You may remember your school teachers’ warnings about the consequences of plagiarism (taking someone else’s work and passing it off as your own without their permission or citing them), but what about if you’re a developer writing code?
Can you plagiarize code? As it turns out, you can.
Code plagiarism differs from the traditional type of plagiarism, which involves copying and pasting text and then passing it off as your unique idea or creation.
Code plagiarism involves using someone else’s code without proper attribution.
Take a closer look at plagiarism in coding, what it involves, and how to detect and prevent it.
Similar to traditional text plagiarism, code plagiarism involves using someone else’s code without their permission or giving them credit — then presenting it as your work.
Code plagiarism violates intellectual property rights. In severe cases, it can lead to academic penalties, expulsion, or legal actions. When groups of developers share code in a team without proper documentation, and it’s not clear who actually owns the code, it can lead to problems.
Code plagiarism also undermines trust and credibility within the coding community. What’s more, writing original code is necessary for new developers to gain and improve their programming skills. Simply copying and pasting deprives the learner of that experience and the knowledge they need to become more proficient.
In the development and coding industry as a whole, plagiarism has a ripple effect of stifling innovation and progress. Original ideas drive momentum in the tech industry. So, when developers simply copy the code of others, it limits progress.
People plagiarize code for the same reasons that they plagiarize text, images, and other content. Their reasons may differ, but oftentimes, it adds up to a combination of a lack of knowledge and a lot of pressure.
Sometimes, particularly when it comes to Open-Source software or code, there’s a misunderstanding about the licensing terms. To avoid potential confusion and prevent plagiarism, carefully review Open-Source licensing to determine the proper attribution methods.
How then do administrators or other professionals detect code plagiarism? Similar to plagiarism text detection, there are numerous tools available that identify coding plagiarism.
Preventing plagiarism in coding requires a combination of policies and tools.
Education and awareness about the implications of plagiarism and its consequences are at the top of the list for students and developers alike. Provide accessible resources on how to properly attribute sources and why it’s important to give credit to the original author.
Then, establish a set of rules and communicate the penalties, legal, professional, and otherwise. Offer your developers or students support such as peer code review or tutoring, to help struggling students. Provide plenty of resources, such as coding examples and tutorials, to help individuals learn concrete skills.
You can also prevent plagiarism in code by switching assignments or projects regularly to encourage more creative problem-solving. Update the solutions to assignments to prevent the possibility of answers being reused. Then, conduct manual reviews of code periodically to deter would-be plagiarizers.
Last but not least, enlist technology to help you. Automated tools like MOSS and JPlag can check code submissions to verify authenticity. Encourage good coding practices like proper documentation and commenting as well as version control.
Keeping these points in mind, you can minimize the chances of finding plagiarism in code. At the same time, you can support and encourage students or developers to create original solutions.
By using technology, manual oversight, implementing ethical coding practices, and teaching coders how to properly cite their work and give credit, you’re helping to instill good intellectual property practices.
When it comes to detecting plagiarism, usually beyond copying someone else’s ideas, the perpetrator has also copied much more including other content and copyrighted material. As one of the leading content monitoring sites on the web, Copyleaks helps businesses protect their content by monitoring for duplication on other sites. As part of its suite of