Avoiding Plagiarism in Papers

Here are some tips to discourage plagiarism in written assignments:

• Include a clear definition of plagiarism, the proper way to cite resources and the expectations from each student on the syllabus.
• Discourage students from the start by including in the syllabus that plagiarism detection tools will be used.
• Create assignments that encourage originality or that take a different slant on the course material.
• Break down assignments into smaller pieces and require students to submit a rough draft and/or outline. Have multi-part assignment submissions that build on each other.
• Include a personal reflection as part of the assignment submission.
• Assign different projects each year.
• Require students to present a report on their paper.
• Use plagiarism detection tools like Turnitin and Blackboard SafeAssign.

Turnitin and Blackboard SafeAssign

Plagiarism detection tools like Turnitin and Blackboard SafeAssign are designed to help faculty identify possible plagiarism in student papers. These tools are incorporated into Blackboard. Students submit their papers through the tool, and artificial intelligence scans the paper against a huge database of archived web pages, academic articles and student papers submitted in the past.

Some faculty appreciate tools like Turnitin for saving time and effort. Others have found it helpful as a teaching tool, allowing students to see and correct problem areas before they submit their final drafts.

Here is some information on SafeAssign (pdf) and Turnitin Direct Assignment (doc).