Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism, as defined on the University of Akron Office of General Counsel web page, “is the intentional or unintentional use of the words or ideas of another without acknowledging their source.” Deliberate and accidental plagiarism are treated the same by the University and the School of Law.  The University places the responsibility on the students to know what plagiarism is and to avoid it.

Law students caught plagiarizing will be violating the Law School’s Student Disciplinary Code and will be subject to proceedings under the Code.  Consequences can be severe and may include dismissal from the University.

More information about plagiarism:

  1. Law LibraryPlagiarism Guide – find out what does not need citing, the purpose of citations and the many different categories of plagiarism.
  2. CALI Lesson:  Plagiarism – Keeping Out of Trouble – This lesson will explain what constitutes plagiarism, how to avoid plagiarizing, and offers opportunities for students to test their understanding of plagiarism.

Lynn Lenart
Assistant Law Librarian for Reference Services, llenart@uakron.edu

Use CALI Throughout the Semester!

The Computer Assisted Legal Instructions (CALI) lessons are a valuable resource that you may wish to use to review or reinforce material covered in class.

“The CALI Library of Lessons is a collection of over 900 interactive, computer-based lessons covering most legal education subject areas. The lessons are designed to augment traditional law school instruction and can be assigned as supplemental study material or integrated with other course materials. ” (Source: CALI web site)

To use the lessons you will need to register on the CALI site and enter our law school’s authorization code.  Here are the instructions for obtaining the School of Law CALI authorization code and accessing the CALI lessons:

1. Click on this link and enter your UAnet ID and university password.

2. A PDF document will open with Akron’s CALI authorization code and additional instructions on accessing the CALI website.

3. Go to CALI’s website (http://www.cali.org ) and click on “Create New Account.”   Follow the instructions on that web page and enter the CALI authorization code when prompted. Use your University email address.

You will need to use this authorization code the first time you register.   During the registration process you create a custom password. In subsequent visits to use the lessons, you will just enter your email address and your custom password.

Please do not give The University of Akron School of Law CALI authorization code to anyone outside of this law school.  The University of Akron is a member of the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction and therefore has a license to the CALI exercises.

Questions? Please contact Lynn Lenart at llenart@uakron.edu or call 330-972-6357.

Coffee and Chat for Evening Students – Tuesday, March 4th from 5:00 – 6:30 PM – in the atrium

This is a special program for evening students, but all students are welcome!

Stop by our table in the atrium on Tuesday evening (March 4th) from 5:00 – 6:30 PM to have your resume reviewed, ask any career-related or student services questions you have, or just to say hello and grab a cup of coffee!

Directors Alisa Benedict O’Brien and Ivy Banks will be available and look forward to meeting you.

Come learn about the Knight Foundation Fellowship – a summer opportunity open to all students – Monday, March 3rd at 12:20 – Room 133

Knight Foundation Fellowship Program  (paid)

Seeking the next Knight Foundation Fellow for Summer 2014! Are you interested in constitutional law, first amendment law, or open public records issues? We have an exciting opportunity for you! We will consider 1L, 2L, and 3L students.

The goal of the Knight Foundation Fellowship Program (the “Program”) is to provide law students valuable work experience and to provide meaningful research regarding the need in Ohio for open record laws that serve the public in the digital age. The Knight Foundation (the “Foundation”) will fund the recipients with a stipend while they perform research into the assigned topic. Results of the research will be presented to a committee to be made up of members of various newspaper, university, law firm, bar association and broadcaster organizations (the “Public Records Committee”). Research was commenced last summer by one of our students and is off to an exciting start! The next Fellow will continue that research as we move to Phase Two of our project.

The details: The fellow(s) will work for 10 weeks, for approximately 30 hours per week, part-time, doing research on the Ohio Public Records Act this summer, starting after exams on a date agreed upon by the fellow and the Public Records Committee. The work schedule will be flexible and will be conducted at a local law firm in Akron.

Interested in learning more? Come to our lunch program on Monday, March 3rd at 12:20 in Room 133. We will explain more about this exciting opportunity, have application packets available, introduce you to members of the Committee, and of course feed you!

Questions or want to attend? Contact Alisa Benedict O’Brien to RSVP – ab139@uakron.edu