UnravelingPlagiarisminChina

　　揭开中国考场舞弊的面纱

　　ProminentcasesofplagiarismbystudentsandpreviouslyrespectedacademicshavetaintedChina’simage.Whyisthephenomenonsorampant?Whatareplagiarism’sunderlyingcauses,andisthereawaytosolvetheproblem?

　　中国学子及学者们的舞弊行为抹黑了中国博大精深的形象.舞弊为何难以制止?人们又为何热衷于作弊?何为解决之道?

　　byJasmineAko

　　InJuly2010,CentenaryCollegeinNewJerseyshutdownitssatellitebusinessschoolsinbothChinaandTaiwanafteruncoveringwidespreadplagiarismamongitsstudentsthere.FollowinganinvestigationconductedbyalawfirmandtheMiddleStatesCommissiononHigherEducation,theschooldecidedtowithholddegreesfromall400ofitsstudentsenrolledinitsAsiaM.B.A.programsinBeijing,Shanghai,andTaipei.

　　Schoolofficialsdeclinedtodiscusstothemediathedetailsofthecheatinguncoveredintheinvestigationorwhytheydecidedtowithholddegreesforall400Chinese-speakingstudentsinthethreelocations.

　　Whilethiseventisshocking,itisonlyoneofthemanysignificantexamplesofplagiarisminChinathathaveoccurredinrecentyears.

　　StephenStearns,aprofessorofecologyandevolutionarybiologyatYaleUniversity,witnessedthisphenomenonfirsthandwhileteachingatPekingUniversityin2007.HecaughtanumberofhisChinesestudentsplagiarizingtheiressays.

　　“Fromthatsample,IestimatethatatleasthalfthestudentsatBeidaplagiarize,”explainsStearns.“Frommyexperienceof30yearsasaprofessorintheUnitedStates,Switzerland,andChina,itappearsthatplagiarismismuch,muchmorecommoninChinathanintheU.S.orEurope.”

　　JingLi,AssistantDirectoroftheAsiaPacificRimInternationalStudyExperienceattheUniversityofSouthernCalifornia’sRossierSchoolofEducation,admitsthatshewitnessedplagiarismwhenshewasacollegestudentinChina.Sherecallsthatstudentswouldcutentirearticlesoutofacademicjournalstomakeitmoredifficulttocatchtheircopying.

　　“Itwasverycommonamongourstudents,becauseifthisarticlewascutandyoucouldn’tfindit,youwouldfindsomeotherarticle,”Liexplains.“Atthetime,wedidn’tknowtheconceptofplagiarism-butlookingbacknow,Irealizeitwasaninstanceofplagiarism.”

　　Theconceptofplagiarism-called“piaoqie”(剽窃)inChinese–doesexistinChina,butasLi’sexperiencesuggests,itisn’tsystematicallydefinedorvigorouslycondemnedinacademia.ThisisincontrasttotheU.S.,whererulesagainstplagiarismaretypicallydirectlyaddressedintheeducationsystemandareoftenincludedincoursesyllabi.Inaddition,manyhighschoolandcollegeclasseswillrequirestudentstosubmittheiressaystoplagiarism-watchdogsitessuchasTurnitin.combeforeactuallyturningthemintotheirteachers,andstudentsarealsotypicallytaughtalsohowtoproperlycitetheirsourceswhenwritingacademicpapers.

　　“Itwasnotreallytaught,andnoonereallymentionedittous,”Liaddsinregardstoproperresearchcitation.“Ourteachers,ourprofessors,theyneversaidanything–andlookingback,Iwasthinking,wheredidthelecturescomefrom?Wasittheprofessor’soriginalwork,ordidheciteanybody?Nobodyknows.AndIrememberIdiscussedthiswithmyclassmatesbecausewewereaskedforouropinionandtolookforarticles,andthenwewereconfused–allthearticleswerelike,youcopyme,[