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A second–year student submits a draft of a seminar paper
that contains information attributed to several different A.L.R.
annotations. In commenting on the paper draft, the teacher tells
the student that A.L.R. annotations generally should not be
cited as support for legal propositions. For the final version
of the paper, the student takes out the citations to the A.L.R.
but leaves the information taken from the annotations in the
paper unattributed. Is the student guilty of plagiarism?
Guilty_____ Not guilty_____
Explain why:
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In a research memorandum written for class, a first–year
student places a citation to authority at the end of every sentence
containing information taken from outside sources. However,
the student fails to include quotation marks around specific
words taken from some sources. Is the student guilty of plagiarism?
How many words must the student take directly from a source
before the student needs to indicate them as a direct quotation?
Guilty_____ Not guilty_____
Explain why:
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Two first–year students talk about different arguments
they are considering using in drafting a research memorandum.
The assignment instructions allow students to discuss the case
law involved in the memorandum but requires that students draft
the memorandum on their own. One student includes without attribution
an argument that the other student discovered concerning a case.
Is the student guilty of plagiarism? Does it matter whether
the student phrases the argument in a similar manner to the
other student or in her own words? Does it matter if the first
student found out about the argument in reviewing a draft of
the second student’s memorandum instead of finding out
about the argument from just discussing the memorandum?
Guilty_____ Not guilty_____
Explain why:
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A professor requires five drafts for a seminar paper, each
due on a specified day, and each receiving a check or minus
as part of the final grade. On a first draft, the professor
recognizes major ideas that have not been attributed and discovers
sloppy quotations that are missing the beginning or ending quotation
marks. When questioned, the student admits that he typed the
paper early that morning and did not take time to review his
attribution or even spell check. He wanted to turn in something
to avoid receiving a minus. Even though this was only a draft
of the paper and not the final product, the teacher charges
him with plagiarism because the student attempted to receive
academic credit: a check rather than a minus. Is this student
guilty of academic plagiarism? If yes, should he be expelled?
Expel yes_____ Expel no_____
Explain why:
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A third–year student hands in a seminar paper that she
had written for an earlier class. Can a student plagiarize herself?
Guilty_____ Not guilty_____
Explain why:
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A first–year student downloads a course outline from
a national resource. Allowed to take anything into the final
exam, he brings this professional outline. Is he guilty of plagiarism
if he takes copies of it into the exam and uses language from
it?
Guilty_____ Not guilty_____
Explain why:
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An L.L.M. student whose first language is not English submits
a thesis full of plagiarized material. In the student’s
home culture, unacknowledged use of published work is accepted
and proper. Can the student be punished for plagiarism? Should
the student be punished for plagiarism?
Can be punished yes_____ no_____ Should be punished yes_____
no_____
Explain why:
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A law review note contains three major ideas taken from a non-identified
Internet source. The student insists that the material is public
knowledge and does not have to be attributed. If she has no
record of the database, is there a proper method for attribution?
If not, is she plagiarizing if she publishes the article without
any attribution?
Guilty_____ Not guilty_____
Explain why:
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For an open-book exam, a law professor allows students to bring
any materials into the room: commercial outlines, class notes,
study guides, case book, etc. If students repeat information
from these sources, without identifying the sources, are they
guilty of plagiarism?
Guilty_____ Not guilty_____
Explain why:
