Plagiarism Resources

Law School Plagiarism

Problems throughout the nation's law schools prompted the Legal Writing Institute to appoint a committee to investigate plagiarism policies and, if necessary, to create and disseminate a suggested policy. They contacted all ABA schools, and more than 120 schools submitted their policies, with comments and anonymous case histories.

The committee discovered:

• many schools mention plagiarism only in a general Honor Code,
• plagiarism definitions are inconsistent and even contradictory from school to school, and
• plagiarism penalties are inconsistent and contradictory from school to school.

Thus, the committee created a policy brochure that schools can modify to suit their faculty and student needs.

A thorough discussion of the committee's findings and recommendations can be found in Terri LeClercq's Failure to Teach: Due Process and Law School Plagiarism, 49 J. L. Ed. 236 (1999).

You can download a printable PDF of the LWI plagiarism policy using the PDF viewer. If you do not have the PDF viewer, you can download it from Adobe free of charge.

Plagiarism Policy Contents

Institutionalizing the Fight Against Plagiarism
Law School Plagiarism
Changing Contexts, Changing Expectations
Rules for Working with Authority
Plagiarism Exercise
Exercise Answer Key
Hypotheticals for Class Discussion
For Further Reading
Student Acknowledgement Form
Online Plagiarism Sources
Matthew C. Mirow, Plagiarism: A Workshop for Law Students
Lawrence M. Hinman, Confronting College Cheating