Plagiarism has a big impact on the youth community in the world today. In this paper we concentrate on all the different aspects regarding plagiarism. Some questions will be asked regarding the plagiarism issues. Firstly we focus on what plagiarism is. The political side, the policies and laws and what is regarded by the term. We will also look at ways to prevent plagiarism. Later in the paper you are going to see ten different types of tools to be used to prevent plagiarism, how they work and how user-friendly they are. Most of them are free-ware and very accurate. Plagiarism is seen as a form of cheating. Different type of plagiarism will be discussed in the paper, like collusion. Collusion is a form of plagiarism where two or more student presents their joint work as one's own. it is also said that people with NESB (Non English speaking background) are more likely to commit plagiarism than ESB (English speaking background) people.
Introduction
Defining plagiarism:
You commit plagiarism when you stipulated or use someone else's published or unpublished thoughts or intellectual products as if they were your own new and original ideas, without acknowledging or crediting the resource of your information(Theo Bothma, 2006). The verb to plagiarize is defined as to 'take and use (another's thoughts or writings) as one's own' (Allen, 1984 and Larkham and Manns 2002). Soanes and Stevenson (2006) imply that the term plagiarism conveys a strong sense of disapproval. Plagiarism can also be acknowledged as cheating and steeling another author words or ideas about a certain topic in that line of work. According to Daniela Chuda (what is plagiarism, 2009) there are various types of plagiarism involved: using sources without properly citing them, paraphrasing text, reusing ideas with/without citing references (Daniela Chuda, 2010). Plagiarism can be seen as a major crime punishable as "theft of intellectual property." "It is a serious act of stealing." (Joan vogelsang, 1997)
Plagiarism Issues
3.1 What is regarded as plagiarism?
There are many studies done about plagiarism by students, mainly the question that is mostly asked is "whether they have engaged in plagiarism or cheating at any stage of their studies" (Stephen Marshall and Maryanne Garry, 2005). With such an approach it is very hard to determine the actual extent of plagiarism, nevertheless determining what can be done by teachers to discourage it. "It is clear that students get exposed to mixed messages about plagiarism from the real-world and behaviors of institutions and academics"(Martin 1994)
There are 3 issues that must be discussed to determine whether a report can be regarded as plagiarism. Firstly it is Plagiarism if the student hands in someone else's work in as their own. Plagiarisms can also be regarded as a failure to cite sources as they are used. Plagiarism is also a form of cheating. (Rod St Hill, 2004) Collusion is a specific type of plagiarism, this will occur when two or more students will present their joined work as if it where their own. All the assignments must be handed in individually. Cheating or doubling from another student's project or from another project submitted in a previous year in part or in total mark (Faculty of Business, 2003).
Both quantitative and qualitative research techniques were used to establish the student perceptions and misperceptions of plagiarism that was defined in the university plan of reporting acts of plagiarism in various Projects as in Fig1.1 (Lubna Sheikh Alam, 2004). NESB (Non English speaking background) and ESB (English speaking background) had to undergo a series of tests. In the results that you see in Fig1.1 NESB student are more likely to engage in plagiarism than ESB. (Maryanne Garry, 2005)
Fig 1.1 (Stephen Marshall, 2005)
3.2 What are the policies / laws available in regards to plagiarism (especially within South Africa?)
There are three issues that must be explained about plagiarism. Firstly it represents a poor standard of information literacy. Secondly, "confidence that grades awarded to students truly reveal their achievement of course objectives is eroded when there is a distrust that there is widespread, but undetected, plagiarism"( Rod St Hill, 2004). Thirdly when something is detected, Plagiarism will make it difficult to see whether or not the student had achieved their goals in the assignment that was handed out. All these points are the fundamental issues of quality.
According to the University of Southern Queensland policy plagiarism is misconduct, although they have a range of penalties for a major academic misconduct, they have to determine what constitutes as a minor and major academic misconduct. (University of Southern Queensland, n.d). Faculty will currently defines a minor problem to occur "where plagiarism or collusion is detected in an assessment item and comprised (sic) less than five per cent of the assignment and where this is a student's first offence" (Faculty of Business, 2003). According the Erica Cosijn (2009) only one complete chapter from a book or 5% of the total, whichever is the greatest will be considered misconduct. Both of them have the same principle and the way of doing and detecting plagiarism.
Joan Vogelsang (1997) points out that the copyright law will allow the transfer of anther author's work to the publisher. A copyright release form must be signed by the original author at the time of article submission for publication." Law provides compensation to the injured party by the perpetrator".
