How Can You Prevent Plagiarism?

Plagiarism means to steal some other person's idea and forward it as your own. The possible causes of this taking place are:

• people are naturally economic – they search the shortest and quickest route
• some feel that their writing ability is inferior – they search for a superior product
• the thrill of executing a crime entices them
• time management and planning coerce some to do so

How can you prevent plagiarism in colleges?
If certain precepts are adhered to, they would help to minimize or eliminate plagiarism. These are:

• students must submit their writings in groups, discussion forums or the web. When the readership is increased, the possibility of detecting plagiarism rises.
• students should submit an outline, prelude, description, research and a conclusion on given dates. Peer groups must review these.
• if a compare and contrast or personal observation feature is demanded, it requires considerable alteration of the acquired paper.
• assignments should be such that finding an exact match would be difficult.
• the students must be required to sign an integrity certificate
• make students aware that the faculty can catch plagiarized content
• conferences and discussions would enable to determine who has made real research
• students must be given thorough coaching regarding research
• make students aware of the latest documentation methods
• if the work is clear in the mind of the student, there is more probability of avoiding plagiarism
• if students are allowed to choose the topics of their interest, then they perform research out of their own will
• there should be unusual topics on which not much information is available
• the students must know at the start of the term that a presentation has to be made on the topic. This evokes the need of thorough knowledge
• an essay regarding the problems faced, methods used to overcome these, moral learnt must be demanded

Avoiding plagiarism
Certain precautions and ideologies are put into practice to curb the menace of plagiarism. These are:

• the concepts of plagiarism, copyright and fair dealing must be clarified
• a fair warning must be given that cases of academic dishonesty would be dealt seriously
• the method of correctly quoting materials must be taught
• initially the "Code of Student Behavior" has to be explained
• the advantages of using sources properly and performing profound research tempt the student
• the values of academic honesty must be inculcated
• if a paper from the paper mills is criticized, then proper writing skills can be absorbed by the listeners
• students must be prepared to shoulder the responsibility of being a member of the academic world
• if some penalty or punishment is imposed, it repels students away from plagiarism

Planning Assignments
The faculty should think that it is binding on them to offer sufficient time to complete an assignment, review drafts and outlines and modify assignments that cause student postponement. Each time the course begins, the faculty must alter the paper topics. Then, students do not refer to the previous student's dissertations. Narrowly focused topics must be selected rather than broad ones. The teacher must urge students to include current events in the assignment. Instead of one single large assignment, a couple or trio can be assigned. The professor should demand the notes and rough work as proof of original research. It can also be told that the references published in the previous five years can be used. A bibliography must be submitted by the students as part of the assignment.

The cumulative effect of employing the above mentioned techniques would certainly wane plagiarism.