Plagiarism is using someone else’s words and ideas without having acknowledged the source in which the information came.

1. Be familiar with what Internet Plagiarism is

There are many ways for students to get ahold of information quickly and easily through the Internet. Downloading papers or copying ideas is readily available at the click of the mouse. Check out some of these websites so that when a source similar to what you have seen is turned in you will be aware of its potential background.

2. Inform Your Students

While many students have heard of plagiarism many may not know what it is and that they could be plagiarizing without even knowing it. Familiarize your students with an explicit definition of plagiarism and ways to cite information so that you are giving credit to the correct person.

3. Create and Inform about Consequences

If the school does not have a policy about plagiarism then create your own and inform your students as to what the policy is. Make the consequences clear and make the students aware of them. One example of a consequence would be to receive an F on the plagiarized assignment or more seriously an F in the course.

 

4. Ways of Preventing Plagiarism

Make all aspects of the assignment clear and be specific about what it is that you expect the students to hand in. By providing a list of specific topics for the assignment or a specific date that an article was published by will cut down on the amount of information they have to choose from in the end making plagiarism difficult. By setting specific dates for certain parts of the research paper process will ensure all work is being down by the individual students and not plagiarized from someone else. Have students include a bibliography so that you can go look at the resources the students used and make sure that they are legitimate.

5. Follow-up Activities

http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.htm

http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm

http://www.plagiarism.org