Plagiarism and the Web

RETURN
edited 9/25/05

Nothing makes research easier than the Internet. And nothing makes plagiarism easier either. Students can pilfer articles from a bewildering variety of sources. There are thousands of legitimate articles to purloin and more than one hundred online sites brazenly offering pre-written papers for free. Worse still, Web-based entrepreneurs, some of whom claim to be professors with Ph.D.'s, write papers for hire.

Some write for hire sites provide plagiarists with what they deserve. Consider this confidence-inspiring Internet ad:

How can an instructor mount an adequate defense against this onslaught? Primarily by using the Web itself. Here's how to do that effectively.

Searching the Web for Plagiarized Material

Let's say you have a student paper that looks suspicious. You think it was plagiarized, probably from the Web. To prove that you have to have to find the original that was plagiarized. This requires skillful use of search sites.

Search sites are colossal, constantly updated databases of Web sites that have been indexed. The search site sifts through tens of millions of pages, creating a database of what it finds.

There are a variety of ways to search these search site databases, all of require using logical operators to structure the search. Unfortunately, all search site logical operators don't work the same way. For example, Alta Vista, a popular and powerful search site, requires you to use a plus sign in front of everything you want linked together. Other sites require you to type in the word "and." Still others require users to link words by using a pull down menu. In short, there are many differences in search engine logical operators. The search sites themselves tell you what to do. Take the time to find out.

A Simple But Powerful Strategy

Fortunately, you don't have to be a logical operator virtuoso to trace plagiarized papers. Just use a search engine to search for distinctive phrases or unique words. Enter either of these in the search engine's find box. Many times the engine will find the exact source of the plagiarism. Remember though, to avoid getting thousands of bogus hits reported back, the word or short phrase has to be highly distinctive.

If you enter "dyslexia," for instance, the search program will report back thousands upon thousands of references. But if you enter a distinctive word or a strange misspelling, you just might find exactly what you are looking for. Students often plagiarize entire papers written by somebody else simply by copying them verbatim off of one or another of the over one hundred available web cheat sites. That makes them easier for you to trace.

Keeping the phrase short is the key. Search sites don't work well with long phrases but they won't tell you that is the problem. If you search for an excessively long phrase they only report, "NOT FOUND." If however, you enter only a very short distinctive portion of the phrase, that same search engine may well find what you are looking for.

Note:     You might think that papers plagiarized from cheat sites would be well written. This isn't necessarily so. We found remarkably illiterate papers offered for copying. The morale of this story is don't assume that a paper is original just because it is inept.

Consider a paper on dyslexia we borrowed from the Evil House of Cheat. This "masterpiece" contains the following distinctive (and illiterate) sentence. "Dyslexia is not any ones (sic) fault it simply occurs when the barrier in the language center of you (sic) brain cracks." Let's say one of your students plagiarizes this classic. To prove the theft you have to trace it back to its source.

Can search sites do that for you? They sure can. If you are a novice at searching for things on the Web, you can easily just use your browser. (Most people use Netscape or Microsoft Explorer and both have search functions.) You might also try using any of the search sites listed in the upcoming table.

We checked to see how easily we could find the dyslexia paper offered for copying by the Evil House of Cheat. First we searched for "it is not any ones fault it simply occurs when the barrier in the language center of you brain cracks." As we suspected, nothing turned up. The phrase was too long. But when we shortened the phrase to "language center of you brain cracks," two of the eleven search sites we tried took us right to the Evil House of Cheat.

Here are the sites we used and whether or not they found the plagiarism.

Meta-search Engines

We think a plagiarism search should be as speedy and painless as possible. That's why we suggested using meta-search engines. These powerful tools put the capabilities of many individual search engines to work simultaneously. Meta-search engines vary in the number and type of search sites they index, so try several. We tried our five favorites (listed below) to see which ones could spot that Evil House of Cheat paper. Three sites found it: DogPile, Profusion and Savvy Search.

Here are some free meta-search engines you might want to try.

·       www.dogpile.com --searches twenty-six different search files, three at a time.

·       www.profusion.com -- indexes nine popular search engines and you can ask it to select the three best or the three fastest if you like.

·       www.SavvySearch.com -- quick, powerful and easy.

·       www.whatUseek.com --indexes four of the top search sites

·       We also put Apple's Sherlock II to work. It's a built-in meta-search engine first installed in Mac Operating System 8.5 +. True to its name, Sherlock quickly detected our text string's cheat site source.

There also are commercial or for-fee meta-search engine supermen. Here are three you might consider:

·       Quest 99. This site indexes 200+ search sites. You can specify which ones and look for information in specific categories such as discussion groups. Quest 99 costs $25 to download and $30 for the CD version. Schools can request a free copy. The program is Windows only. http://www.inforian.com

·       Mata Hari. This site indexes about 140 search sites at present count and a fifteen-day free trial copy is available. The full program is $35 to download and $50 for the CD version. http://thewebtools.com.

·       BullsEye. This powerful site indexes some 450 online search engines and databases that cover more than 60% of the Web. Bullseye costs $50. For $150 you get BullsEye Pro. It permits scheduled updates and has other advanced features. Both Bullseye and Bullseye Pro are Windows only applications, though a Bullseye technician says they run fine on Macs that have Windows emulation Educators get a 25% discount.http://www.infoseek.com

Plagiarism Defined and Discussed

Here are some Web sites that define and discuss various aspects of plagiarism. They provide helpful general reading, insights and workable suggestions.

(These are listed in approximate order of quality.)

·       http://www.rbs2.com/plag.htm
This is Ronald Standler's "Plagiarism in Colleges in USA." In 28 pages he offers an excellent overview with lots of detail. Usefulness not confined to college teachers.

