules.Here are some tips on preventing, detecting, checking and reporting plagiarism.PreventThe #1 goal related to plagiarism should be prevention. Many of our members do not understand the rules about plagiarism. The Internet has changed the way we share information. It has made it very easy to "copy and paste" content that is not ours. The platform we use (Ning) even invites members to upload a photo that is already on the Internet. Unfortunately it does not ask members if they have permission to use the photo. It does not ask members to include a credit for the photographer even if they do have permission.Mods (moderators) must be good role models. This means only using photos, music, and content that you have the right to use. Share the link to How to Avoid Plagiarism on EC and help other members learn the rules. Tell other members that you took the plagiarism pledge. Use links to external resources in your blogs and comments and teach others how to do the same. Think of yourself as a "guide" first and foremost. Many people have strong feelings about this issue. Nobody likes to be accused of stealing or copying and many do not have bad intentions.DetectDetecting plagiarism is fairly easy when you are dealing with language learners. Here are 3 red flags:1) Text is too PerfectCheck the member's profile page. Does his or her level of English match the text in the blog post or discussion? In many cases, if the level of English is too perfect, the text is copied. This may also be the case for native English members. Some members will simply copy an interesting text from the web and add a link (often unrelated) at the bottom (leads to an ad). Please watch for this and delete immediately. Others will join for political or religous reasons and will copy propaganda from other sites. These members don't generally participate in the site in any other way. (They might upload photos too, but will not engage with members except to add a link to the content via walls or groups.)2) Text is a Poem or StoryMany members think poems and stories are in the public domain. They do not realize you can't copy and past large pieces of text. If the member does not offer credit to the original author, please delete the content and report the member.3) Text Cites a referenceSome members understand that credit must be given to the original author. They copy a large amount of text and provide a reference link to the original source. This is still plagiarism. Members may only include a very short amount of text (about a paragraph). Remove the content and refer members to the "How to Avoid Plagiarism" pages.CheckIf you suspect that a blog post or discussion is plagiarized, copy and paste a selection of the text into a search engine such as Google. (Choose at least three sentences from the text.) If you can't find the suspected text online, ask the administrator for a second opinion. Always follow your intuition. (Tip: depending on your browser/OS, if you highlight a section of the text and right click, you may be able to choose an option such as "Search Google/Yahoo for 'your selection'" and go straight to the search results. Also, if you search Google with "quotation marks" around the words, it will return pages with the exact phrase. In such cases the text is almost certainly copied - unless the page returned is only from MyEC.)ReportIf you find the text online elsewhere, delete the content from MyEC immediately. Then report the member using the "Report a Member" form. Provide the exact details, including a link to the original content online. Keep in mind that some teachers and bloggers post their own material on MyEC as well as on another blog. This is allowed.Thank you for doing your part to keep MyEC a safe, friendly and creative space. If you have any questions on this topic, please contact the administrator.http://my.englishclub.com/page/detecting-plagiarism
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