Dealing with Plagiarism

Plagiarism must not be ignored. In a perfect world, it would not happen, but the reality is that is does. However, it can be minimised and effectively controlled. This section looks at general issues relating to plagiarism, not in a specifically ICS context.

We look at ways of preventing plagiarism, on the basis that prevention is preferable to dealing with incidents. Internet sources and software tools that can be used for detecting of plagiarism are also discussed. A specific problem at present is the incidence of “cheat” sites with stores of ready-written essays available with or without charge. Since the issue is constrained by the context of the institution in which it occurs, we look at institution policies governing the handling of suspected cases. The processes of investigating potential cases of plagiarism at some Universities are covered. We also look at legal issues related to plagiarism.

The JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service, is a good source for obtaining more information on plagiarism detection in Higher Education.