Gasman, Marybeth

English

ScholarlyCommons@Penn

University of PennsylvaniaScholarlyCommonsGSE Publications Graduate School of Education1-2009Review of Doing Honest Work in College: How toPrepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and AchieveReal Academic SuccessMarybeth GasmanUniversity of Pennsylvania, mgasman@gse.upenn.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubsCopyright 2009 Johns Hopkins University Press. This article first appeared in:2009. Gasman, Marybeth. Review of Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success.Review of Higher Education, v. 32(2), pp. 274-5.Reprinted with permission by the Johns Hopkins University Press.This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/197For more information, please contact repository@pobox.upenn.edu.Recommended CitationGasman, M. (2009). Review of Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve RealAcademic Success. Retrieved from http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/197Review of Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations,Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic SuccessCommentsCopyright 2009 Johns Hopkins University Press. This article first appeared in:2009. Gasman, Marybeth. Review of Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, AvoidPlagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success. Review of Higher Education, v. 32(2), pp. 274-5.Reprinted with permission by the Johns Hopkins University Press.This review is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/197274 the review of higher education        Winter 2009match between particular skills and positions/of-fices with responsibility for social or organizational outcomes or goals. But within the past decade or so, since the dawn of the new millennium, both of these concepts seem to have merged—and not flawlessly.To Millennials, everyone is equal and special. (See Jean M. Twenge’s Generation Me [2007] for a great analysis of how this change in undergradu-ate student identities and experiences developed.) Consequently, everyone has leadership potential and ability, no matter one’s inherent nature or one’s role within an organization. Marcy Levy Shankman and Scott J. Allen’s Emotionally Intel-ligent Leadership demonstrates the utility—and the futility—of this line of thinking as applied to college students.This book is written for an audience of under-graduate students, no doubt to be used in student leadership seminars and courses. According to the authors, “This book will help you begin or enhance the development of your leadership potential. This book will also help you think more critically about the topic of leadership” (p. 1).But more to the point, the authors then state, “If you hope to lead others, this book will help you think about the role of leader in a new way. If you’re interested in being a good team member, a good employee, or even a good friend, EIL will provide you with some of the tools needed to be successful in a formal (appointed) or informal (voluntary) leadership role” (p. 2). But, oddly, “This book will also help you become a better follower—a role or position often left out of discussions on leader-ship” (p.2). So although everyone can be a leader, not everyone can be a leader? That confusion of purpose or focus permeates the book.Shankman and Allen use the concept of “emotional intelligence,” which, they say, “was made popular by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence” (1998) (p. 5). Three “core facets” comprise this intelligence: consciousness of self, consciousness of others, and consciousness of context. Each consciousness—and one’s overall emotional intelligence—can be monitored. Each consciousness is operationalized in a number of areas, most having to do with communicating clearly and reflexively about one’s self, about others, and about the groups and environments in which one participates. The authors’ intended critical approach to understanding and becoming leaders and/or followers is framed within these areas; it is apparently to result from reading the “Student Voice” section and other inclusions of undergraduates’ comments about leadership.I searched the book in vain for any clue to the origin of the student comments. Unfortunately, these comments are short, containing little more than adages and aphorisms. Furthermore, I doubt whether the authors’ intended audience would be able to reflect much—let alone critically—since that audience would conceivably not have much experience in leading others.Augmenting the student comments in fos-tering critical reflection is another facet of each chapter, “Reflection Questions,” which are vague and which are seemingly designed to promote followership as often as leadership. For example, “What does it mean to be a good citizen in your organization? Would others agree with your defini-tion?” (p. 84); “On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being highest, at what level of optimism would you rate the organization with which you most closely as-sociate? On what basis do you make this rating?” (p. 67); and one that is particularly suppositional and subjective, “How does losing control of emo-tions affect a leader?”I don’t think reading this slight book would harm any undergraduate; at the very least, as the authors write, “This book is intended to be a fast read” (p. 8). Indeed, improving skills to analyze contexts and to communicate with others are useful practices. On the other hand, I don’t think that this book will teach students much about leadership.RefeRencesGoleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.Twenge, J. M. (2007). Generation me: Why today’s young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled—and more miserable than ever before. New York: Free Press.Charles Lipson. Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. Paper: $13.00. ISBN: 13-978-0226-4847-30.reviewed by marybeth gasman, associate profes-sor, university of pennsyLvaniaEach year, I catch someone plagiarizing in one of my classes. When this happens, I confront the student and one of three things happens: (a) The student confesses, usually explaining how stressed he or she is; (b) The student denies the charges, acting stunned that I would accuse him or her of such a deed; or (c) The student says, “I didn’t know that was plagiarism.”Charles Lipson, a professor and director of undergraduate studies in political science at the University of Chicago, has written a readable and book reviews 275engaging book that gives students the tools to do honest work in college. Written in a way that stu-dents of all levels can comprehend, Doing Honest Work in College provides an overview of academic (dis)honesty, plagiarism, note taking, working in groups, and citing appropriately.This is a useful book that, after reading, I would recommend for every undergraduate and graduate student regardless of institutional type. Lipson walks the student (and any other reader) through the ins and outs of doing excellent aca-demic work in a variety of settings, including on tests, in group presentations, and in science labs. He spends ample time delineating the excuses that students use to explain cheating or plagiarism and then pokes holes in these excuses—in effect, acting as the conscience of the student.He then defines plagiarism, providing explicit examples in table format to help students under-stand plagiarism in every possible form. I found this section of the book to be of great interest because it is crystal clear and, after reading it, students will be hard pressed to say, “I don’t know what plagiarism is.” Another useful section of the book pertains to note taking. I get the feeling that Lipson real- ly wants students to succeed in an honest way. He provides specific instructions on how to take notes in a way that will not result in “accidental” plagiarism. For example, one strategy that he sug-gests is called “Q notes,” which involves putting a “Q” and a page number next to anything that one pulls from a source. He suggests getting into the habit of doing this so that you don’t accidentally lift someone else’s words while taking notes. All of us, student or faculty member, could benefit from this strategy.Also of great use is Lipson’s advice on how to paraphrase. He shows many examples of para-phrasing that steal ideas or merely change a word or two as well as examples of the correct way to paraphrase. Paraphrasing is a skill that we tend to take for granted as professors; however, many of our students do not know how to do it properly.Although Lipson’s strategies for academic honesty, avoiding plagiarism, and paraphrasing are excellent, the reason I am suggesting that all college students purchase this book is his inclu-sion of “mini guides” to all of the major citation styles (APA, Chicago, MLA). This book and the inclusion of these guides is a professor’s dream! Year after year, I recommend that my students buy the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association or the Chicago Manual of Style. Students may purchase one of these guides, but they rarely break the binding as they find the books intimidating and unwieldy. As a result, I end up reading papers without a common citation style and dealing with students who say they can’t figure out how to cite anything. Lipson provides students with a “no excuses” guide for citing articles, books, book chapters, interviews, the internet, etc. In addition, he includes citation styles for many different disciplines, including anthropology, biology, medicine, and chemistry, making this book usable by just about any student. Although the first edition of Doing Honest Work in College was published in 2004, this new edi-tion has been updated to include students’ use of Wikipedia, the non-refereed, on-line encyclopedia. Given that the Oxford English Dictionary began in the same way as Wikipedia, with many different people contributing to it, I have tried to keep an open mind about its use. However, I have to admit to being greatly frustrated when students rely on Wikipedia for their course papers because they fail to realize that none of the material is vetted by scholars. Lipson clearly explains the danger in relying on Wikipedia to students, noting why the validity of sources matters in scholarly research. Of course, most faculty members discuss the differ-ence between peer-reviewed and popular sources, but having Lipson back us up is helpful. He also explains how easy it has become to intentionally and unintentionally plagiarize in the internet age and how to avoid it.Although some of Lipson’s ideas and sugges-tions seem blatantly obvious, they need to be, given students’ ignorance around issues of plagiarism. Overall, Doing Honest Work in College is humorous, useful, and invaluable. I plan on recommending it regularly, with the hope that I will confront fewer cases of academic dishonesty.Joseph E. Garcia and Karen J. Hoelscher. Manag-ing Diversity Flashpoints in Higher Education. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2008. 160 pp. Cloth: $49.95. ISBN: 13-978-0275-989-804.reviewed by Joy Gaston Gayles, associate Profes-sor, adult and HiGHer education, nortH carolina state universityColleges and universities in the United States are more culturally diverse now than ever before in the history of higher education, and this trend will likely continue in the future. Therefore, it is imperative for members of campus communi-ties, namely students, faculty, and staff, to be able to communicate effectively across cultural differences.The ability to work effectively with people from various cultural groups has been identified in recent literature as an important outcome of undergraduate education. Moreover, potential employers expect college graduates to work well 

