Fighting Cyberplagiarism

A professor approaches the reference desk and hands me a recent student paper. "I think this has been plagiarized," she says. "Can you help me prove that the content has been lifted?" Skimming the text, I note a few unique phrases and type the word combinations into Google's search box. I click on the link to the first hit—I'm feeling lucky—and see that the web document matches the student's paper verbatim.

Cyberplagiarism—which can extend from copying concepts found on the web without giving attribution to purchasing papers from online paper mills—isn't restricted to colleges and universities. It can be found at all levels of the educational system. Although plagiarism isn't new, it has definitely increased with the advent of the web.

While it is interesting to speculate why, in the age of Napster, plagiarism is on the rise, it remains the responsibility of librarians and educators to fight it. The inevitable scare tactics, ethical homilies, and legal warnings to students will most likely be futile. Instead, the war on plagiarism has to be waged more strategically. What follows are six commonsense strategies that, together, can provide a comprehensive approach to this complex problem.

Educators and librarians should emphasize that they are savvy—aware of the Internet term paper mills that sell prepackaged or customized term papers (e.g., www.schoolsucks.com). This point should be stressed at every opportunity, when handing out syllabi, explaining instructions for assignments, and conducting library research sessions.

The Kimbel Library of Coastal Carolina University includes a compilation of term paper mills on its web site. "When this list started in March 1999," the site states, "it had 35 sites on it. Currently, March 2003, there are over 250 general sites listed." Harnessing the power of Google's advanced search features yields other leads, too: try typing "related:www.geniuspapers.com" or "www.cheathouse.com " in Google's search box. Let students know that if they use paper mills they could turn in the same paper as one of their peers.

Let educators know how easy it can be to search for potentially plagiarized text and promote online searching and information retrieval skills. A workshop on advanced Internet and online database searching could help many teachers. Plagiarized assignments are often retrieved with a simple phrase search through either a free search engine or proprietary databases from EBSCO or ProQuest.

Both instructors and students overlook this simple truth, expressed best by reference librarian Denise Hamilton: "Technology has made plagiarism easier, but it has also made it easier to detect." If students are aware that their instructors have been empowered to search efficiently for plagiarized material, then they may think twice about turning it in.

While search engines can identify many instances of plagiarism, they are little help in locating materials purchased from term paper mills. These commercial services are part of the invisible web and not accessible through general, all-purpose search tools.

Enlist the help of tutoring services within your school or college. Many colleges and universities have staff writing centers, and some instructors insist that a tutor "sign off" on student papers.

A skilled writing tutor may be able to recognize text that has been intentionally or unintentionally plagiarized. Subtle or dramatic shifts in tone, style, or diction are often clues that content may have been pilfered. In the end, a writing center is yet another forum where students can learn such skills as paraphrasing and citing their sources. Indiana University's Writing Tutorial Services, for instance, provides handouts in print and on the web such as "Plagiarism: What It Is and How To Avoid It."

Design part of your web sites to help students properly cite work, with links to online citation help. The University of Arizona, Tucson, for one, provides a wonderful resource. Likewise, feature information about plagiarism and how to avoid it. Canada's University of Alberta sets a benchmark with its Guide to Plagiarism and Cyber-plagiarism. It includes a section for faculty (Promoting Academic Integrity, Why Students Plagiarize, Detecting Plagiarism) and one for students (Research and Writing Help, Avoiding Plagiarism).

Instructors may need to modify their courses and the structure of their assignments. Librarian Mary Ellen Scribner has noted that the schools that are most successful in either stopping or decreasing plagiarism are those that "place as much importance on the process as on the product." Control of and accountability for the research process is paramount.

Instructors can divide major research and writing projects into successive, smaller assignments that culminate in a finished product. This could include requiring a thesis statement, abstract, annotated bibliography, rough draft, and, then, final draft. Setting some parameters for bibliographies can be helpful, too. Precisely, mandate that students use a specified, minimum number of books, articles, and web sites. Another tip: collect an in-class, handwritten writing assignment from students at the beginning of each new term.

Invest in antiplagiarism software. These tools come in three varieties: software that checks student papers against the Internet, proprietary databases, and its own repository of term papers; software that compares documents against Internet content; and software that analyzes the writing sample itself (see "Plagiarism-Fighting Software," above). Several of these products have been on the market for years. Before making a purchase, try them out and talk also to colleagues who have implemented these solutions.

None of these strategies alone will be the answer. Nor will every plagiarist be caught. What is more important—and ultimately more successful—is for librarians and educators to work together to institutionalize a culture that will deter plagiarism.