Resources for Preventing and Detecting Plagiarism
Recognizing and Preventing the Problem
Many faculty and librarians have contributed advice. Here are some of the most useful resources:- Avoiding Plagiarism - Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) offers students writing and citation help, exercises, and best practices for faculty.
- "Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing" Purdue University Online Writing Lab.
- Anti-Plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers is by Robert Harris and is based on his Plagiarism Handbook. An excellent distillation of his advice.
- Preventing Plagiarism is part of a longer resource guide created by the University of Alberta Libraries.
- Citing and Avoiding Plagiarism at Duke University Libraries provides tips and guidance for students throughout the writing process.
- Council of Writing Program Administrators Statement on Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism
- "Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It" Writing Resources. Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University.
- "The Correct Use of Borrowed Information" English Department, Winthrop University.
Cvetkovic, Vibiana Bowman, and Katie Elson Anderson. Stop Plagiarism: A Guide to Understanding and Prevention. New York: Neal Schuman Publishers, 2010.
Journal Articles
Howard, Rebecca Moore, and Laura J. Davies. "Plagiarism in the Internet Age." Educational Leadership 66.6 (2009): 64-67. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web.
Power, Lori R. "University Students' Perceptions of Plagiarism." The Journal of Higher Education 80.6 (2009): 643-662. Project MUSE. Web.
Full-text Databases
Many databases allow you to search the articles' text for a string of words enclosed in quotation marks. A complete list of databases with their descriptions are available on our Research Databases page.
Detection Software
- Plagiarism.com Software screening program that creates a test of familiarity for a student to complete. The company says that no student has been falsely accused. CD ROM program.
- Plagiarism.org Online service that checks submitted student papers against a large database and provides reports of results.
Local Resources
UR Liaison Librarians
The liaison librarian who works with your department can help your students find appropriate resources and citation formats, or can help faculty who are trying to track misappropriated material.
UR Writing Center
The Writer's Web has a section on using sources effectively that gives examples of proper quotation and paraphrasing of sources.
Citing Sources
One of the Library reference guides, this page has sample citations for MLA, Turabian, APA, and subject specific documentation styles.
Academic Skills Center
You can refer students to the ASC for help with time management, note-taking, or specific subject matter.