Review of Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success

Kosmopolis

University of Pennsylvania
ScholarlyCommons
GSE Publications Graduate School of Education
1-2009
Review of Doing Honest Work in College: How to
Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve
Real Academic Success
Marybeth Gasman
University of Pennsylvania, mgasman@gse.upenn.edu
Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs
Copyright 2009 Johns Hopkins University Press. This article first appeared in:
2009. Gasman, Marybeth. Review of Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success.
Review of Higher Education, v. 32(2), pp. 274-5.
Reprinted with permission by the Johns Hopkins University Press.
This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/197
For more information, please contact repository@pobox.upenn.edu.
Recommended Citation
Gasman, M. (2009). Review of Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real
Academic Success. Retrieved from http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/197
Review of Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations,
Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success
Comments
Copyright 2009 Johns Hopkins University Press. This article first appeared in:
2009. Gasman, Marybeth. Review of Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid
Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success. Review of Higher Education, v. 32(2), pp. 274-5.
Reprinted with permission by the Johns Hopkins University Press.
This review is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/197
274 the review of higher education        Winter 2009
match between particular skills and positions/of-
fices with responsibility for social or organizational 
outcomes or goals. But within the past decade or 
so, since the dawn of the new millennium, both 
of these concepts seem to have merged—and not 
flawlessly.
To Millennials, everyone is equal and special. 
(See Jean M. Twenge’s Generation Me [2007] for a 
great analysis of how this change in undergradu-
ate student identities and experiences developed.) 
Consequently, everyone has leadership potential 
and ability, no matter one’s inherent nature or 
one’s role within an organization. Marcy Levy 
Shankman and Scott J. Allen’s Emotionally Intel-
ligent Leadership demonstrates the utility—and 
the futility—of this line of thinking as applied to 
college students.
This book is written for an audience of under-
graduate students, no doubt to be used in student 
leadership seminars and courses. According to the 
authors, “This book will help you begin or enhance 
the development of your leadership potential. This 
book will also help you think more critically about 
the topic of leadership” (p. 1).
But more to the point, the authors then state, 
“If you hope to lead others, this book will help you 
think about the role of leader in a new way. If you’re 
interested in being a good team member, a good 
employee, or even a good friend, EIL will provide 
you with some of the tools needed to be successful 
in a formal (appointed) or informal (voluntary) 
leadership role” (p. 2). But, oddly, “This book will 
also help you become a better follower—a role or 
position often left out of discussions on leader-
ship” (p.2). So although everyone can be a leader, 
not everyone can be a leader? That confusion of 
purpose or focus permeates the book.
Shankman and Allen use the concept of 
“emotional intelligence,” which, they say, “was 
made popular by Daniel Goleman in his book 
Emotional Intelligence” (1998) (p. 5). Three “core 
facets” comprise this intelligence: consciousness 
of self, consciousness of others, and consciousness 
of context. Each consciousness—and one’s overall 
emotional intelligence—can be monitored. Each 
consciousness is operationalized in a number of 
areas, most having to do with communicating 
clearly and reflexively about one’s self, about 
others, and about the groups and environments 
in which one participates. The authors’ intended 
critical approach to understanding and becoming 
leaders and/or followers is framed within these 
areas; it is apparently to result from reading the 
“Student Voice” section and other inclusions of 
undergraduates’ comments about leadership.
I searched the book in vain for any clue to the 
origin of the student comments. Unfortunately, 
these comments are short, containing little more 
than adages and aphorisms. Furthermore, I doubt 
whether the authors’ intended audience would be 
able to reflect much—let alone critically—since 
that audience would conceivably not have much 
experience in leading others.
Augmenting the student comments in fos-
tering critical reflection is another facet of each 
chapter, “Reflection Questions,” which are vague 
and which are seemingly designed to promote 
followership as often as leadership. For example, 
“What does it mean to be a good citizen in your 
organization? Would others agree with your defini-
tion?” (p. 84); “On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being 
highest, at what level of optimism would you rate 
the organization with which you most closely as-
sociate? On what basis do you make this rating?” 
(p. 67); and one that is particularly suppositional 
and subjective, “How does losing control of emo-
tions affect a leader?”
I don’t think reading this slight book would 
harm any undergraduate; at the very least, as the 
authors write, “This book is intended to be a fast 
read” (p. 8). Indeed, improving skills to analyze 
contexts and to communicate with others are 
useful practices. On the other hand, I don’t think 
that this book will teach students much about 
leadership.
RefeRences
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New 
York: Bantam Books.
Twenge, J. M. (2007). Generation me: Why today’s 
young Americans are more confident, assertive, 
entitled—and more miserable than ever before. 
New York: Free Press.
Charles Lipson. Doing Honest Work in College: 
How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, 
and Achieve Real Academic Success. Chicago: 
