Detection of Plagiarism in Student Papers

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  • Paper seems to be too good

    • Reads like an encyclopedia article

      • Ask librarian for help: check written and electronic encyclopedias
      • Pick unusual string of 4-6 words or a proper name from the paper and do an Internet search
      • Ask student to explain choice of certain phrases or to identify location of some specific fact

    • Paper seems above student’s research or writing ability

      • Have him read a few paragraphs from the paper and check for fluency of reading (especially if you can compare to his reading of something you know he has written)
      • Have him read a few paragraphs from the paper and check for understanding
      • Have him rewrite a paragraph or two from the paper in his own words in the classroom while you observe
      • Select 5 or 10 big words from the paper and have him explain them
      • Copy a section of the paper. Cut into paragraphs. Have him reassemble them. (If he wrote it, he’ll be able to do this.)
      • Ask him to bring outline and drafts to the interview; this works only if students have been told that you may ask for these at any time and that failure to produce them will be considered proof of dishonesty

    • A critical review of a play or film seems to be very professional in style and vocabulary

      • Check a few unique words strings on the Internet
      • Discuss the play or film in some detail with the student, asking her to explain and justify several of her opinions as expressed in the review

    • A paper contains words you wouldn’t expect the student to know (unusual words, archaic expressions, highly technical terms, abstruse cultural references)

      • Have the student read aloud a paragraph with unusual vocabulary or scholarly terms and note the fluency of his reading; students usually don’t use unfamiliar sentence constructions or write words they don’t know
      • Have him explain or paraphrase the paragraph 

    • A student’s paper has marked shifts in style and organization (some poorly written paragraphs and others that are very polished in style)

      • A good clue is whether the writing in the middle sounds too advanced
      • Check for consistency of sentence length (or of grammatical correctness) throughout the paper
      • Check the bibliography for books and journal articles that actually exist; many book chapters do not have separate bibliographies
      • Ask the librarian to identify books in the school library on a slightly broader topic than the paper—where the paper could be a chapter
      • Ask the student to read one or two difficult paragraphs from the paper and explain them
      • Ask where several items in the bibliography were located

    • A paper has a journalistic sound (short sentences, frequent quotes from experts in the filed, snappy writing)

      • Pick an unusual phrase or two and do an Internet search
      • Ask librarian’s help to check CD-ROM and online sources of current news articles (ProQuest, SIRS, NewsBank)
      • Ask the student to discuss the paper with you and explain why s/he chose the experts s/he quoted

  • Paper sounds familiar

  • A student hands in a copy of a friend’s paper from a previous semester, or one from a file of old papers (your class or a closely related class) that are available on campus
    • Keep papers filed in the department by topic; return grade and topic to student but not the paper (or make a Xerox copy or ask for 2 copies to be handed in)
    • Be sure to check the middle section of the paper; many students change the beginning, the end, and the title, while copying the middle.
    • Avoid using the same assignment year after year; do not give students the choice of topics used in previous years

  • Students in different sections/periods of the same class appear to have worked together on their papers and turned in very similar final versions

    • Check all papers on the same topic for conclusions that are too similar or for same paragraphs in the middle of the paper
    • Check the papers for bibliographies that are identical or vary only slightly
    • Be sure you have made it clear to the students how much collaboration you consider fair
    • Ask the students, separately, for an explanation of the close similarity. Check their understanding of permissible collaboration on the assignment. 
Paper appears to be just “a little bit off” The paper has an odd appearance The title page is in a different font or typeface from the paper body or printed on a different style of paper Gray or faded test in areas that were in color on the screen indicates a paper printed directly from the Internet The layout seems strange or may be the combination of two of more different format styles Links to Internet sites are embedded in the paper, there are strange headers or footers, or a web address from the Internet has been left on the paper  Ask the student for an explanation of breaks in page numbers, a Web address, or other strange or out-of-place items The paper just doesn’t match the assignment closely enough The approach to the topic differs from the one assigned in class The assigned topic is addressed only peripherally and may not fit with the rest of the paper Ask the student to clarify his treatment of the topic and have him explain several paragraphs to check his understanding of what he has written A quotation or a reference cited in the paper doesn’t “sound right” Finish grading all papers before you turn any back.. The actual source may turn up in another paper Ask the student to explain the quotation or reference, what it means to her, how it supports the topic, and where she located the source Check that all citations in the paper actually are listed in the bibliography The bibliography is suspicious (too long; few references to assigned reading in the class; most of the copyrights are four or more years old; format is one that the student wouldn’t know and that was not required in class)  Ask student to explain the bibliographic format and show what style sheet she used Have her demonstrate the format by making new citations for 3 articles and books you provide; check that they match the suspect paper Ask where each reference was located Ask which print and electronic periodical indexes she used and get a copy of the index page showing the reference cited Ask why there are no recent items If an article seems too specialized, ask her to discuss the article Ask for a finished bibliography to be turned in a week before the term paper is due so that you have time to check suspicious entries

Sources: Ann Lathrop and Kathleen Foss, Student Cheating and Plagiarism in the Internet Era.
Bernard Whitley, Jr. and Patricia Keith-Spiegel, Academic Dishonesty.

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