The copy-and-paste technology available on computers and the Web has exacerbated plagiarism problems. Many students find it so easy that it does not even occur to them that it is illegal.

Reasons students plagiarize:

• They want to make an "easy A"
• They don't realize information on the Internet has to be cited
• They don't know how to cite information
• Time pressures
• Grade pressures

Education about plagiarism, what it is and how to avoid it, will prevent most plagiarism. Instructors are in the best position to prevent plagiarism by providing this education. The library also has programs available to educate students in this area.

Another way to prevent plagiarism is to develop assignments which are "plagiarism resistent:"

• "Define plagiarism"
• "Work with students on the proper citation of sources"
• "Use plagiarism tutorials or quizzes"
• "Require very narrow, specific topics (less likely to be in Internet paper mills)" - This is also the best way to encourage high quality papers. If the subject is narrow enough the student can read everything available on the subject and then write about their conclusions, something not available in paper mills
• "Require current resources in bibliographies (bibliographies in papers from Internet paper mills tend to be less current)"
• "Emphasize the process of writing by requiring oral presentations and class discussions of proposals, outlines, working bibliographies, multiple drafts, meetings to discuss progress, etc. scheduled throughout the course"
• "Require photocopies and printouts of the source material"
• "Require in-class writing exercises, for example, on the paper due date, have each student write a brief essay on his/her research experience, what worked, what didn't work, etc."
• "Demonstrate knowledge abut the existence of Internet paper mills, perhaps by using poorly written papers, obtained from paper mills to discuss good writing techniques"
• "Use research assignments other than term papers" Alternatives to Term Papers, or Other Types of Assignments Requiring Library Research from Columbia Gorge Community College Library)
• Call the library and schedule a training session for you class on plagiarism and citing information sources

If you wish to use plagiarism tutorials or quizzes, here are some of the best on the Web:

• Copyright and Plagiarism Tutorials from the Rochester Institute of Technology Library
• Lemonade Tutorial on Plagiarism from the University of Southern Florida
• Plagiarism--Prevention and Detection from Baylor University
• Plagiarism Tutorial from North Carolina State University
• Roig's Plagiarism Knowledge Survey from Skidmore College (scroll down to see it)
• Plagiarism and Academic Integrity at Rutgers University

Unfortunately, education and innovative assignments will not stop all plagiarism. The next step is detection. There are some signs in the content of a paper which can indicate that plagiarism may be occurring. They are:

• "Language and grammar that is too sophisticated for the student"
• "Inconsistencies in language and grammar"
• "Mixed font styles and sizes"
• "Resources not available in the library listed in the bibliography" (interlibrary loan services may account for this; but a typical student doesn't work far enough in advance to use ILL services)
• "A bibliographic citation style that doesn't match the one specified [or the] paper doesn't meet specified requirements"

There are four ways for the instructor to gather evidence of plagiarism:

• "Search full-text proprietary databases owned by the library"
• "Search Internet search engines"
• "Search within paper mills"
• "Use a plagiarism detection service"

The full-text proprietary databases owned by the library can be accessed here. The most common databases accessed are ProQuest and NewsBank.Search for unique phrases by placing them in quotes.

A list of Internet search engines is provided here. We recommend starting with Google, then trying some of the other search engines. Search for unique phrases by placing them in quotes.

Here are three excellent resources for Internet paper mills:

• Fee-Based Academic Papers links from Google
• Free Academic Papers links from Google

The following are some plagiarism detection services available on the Web:

• Eve 2 Essay Verification Engine - "This service uses software that is installed on a local computer. The software is used to identify the papers (files stored in text file format on the local computer) to be checked against a database located on the Internet. Results are returned within a matter of minutes" - free trial available
• Glatt Plagiarism Services - "..the software removes every fifth word, leaving a standard space in place of the word. The writer of the paper is expected to accurately replace those words within a reasonable time"
• TurnItIn.com - "Similar to EduTie, this is a web-based service to which papers are submitted and compared to resources in a database... Note, a copy of the submitted paper is kept in the database"
• WordCheck - "Similar to CopyCatch, WordCheck resides on a local computer and uses a local database to "help identify key word use in documents to assist in the identification and analysis of intellectual property"

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS with these detection services exist. "According to Lou Bloomfiled, PlagiServe and EduTie share IP addresses with a number of term paper mills... they say that there is no connection between these two services and any term paper mills... it's important to be aware of this potential relationship...

"With a service like TurnItIn, the issue of copyright is raised because all papers submitted to TurnItIn are retained in the TurnItIn database. Some institutions have chosen not to use TurnItIn because of potential legal problems; others are using it, but faculty must make students aware that their paper is kept in the TurnItIn database. Privacy is another area of concern because the students' names are associated with the submitted papers."

When one of these plagiarism services indicates possible plagiarism, it is still up to the instructor to review the facts and verify that plagiarism has in fact occurred. "For example. I submitted a previous Tech Talk column [which I wrote] to EVE, and it assessed a 3.5% possibility of plagiarism. However, when I looked at the specific examples, there was no evidence of plagiarism."

Finally, be aware of your own institution's rules and regulations related to plagiarism. For instance, if occurrences of plagiarism are supposed to be placed on a student's record, but the faculty fail to do so, the student could be plagiarizing repeatedly without faculty members being conscious of the big picture.

Below are some more Web sources on plagiarism:

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism Univ. of Melbourne
Anti-Plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers Virtual Salt
Cheating, Plagiarism (and Other Questionable Practices), the Internet and Other Electronic Resources University of Wisconsin, Madison
Electronic Plagiarism Seminar Le Moyne College
Guide to Plagiarism and Cyber-Plagiarism University of Alberta
The New Plagiarism: Seven Antidotes to Prevent Highway Robbery in an Electronic Age
Plagiarism and Anti-Plagiarism by Heyward Ehrlich

This page is based on an article in Library Instruction Round Table News, September 2002, Vol. 25, no.1. The article, on pp. 12-14 is titled "Plagiarized Papers," by Billie Peterson of Baylor University.

For more information, read the excellent article by Jamie McKenzie, The New Plagiarism: Seven Antidotes to Prevent Highway Robbery in an Electronic Age.