Basic tenets:

1. Blatant, intentional plagiarism is a serious offense and should not be tolerated at Western. Students should be held responsible for their own behavior, and students who intentionally cheat or plagiarize should be punished according to program, department, and university guidelines and procedures.
2. Students should be made aware of what plagiarism is and should understand clearly what the possible penalties for plagiarism might be.
3. Teachers should be made aware of the generally accepted procedures for discovering and penalizing plagiarism and of the various types of plagiarism and their possible causes.
4. Teachers should participate in helping to reduce the opportunity for plagiarism at the university and should be given suggestions for ways to decrease the likelihood that students will plagiarize or get away with plagiarism.

Procedures for minimizing plagiarism.

1. The course syllabus should contain a clear statement of the teacher's policy regarding plagiarized work. The teacher should not expect to rely on such a statement, however, as adequate instructional coverage of the issue of plagiarism.
2. Teachers should not assume that students know what plagiarism is or that they understand the seriousness and possible penalties for plagiarism without appropriate and complete instruction. Therefore, teachers should make sure that all students receive a copy of plagiarism guidelines and that they read, understand, and keep a copy of the guidelines.
3. Teachers should devote an appropriate amount of time to instructing students in how to avoid plagiarism and how to adequately quote, paraphrase, summarize, and cite sources. In addition to appropriate instruction on using sources, students should also receive instruction in how to incorporate common knowledge, their own conclusions, original research, lecture notes, material found in many sources, and standard terms into their work and why this information may not need to be cited.
4. Teachers should devote adequate time to teaching students how to research and collect sources for their papers.
5. Teachers should allow students to have some input into topic selection for their individual papers. Students who are intellectually invested in their topics are less prone to plagiarize.
6. Teachers should allow students adequate time to develop topics, conduct research, and write their papers.
7. Teachers should include preliminary writings on the topic, rough drafts, peer review, and reviews of sources in their research assignments. If students have to turn in material leading up to their research papers, then they are less likely to plagiarize. Students should not be allowed to switch topics at the last minute.
8. Teachers should require students to turn in copies of their sources, or at least copies of the pages they cite, with their research papers.

Procedures for discovering and prosecuting plagiarism.

1. Unfortunately, teachers should realize that the burden of proof will likely lie with them if they accuse a student of plagiarizing and the student chooses to contest the penalty. Teachers should not penalize or accuse students of plagiarism unless they have documented proof.
2. Teachers may exercise due consideration of the individual student's situation when the student is caught plagiarizing. Although policy should be generally uniform, teachers should realize that there are various degrees of plagiarism and that plagiarism occurs for various reasons. There may be cases in which a teacher may want to give the student a second chance or partial credit if the essay is rewritten. Factors such as a student's admission of guilt, the amount and type of plagiarism, and the student's lack of understanding of what plagiarism is and what the penalties are may be considered when assigning penalties. Blatant or recurring plagiarism, however, should not be tolerated.
3. The teacher may elect to award a zero grade for any assignment that has been proven to be plagiarized.
4. In cases where a student commits a particularly blatant infraction or more than one infraction on assignments, the teacher may recommend that the student be given an F for the course. All such recommendations should be cleared with the composition director or the department head, who may also elect to recommend penalties at the university level.
5. The teacher is responsible for documenting the plagiarism by keeping copies of the original document and all proof of plagiarism. Copies of the document and the evidence should also be filed with the composition director.