Electronic Plagiarism Seminar

PREVENTING PLAGIARISM: General Strategies

PREVENTING PLAGIARISM:  Some strategies

Many of the techniques listed below and in the readings were developed by individuals for a particular grade level. However, I believe that most, if not all, of the techniques would work (maybe with some tinkering) for nearly any grade level. Most of my personal experience and anecdotes come from higher education, hence my references to that group.

Talk about it!

• Talk about plagiarism as an ethical and moral issue, an issue of trust between student and faculty, and among peers.
• Talk about plagiarism as a legal issue of fair use and intellectual property.  Students need to know and understand copyright and intellectual property.
• Point out the penalties (they aren't the same as for using the wrong margins or forgetting an apostrophe)
• In a high school class, invite a college teacher to talk about the ramifications of cheating in college.
• Talk about past cases, let them know that you have caught other students and tell them what happened (failed the course?)
• Make sure students know what plagiarism is. One student said that it wasn't plagiarism because it was on the Internet; another said it wasn't plagiarism because there was no copyright symbol. One professor tells his/her students that it's not plagiarism if you take it out of an encyclopedia because "that's common knowledge." Make sure they understand how to paraphrase and summarize.
• Talk about it often!
• Remember for your own benefit that many students don't plagiarize, and those who cheat hurt those who don't.

Research skills. Make sure that students know how to do research, and how to evaluate the information they find. By requiring scholarly, or peer-reviewed sources, students will not be relying on web sites of dubious value and credibility. If students know where to go to find legitimate resources, and have confidence in their research skills (i.e. waste less time!), they are more likely to do their own work. They may even enjoy the treasure hunt nature of research! Enlist the aid of librarians or school media specialists.

Lathrop and Foss include in their book (pp. 130-131) an interview with Dr. Rushworth M. Kidder entitled "Why shouldn't I cheat?" It raises some very good points worth discussing with students. 

Lasarenko offers her strategies for teaching students how to paraphrase, and as a bonus, how not to plagiarize.

Papers shorter than six pages not only teach the student to be more precise but also usually rule out custom paper mills, since six pages is often the minimum. 
However,  many essays (no bibliographies or references) that are very short and free can be found on the Internet, as well as in the library. 

Lower the stakes! Try not to make the paper count for a very large proportion of the grade. If you are unable to avoid that, try breaking down the points assigned to the paper (Harris 2001), such as a certain number of points for the first draft, for the bibliography, for the notes, etc., so that the final paper itself is only a portion of the final grade for the process.

Ask for photocopies of title pages of sources used, or even photocopies of the entire article or passage used. This allows you to quickly check for plagiarism in these sources if the student actually wrote the paper, and also requires the student to actually retrieve the resources in the paper. 

Ask for an annotated bibliography, and the earlier the better. Asking for it in advance of the paper insures that the student has done some work, and allows you to check the final bibliography against the initial one. Several classes at Le Moyne require students to work with a librarian on developing a bibliography ahead of time.  Make students get approval before using sources for a paper (always recommended for web sites). 

Require primary sources. Primary sources may be something as simple as statistics, or an individual's research results, or an interview.

Pick unique, unusual topics, very current events, or topics specific to your institution or region.  Base the assignment on a specific question.

Make the topic very specific to the goals of the class. Perhaps include something from a discussion or the readings.

"Inform students that a part of an examination late in the course will sample their knowledge of the data they submit in their paper."  (Malehorn, p.107) 

Think about the purpose of the assignment. What do you really want to accomplish? You probably don't really want your goal to be for them to know everything there is to know about the Salem witch trials, but rather you want them to find, evaluate, and use information. Is there some other way to accomplish that goal other than the traditional term paper? Make the assignment something other than a paper, such as a process.  For suggestions, see the Columbia Gorge Community College page on Alternatives to Term Papers.

One professor at this institution is downloading all his students' papers, making them searchable (only by him) for future detection.  Eventually, we may set up a campus-wide data base of student papers. 

Be wary of the request for a last-minute change in a topic. This often signals the intent to plagiarize after putting off the paper too long. 

To forestall claims of accidental or inadvertent plagiarism, allow students to submit their papers to TurnItIn.com, or encourage them to search for questionable phrases in the advanced mode of Google.

Ask students to reflect on the research and writing process (briefly?) at the end of the paper--what worked, what didn't, any surprises. (Boehm and Taggett) Interview them about the process, or ask specific questions about the paper. Make it a final exam question.

What does this author do when talking to students about plagiarism? I start with the list of definitions, and we discuss them. They ask questions, and raise objections, problems,  and conflicts. We discuss issues that affect their lives, such as Napster or a low grade for improper citations. I try to avoid preaching and instead let them raise the ethical issues. I try to remember that those who cheat are going to do it no matter what I say, that my job is to help them think about it, and to let them make their own informed choices.

I have developed a lesson plan (my first) for discussing plagiarism and ethics that I would be happy to share.

This page was created on 2 December 1999 and last updated on 23 March 2005.