Controlling Online Plagiarism

Plagiarism is becoming more common with each passing day. While most students who plagiarize do so intentionally, many others are simply not aware of the correct way to cite sources and references. Due to the internet, it has become extremely simple for students to find any kind of information on the web and pass it off as their own. To assist in writing plagiarism free papers please read our article, Study Tips and Resources for further information.

This dangerous trend has led to many changes in the way universities function as well as launching a host of new software programs for the detection of plagiarism. The system of searching for information on the internet and doing a quick copy and paste is now somewhat limited, since it is very easy to detect direct plagiarism, although as the volume of plagiarized works is increasing it is becoming more difficult for teachers to keep up.

The time taken to check each paper can be cumbersome; so many instances of plagiarism often go unchecked. Online tools such as search engines are useful, but they cannot find information on password-protected sites, and the sheer amount of information to sort through can be daunting. Some of the largest sources of online plagiarism are the “paper mills” that churn out hundreds of papers to sell to students.

Controlling plagiarism

Plagiarism can be controlled on several fronts, the first being an increased awareness so that unintentional plagiarism can be eradicated. Teachers need to start teaching students about plagiarism at a young age. It is also essential for educators to understand the reasons why students plagiarize, such as bad time-management skills, substandard methods of research and a negative attitude to homework and grades, and tackle these issues as well.

Educating students about what all entails plagiarism is essential to fight against it. Many schools and universities encourage their teachers to keep changing the format of their class papers and to teach students how to use references and citations.

Intentional plagiarism is where students knowingly purchase material, copy and paste material directly from the internet and misuse or alter citations, all of which are serious offenses. Using search engines such as Google, Hotbot, AltaVista, AlltheWeb, Fast Search or Northern Light and plagiarism detection sites has been able to control it to a certain extent but has not been able to eradicate it completely as many detection sites are only able to pick out word-for-word copies.

There are plagiarism prevention programs such as SafeAssign by Blackboard Beyond that work as a vetting process – students submit their work, which is then checked through SafeAssign’s internal, internet and global database for originality and authenticity.

Preventing plagiarism from becoming the norm

The punishment for plagiarism needs to be extreme in order to work as a method to stop it in the future. Some universities go as far as expelling students and even revoking academic degrees, if the plagiarism is discovered after the student’s graduation.

Educating students about plagiarism is vital

The best and most long-lasting way to remove plagiarism is to educate students. Instructors must also be extremely specific about the requirements for each paper, giving a list of topics as well as specific components for the paper, such as number of internet and book sources, personal interviews and surveys. Teachers who specify books or articles to be used as information for a paper are less likely to see any plagiarism.

Asking students to present their research in an oral format is also a great way to prevent plagiarism. Requiring all references to be recent, such as less than five years old, will easily eliminate many term papers that are found on the internet. Another good preventive method is to ask students to write meta-learning essays about the assignment, as they turn in their papers, which will be a good insight into a student’s true knowledge of the subject.

Additional related articles and information:
Plagiarism.org
Plagiarism.com
Turnitin.com
Wikipedia.org
Metacrawler.com
Wiki.safeassign.com
M4-software.com
Canexus.com
Doccop.com
Kalama.com
Lib.umich.edu
Copyscape.com

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