How to Support Students to Avoid Plagiarism in Assignments

With consequences ranging from a stern talking-to and a failing grade to getting kicked out of school entirely, it may be hard to believe that student plagiarism in assignments continues to be an issue. 

However, in some cases, students may not realize that what they’re doing qualifies as plagiarism. Schools and teachers may outline their policies in academic codes and classroom expectations, but research shows that students struggle to recognize plagiarism. 

Fortunately, there are ways to avoid confusion. Providing clear guidance around what plagiarism is and isn’t helps students avoid plagiarism in assignments and its potential consequences. 

Clearly Define Plagiarism and Its Consequences

It’s hard for students to avoid something if they don’t know exactly what it is. So, providing students with a clear definition of plagiarism and its consequences is the first step to preventing it in the classroom.

It’s all too easy to skim through a syllabus. It’s much harder to ignore a classroom discussion on the subject, especially if the phrases “failing grade” and “expulsion” are involved.

This allows students to ask questions about anything they’re unclear on and for their quieter peers, allows them to hear the answers. 

With plagiarism definitions and consequences often varying by instructor, course, and school — especially when it comes to using artificial intelligence (AI) in assignments — providing a clear explanation of expectations in each class is recommended.

Incorporate Plagiarism Assignments Into the Curriculum

Whether you’re dealing with plagiarism in high school or college, or teaching anything from English to coding, it’s worth working a few plagiarism assignments or lessons into the curriculum.

It may seem straightforward, but navigating the different types of plagiarism and learning the skills to avoid them can be complex at first.

Teaching students examples of plagiarism and proper paraphrasing skills can help them identify and reduce it in their work.

Example plagiarism assignment:

• Ask students to read a paragraph and review two passages based on the text. 
• One of the passages should show plagiarism, and the other shouldn’t. 
• The goal of the assignment? Identify the plagiarized version and explain why.

For further resources, Purdue University offers a great handout on the difference between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. Then, Florida State University has some plagiarism exercises you can adapt to your school and classroom.

Teach Students How to Cite and Reference Sources

Sometimes, plagiarism is simply due to a lack of knowledge about when and how to use citations. So, whether you prefer MLA, APA, or another citation and format style, teaching students how to cite their sources properly could be all it takes to reduce cases of plagiarism in the classroom.

Lead by example. In addition to providing handouts and exercises on the subject, incorporate citations into class discussions. During a lecture, cite your sources to show students where you’re getting information and how to credit the authors.

When you repeatedly show students examples of correct citation use, it may just become second nature and reduce the cases of accidental plagiarism in the classroom.

Design Assignments That Discourage Plagiarism

If you come up with a unique assignment or one that requires submitting multiple phases, it’ll be a lot more difficult for students to get a ready-made one. 

Requiring students to submit drafts of their work at certain milestones can be particularly effective, especially if they provide reference lists at each stage.

Not only does this allow you to catch any potential plagiarism issues before submission, but it also encourages students to work on their time management skills. 

By asking students to provide outlines and drafts of their assignments, you’re helping them avoid the scramble to write a paper at the last minute. 

Encourage Students to Use Plagiarism Checkers and Let Them Know if You Use Them

While teaching students the ins and outs of plagiarism is an important part of avoiding it, it’s not always enough. Accidental plagiarism, especially when first learning, can happen. This is where a plagiarism checker comes in handy.

When students aren’t confident in their ability to identify plagiarism in their work, they can run it through a plagiarism detector to see if it flags anything. You may already be using one to assess the originality of student papers anyway, so you can walk them through the process.

If students see that their attempts at paraphrasing or summarizing are still showing up as plagiarism, they can edit their work accordingly. In this way, plagiarism checkers can help further educate students about what contributes to plagiarism and how to avoid it.

The Bottom Line: Teaching Students About Plagiarism Is Key to Avoiding It

Students may hear about plagiarism time and time again at school, but there can still be room for confusion.

Teach students about plagiarism and citations through:

• Clear definitions
• Classroom activities
• Bespoke plagiarism assignments
• Plagiarism checkers (to double-check their work)

This will help them avoid many of the issues that come along with plagiarizing assignments. 

Then, when you combine these strategies with multiphase papers and projects, you’ll encourage fantastic time management skills!

Note: The Originality.ai plagiarism checker only searches Google for sources when checking for instances of plagiarism, as a result it is most suitable for content and web publishers.