Plagiarism
Plagiarism is one of academia’s most common problems and a constant concern for teachers. While the Web may have made plagiarism as easy as a few simple clicks, it’s also made detecting plagiarism just as easy. If a student can find the essay in seconds, so can you—if you know where to look.
Types of Plagiarism
Anyone who has written or graded a paper knows that plagiarism is not always a black and white issue. The boundary between plagiarism and research is often unclear. Learning to recognize the various forms of plagiarism, especially the more ambiguous ones, is an important step towards effective prevention. Many people think of plagiarism as copying another’s work, or borrowing someone else’s original ideas. But terms like “copying” and “borrowing” can disguise the seriousness of the offense:
Sources Not Cited
1.”The Ghost Writer”
The writer turns in another’s work, word-for-word, as his or her own.
2.”The Photocopy”
The writer copies significant portions of text straight from a single source, without alteration
3.”The Potluck Paper”
The writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different sources, tweaking the sentences to make them fit together while retaining most of the original phrasing.
4.”The Poor Disguise”
Although the writer has retained the essential content of the source, he or she has altered the paper’s appearance slightly by changing key words and phrases.
5.”The Labor of Laziness”
The writer takes the time to paraphrase most of the paper from other sources and make it all fit together, instead of spending the same effort on original work.
6.”The Self-Stealer”
The writer “borrows” generously from his or her previous work, violating policies concerning the expectation of originality adopted by most academic institutions.
Sources Cited (But Still Plagiarized)
1.”The Forgotten Footnote”
The writer mentions an author’s name for a source, but …