Preventing Digital Plagiarism

Preventing all plagiarism all the time is impossible, but there are steps you can take to eliminate it from your classroom.

The Internet is an endless resource for information, and that means it can also be an endless source for both intentional and inadvertent plagiarism. While preventing all plagiarism all the time is impossible, but there are steps you can take to eliminate it from your classroom.

• Set guidelines. Discuss with your students what defines plagiarism, opinions, assertions, and arguments and clearly define for them what constitutes plagiarism in your classroom.

• Describe intellectual property. The World Intellectual Property Organization defines intellectual property as “creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.” Explore the concept of intellectual ownership with your students.

• Remind your students of the concept of citing resources, and walk them through some of the tools available on the Net, such as David Warlick's Citation Machine.

• Explore the concept of “common knowledge.” A good rule of thumb: If they can find information in a standard encyclopedia or in numerous sources, the information is more likely than not considered common knowledge and needn't be cited.

• Teach students the process of vetting Web content through Googling authors, reading perspectives from trusted sites, and investigating a range of opinions.

• Simplify by instructing them that a best practice to follow, even when taking notes on sources, is to paraphrase materials. Clearly define the difference between quoting someone and paraphrasing.

• Apply the “double check rule.” Have students return to the original material to confirm they used their own words before submitting their work to you.

• Consider designing tests and other evaluation materials to take advantage of technologies, such as the Internet, cell phones, iPods, etc. so that students are employing digital tools to perform higher order tasks, rather than using such tools to circumvent traditional testing boundaries.

• Let your students know up front that you will occasionally be using plagiarism check sites such as TurniItIn.

• Create a "Guidelines for Avoiding Plagiarism" checklist and share it with students and parents at Back to School Night. Emphasize that parental involvement is key to responsible student behaviour in the school setting.

Preventing Digital Plagiarism