University of Chicago Press, 2008. Paper: $13.00. 
ISBN: 13-978-0226-4847-30.
reviewed by marybeth gasman, associate profes-
sor, university of pennsyLvania
Each year, I catch someone plagiarizing in one 
of my classes. When this happens, I confront the 
student and one of three things happens: (a) The 
student confesses, usually explaining how stressed 
he or she is; (b) The student denies the charges, 
acting stunned that I would accuse him or her of 
such a deed; or (c) The student says, “I didn’t know 
that was plagiarism.”
Charles Lipson, a professor and director of 
undergraduate studies in political science at the 
University of Chicago, has written a readable and 
book reviews 275
engaging book that gives students the tools to do 
honest work in college. Written in a way that stu-
dents of all levels can comprehend, Doing Honest 
Work in College provides an overview of academic 
(dis)honesty, plagiarism, note taking, working in 
groups, and citing appropriately.
This is a useful book that, after reading, I 
would recommend for every undergraduate and 
graduate student regardless of institutional type. 
Lipson walks the student (and any other reader) 
through the ins and outs of doing excellent aca-
demic work in a variety of settings, including on 
tests, in group presentations, and in science labs. 
He spends ample time delineating the excuses that 
students use to explain cheating or plagiarism and 
then pokes holes in these excuses—in effect, acting 
as the conscience of the student.
He then defines plagiarism, providing explicit 
examples in table format to help students under-
stand plagiarism in every possible form. I found 
this section of the book to be of great interest 
because it is crystal clear and, after reading it, 
students will be hard pressed to say, “I don’t know 
what plagiarism is.” 
Another useful section of the book pertains 
to note taking. I get the feeling that Lipson real- 
ly wants students to succeed in an honest way. 
He provides specific instructions on how to take 
notes in a way that will not result in “accidental” 
plagiarism. For example, one strategy that he sug-
gests is called “Q notes,” which involves putting a 
“Q” and a page number next to anything that one 
pulls from a source. He suggests getting into the 
habit of doing this so that you don’t accidentally 
lift someone else’s words while taking notes. All 
of us, student or faculty member, could benefit 
from this strategy.
Also of great use is Lipson’s advice on how to 
paraphrase. He shows many examples of para-
phrasing that steal ideas or merely change a word 
or two as well as examples of the correct way to 
paraphrase. Paraphrasing is a skill that we tend to 
take for granted as professors; however, many of 
our students do not know how to do it properly.
Although Lipson’s strategies for academic 
honesty, avoiding plagiarism, and paraphrasing 
are excellent, the reason I am suggesting that all 
college students purchase this book is his inclu-
sion of “mini guides” to all of the major citation 
styles (APA, Chicago, MLA). This book and the 
inclusion of these guides is a professor’s dream! 
Year after year, I recommend that my students 
buy the Publication Manual of the American 
Psychological Association or the Chicago Manual 
of Style. Students may purchase one of these 
guides, but they rarely break the binding as they 
find the books intimidating and unwieldy. As a 
result, I end up reading papers without a common 
citation style and dealing with students who say 
they can’t figure out how to cite anything. Lipson 
provides students with a “no excuses” guide for 
citing articles, books, book chapters, interviews, 
the internet, etc. In addition, he includes citation 
styles for many different disciplines, including 
anthropology, biology, medicine, and chemistry, 
making this book usable by just about any student. 
Although the first edition of Doing Honest Work 
in College was published in 2004, this new edi-
tion has been updated to include students’ use of 
Wikipedia, the non-refereed, on-line encyclopedia. 
Given that the Oxford English Dictionary began in 
the same way as Wikipedia, with many different 
people contributing to it, I have tried to keep an 
open mind about its use. However, I have to admit 
to being greatly frustrated when students rely on 
Wikipedia for their course papers because they 
fail to realize that none of the material is vetted 
by scholars. Lipson clearly explains the danger in 
relying on Wikipedia to students, noting why the 
validity of sources matters in scholarly research. Of 
course, most faculty members discuss the differ-
ence between peer-reviewed and popular sources, 
but having Lipson back us up is helpful. He also 
explains how easy it has become to intentionally 
and unintentionally plagiarize in the internet age 
and how to avoid it.
Although some of Lipson’s ideas and sugges-
tions seem blatantly obvious, they need to be, given 
students’ ignorance around issues of plagiarism. 
Overall, Doing Honest Work in College is humorous, 
useful, and invaluable. I plan on recommending it 
regularly, with the hope that I will confront fewer 
cases of academic dishonesty.
Joseph E. Garcia and Karen J. Hoelscher. Manag-
ing Diversity Flashpoints in Higher Education. 
Westport, CT: Praeger, 2008. 160 pp. Cloth: 
$49.95. ISBN: 13-978-0275-989-804.
reviewed by Joy Gaston Gayles, associate Profes-
sor, adult and HiGHer education, nortH carolina 
state university
Colleges and universities in the United States are 
more culturally diverse now than ever before in 
the history of higher education, and this trend 
will likely continue in the future. Therefore, it is 
imperative for members of campus communi-
ties, namely students, faculty, and staff, to be 
able to communicate effectively across cultural 
differences.
The ability to work effectively with people 
from various cultural groups has been identified 
in recent literature as an important outcome of 
undergraduate education. Moreover, potential 
employers expect college graduates to work well 


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