·       http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/immuno/citewell/
John Rogers, of the Baylor College of Medicine presents a first-rate series of related science writing pages he collectively calls "Plagiary and the Art of Skillful Citation." Rogers discusses science writing, plagiarism, the ethics and elements of citation and policies regarding plagiarism. Nineteen high quality pages that aren't just for science instructors.

·       http://www.chem.uky.edu/courses/common/plagiarism.html
The University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry defines plagiarism, provides examples and discusses penalties. Useful, particularly if you are worried about things like lab reports. Five pages.

·       http://www.mtsu.edu/~itconf/proceed98/mhricko.
html
Mary Hricko, Library Director at Kent State University, Geauga Campus, shares thoughts on deterring Internet plagiarism. Worth reading. Five pages.

·       http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html
Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington defines plagiarism, suggesting how students can avoid it and helping them recognize unacceptable and acceptable paraphrases. We particularly liked the help they offer with paraphrasing. Three pages.

·       http://condor.stcloud.msus.edu/~scogdill/339/paraphra.html
The writing center at St. Cloud University offers some help with paraphrasing and sources. Worth looking at. One page.

·       http://www.hamilton.edu/academics/resource/wc/AvoidingPlagiarism.htmPlagiarism.html
Sharon Williams, of the Writing Center at Hamilton College offers helpful advice on avoiding plagiarism. Four pages.

·       http://wp.rutgers.edu/courses/101/plagiarism_policy/index.html
Rutgers University's Writing Center discusses plagiarism clearly and concisely. Two pages.

·       http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/~janicke/plagiary.htm
Lisa Hinchliffe, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, defines plagiarism, suggests prevention, detection and tracing strategies, and lists further reading. Useful. Four pages.

·       http://www.lesley.edu/faculty/kholmes/SSECplagiarism.html
Katherine Holmes, of the South Shore Educational Collaborative in Hingham, MA, discusses plagiarism though the web, lists some representative term paper for free and term paper for sale sites as well as a few useful print references. Three pages.

·       http://parallel.park.uga.edu/~ego/plagiarism.html
Lists a couple of web cheat sites. One page.

·       http://www.chron.com/cgi-bin/auth/story/content/
chronicle/editorial/97/09/29/galles.0-0.html
This is Gary Galles' Houston Chronicle article, "Copy these strategies to stop plagiarism by students." Offers several worthwhile, but not original, ideas. Four pages.

·       (http://www.yorku.ca/admin/cst/pla.html)
James Brown, of York University, offers a couple useful, if prosaic, suggestions. One page.

·       http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm
Robert Harris of Southern California College discusses preventative strategies in detail. Recommended. Four pages.

Plagiarism and Academic Honesty Policies

We thought you might like the URL of sites that include policy statements on plagiarism. They're from higher education sources, but could be adapted to basic education. We've included model ones, and one lame one.

·       http://members.aol.com/jen0sophia/plagpage.html
Jennifer Torgerson's web site includes a plagiarism and academic dishonesty page for her Introduction to Philosophy class. She discusses and defines cheating, fabrication of information and plagiarism. She also outlines what happens when you get caught. We think this is a model no nonsense course policy statement on academic misconduct.

·       http://www.extension.dce.harvard.edu/2001-02/policy/honesty.shtml
Harvard's Extension School provides a hypertext version of its policy on "Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism. It's short, but has teeth.

·       http://minbar.db.erau.edu/courses/plagiarism.html
This web site at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University isn't responding as of this writing. But during an earlier visit we found this part particularly interesting. "If a professor suspects plagiarism, it is the student's responsibility to demonstrate that he/she has carried out a legitimate writing/creative process by producing any or all of the following materials: notes, note cards, outlines, rough drafts, copies of specific pages from sources, and/or complete sources. The student must also be prepared to answer questions about the assignment." That makes plagiarism less inviting.

·       http://www.yukoncollege.yk.ca/student/library2.htm
The Yukon College Library Home Page lists the school's policy on "Plagiarism and Intellectual Dishonesty. It includes definitions, suggestions on how to avoid plagiarism and possible sanctions. A solid effort.

·       http://www.niu.edu
Northern Illinois University defines and lists sanctions for plagiarism. It's short, but the specific examples of plagiarism are forceful.

·       http://www.nmsu.edu/~english/policy/
New Mexico State University lists its plagiarism and academic dishonesty policies. Noteworthy for admonition about submitting previously written work for a current assignment or submitting an assignment in more than one class without permission of the instructor.

·       http://www.strose.edu/Academic/gr_ap7.htm
The College of Saint Rose very briefly defines plagiarism and academic dishonesty. It fails to enunciate a policy. Don't do it this way.

Collaborative Hypertexts and Plagiarism

The Internet promotes a new form of collaborative writing that's nicely summarized by Eric Crump and Nick Carbone in Writing Online: A Student's Guide to the Internet and the World Wide Web, Teachers using collaborative hypertext as a teaching tool assign a group of students the job of constructing a cluster of links and pages united by collaboratively written text. The whole assemblage is interactive and students are expected to help one another whenever necessary.

We've never tried collaborative hypertext writing, but it sounds interesting. It seems to create problems for traditional notions of plagiarism. Who wrote what becomes blurred and less consequential as the project grows. How can an instructor handle that? We think the essential message remains the same; don't claim what isn't yours. So if students write collaboratively, insist they share credit (or blame) for the result.

Summary

The Web facilitates plagiarism. Dishonest students pilfer articles from a disconcerting variety of electronic sources, and over one hundred online sites offer pre-written papers for free or for sale. It's practically impossible to combat this plague of cyber plagiarism without using computerized countermeasures. But an instructor with only modest Web skills can effectively counter electronic plagiarism by using the techniques just described.

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