Prevention Guidelines
About Prevention
Plagiarized.com considers prevention to be the most important - and effective - tool in the fight against plagiarism. The idea promoted by many that the "solution" lies in detecting cases of plagiarism using a software scanning tool is simply wrong. Cheating students know very well that there exists a chance that they might be caught. In addition, software tools have a number of weaknesses and our tests indicate that they are not effective.
These guidelines are just that - guidelines. Evidently, we know nothing about your specific situation, and as such some of these may not apply to you. We hope you might have it within you to understand the spirit of each guideline - most can be adapted to your particular situation.
Guidelines for Parents
- Establish a relationship of mutual trust with your children. Their sense of honour is stronger than you might think.
- Lead by example. "Do as I say, not as I do." doesn't fly in parenting. If you routinely break or bend rules, you are sending a very clear message to your children.
- Keep up to date with their schoolwork. There shouldn't be an issue of privacy here. You are responsible for your child's education - as such you have an obligation to know how their assignments are coming along. In addition, your child is more likely to turn to you when faced with an academic challenge than they would be if you never showed an interest.
- Attend Parent-Teacher meetings - and go with an open mind. If a teacher expresses concerns about plagiarism you can do your child a big favour by (1)remaining calm and (2) indicating that you will take steps to investigate the instructor's concerns and & will resolve the issue - if there is an issue - with your child.
- Your family's computer belongs in a family area. Not necessarily in the same room as the television, as many parenting experts recommend (imagine trying to do homework while the rest of the family is watching TV!) Our recommendation is to make a family office out of an underused room in your home - maybe that fancy living room you reserve for special guests (special guests feel uncomfortable in those rooms anyway).
- Learn about proper citation for written work and convey that information to your children as required.
Guidelines for Instructors
- Be specific with assignments. Offer a list of possible topics, or the option of submitting a proposal for a topic that does not appear on your list.
- Require a minimum number of sources from a variety of mediums. For example, you might require that the essay make reference to 3 books, 3 articles from periodicals, 2 online sources and one primary source.
- Whenever possible:"Bibliography - Draft - Final Copy". Shortly after you assign work, require students to submit a bibliography for their chosen or assigned topic. This helps get them into the habit of starting with a literature search, and it gives you the opportunity to make an early correction if they're off-track. Once you've approved the bibliography, students are cleared to work toward their next deadline, the draft copy of the essay. Both the draft copy and the bibliography should be graded as satisfactory or unsatisfactory and you should allow students to try again if their work is sub-par. The final copy evidently comes last and is graded normally.