Outright plagiarism happens when a student copies an entire paper, or significant portions, from the Internet, another student or even a body of work the student produced for another class. The writer may change key words and phrases to make the paper appear more authentic, but no original research was done on the topic.
Lazy paraphrasing may lead to a paper pieced together from several sources with original wording disguised by paraphrasing, or just a few words shuffled around to make the paper almost identical.
Improper citations happen when the writer obscures sources, making it impossible to find them, fails to put direct passages in quotation marks, or uses so many quotations that no original work exists.
Provide a clear definition of plagiarism. Students may not know what plagiarism looks like, especially those from another culture where the intelligence properties may not be as valued.
Explain why plagiarism is wrong. It is just as much stealing as shoplifting a candy bar from a convenience store. Also, students using plagiarized reports are not learning how to process information readily available.
Require oral presentations. Students can memorize a paper, but will not be prepared for questions if they haven't researched the topic. Ask questions about the research and writing process.
Require annotated bibliographies, in which students include the specific location of the source (author, title, call number for books or complete website address for Internet sources), and a brief summary of about 150 words. The annotation should include an evaluation of the source and its usefulness to the subject.
Have clear consequences for plagiarized work.
Cite your resources. Providing quotes from reliable sources strengthens your paper. Resources can be cited in footnotes or in the text, with enough information given for the reader to find the source in your bibliography. The author's last name and page number is usually sufficient for citations in the body of the text.
Use quotation marks and source information in your notes to avoid unintentional plagiarism.
Cite resources that were paraphrased. Plagiarism can be avoided by giving credit to the source of information.
Clarify with the instructor or publisher about what information to include in a citation and the preferred format.