This blog series discusses ways to prevent plagiarism and what to do when faced with a possible case of plagiarism. We complete this series by reviewing resources available to help prevent plagiarism in your course.
One simple prevention tool is Turnitin.com, a text matching service that can be used in the Canvas Assignments tool. When students submit their assignments, the text in their papers is compared to: student papers previously submitted to the Turnitin database; books; journals; newspapers; and other sources. Turnitin generates a percentage report showing the match between the student’s text and these sources. You can allow students access to these reports, but we recommend guidance on interpreting the results. A CITL consultant can help you with these recommendations, as they should be specific to each course and assignment. Learn more about Turnitin here and how to use it with a Canvas assignment.
Writing Tutorial Services (WTS) provides free help with any aspect of the writing process. Should a WTS tutor suspect that a student has plagiarized, the tutor will try to help the writer diagnose the problem. For example, the tutor might say that she notices more than one voice in the piece. Or, the tutor might have the student explain a certain section of writing. Alternatively, tutors might ask if some material needs to be quoted, or if borrowed material has been cited correctly. However, it is ultimately the student’s responsibility to avoid plagiarism. Because tutors may not have read the course material and may not know what counts as common knowledge in a particular course, they cannot always identify a case of plagiarism when they see it.
Lastly, these tutorials help students recognize plagiarism. They can even obtain a certificate as proof of completion. Contact CITL for help with assignment design and to develop strategies for preventing plagiarism in your courses.
Plagiarism Blog Series:
- Designing Assignments to Promote Academic Honesty
- Collaborate with Librarians to Help Your Students Develop Their Research Workflow
- What is Plagiarism and How Do I Talk with Students about It?
- Truth, Then Consequences: When Plagiarism Is Reported at IU
- Resources to Help Minimize Plagiarism in Your Course
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