According to Ina Fourie (2009) the guidelines state that you may copy:
"One complete chapter from a book or 5% of the total, whichever is the greatest".
"One article from a journal issues or set of conference proceedings".
"One article from an issue of a newspaper".
"One single case from a publisher report of judicial proceedings".
"One short story or poem of up to ten pages from an anthology".
"A single extract not exceeding A4 size from an Ordinance Survey map".
"Short excerpts from musical works, but not whole works or movements and not for performance purpose".
3.3 What can be done / implemented to combat plagiarism;
This is a process that will evaluate the student works. The checking of the various approaches and procedures will be combined into a standard electronic student submission portal (Learning Management System) "Moodle". (Pavol Navrat, 2010).In the "Moodle" environment all the students will be identified and authenticated uniquely. After the student has done their homework it must be uploaded onto "moodle". Thus the teacher can do a plagiarism test on the assignment. Result of this will be put back onto "moodle" and the student can acknowledge what they have done wrong. This will result in better plagiarism control and help to prevent plagiarism from happening again.
There are always challenges that student face by undertake assignments, the following points will spot out the different problems that the students have with going about some projects.
Financial pressure to succeed in their work (Introna et al., 2003)
Lack of support on the internet and from family and friends and a sense of isolation (Introna et al., 2003);
Cultural norms will requiring assists from a friend in need (Cordiero 1995; Walker,1998)
Cultural differences in type of understanding that is required from students to be reproductive against analytical (Burns, 1991; Angelil-Carter, 2000; Handa & Power, 2005)
"Fear of excessive loss of face and impact on family resulting from poor performance" (Burns, 1991; Walker, 1998)
Differences in good awareness of plagiarism and its importance (Introna et al. 2003)
The English language skills of a student (Bretag et al. 2002; Carroll, 2002, p. 47)
Belief of dominant cultural information in the design and communication of evaluation tasks (Mackinnon & Manathunga, 2003).
There are a few policies and approaches that you may follow regarding plagiarism (Marcia Devlin, 2006):
A holistic approach
The Divisional Advisory Committee (DAC), will provided the framework for the assignments that was achieved through concurrent changes to the policy, the student homework, staff preventative measures and consistency in process and penalties.
A revised policy
Five outcomes on the policy plagiarism:
The first of these was to supply greater clarity
The second was to remove the phrase, 'with the intent to deceive', which was seen by both staff and students as a loophole
The third was to include direction on two-way work
The fourth was to include direction on enabling plagiarism
The fifth was to improve the informal procedure applicable when plagiarism was suspected so that there was greater consistency crosswise the institution and so that the protections of student rights were retained.
Hard copy dissemination of the student guide
Recommendation was agreed to the entire new undergraduate as well as the postgraduate students; they will receive a hard copy in their enrolment pack. This will include sessions staff also have access to the e-copy of this guide.
Specific scholarly requirements communicated
A set of templates will be given and amended according to the particular requirements of the specific assessment task that was developed by the university. Recommendation was official and a number of Schools have begun using these statement templates.
A focus on assessment
The university- instead of advising- they send out a series of workshops for academic staff specifically targeting the minimization of plagiarism, accompanied by the significant number of other strategies. Resources are to outline the sufficient change staff assessment practices and to minimize opportunities of plagiarism.
An academic transition program
In consideration an academic transition will be given by the University to a School-based first year transition program. This proposal was approved by DAC and has since been taken up by a number of key academic staff across the university.
Proactive and strategic use of available student support services
It is suggested that control of specific group based deeds will be residential by academic staff to come to a consultation with staff from this service.
A central register of plagiarism incidents
Recommendations of a central register database for plagiarism were incidents is shaped and maintained. This is important to the issue and the inconsistent record. By keeping the school records of the growing numbers of students. The process can be monitored.
In Fig 1 you will see that it is the process of coming about an assignment.
Fig 1
Plagiarism Tools 1
Name of tool / application /service: Anti-Plagiarism Software (Turnitinsafely)
Type of software (open source / free-ware / proprietary / etc.): Free Trail and proprietary
Licensing requirements: There is a free trial version; the main program has a copyright law.
Costs: 3 Days Subscription $19.99
90 Days Subscription $44.99
356 Days Subscription $99.99
Service offered: This Anti-Plagiarism Software is for Students who need to check their papers for possible sources of Plagiarism. Just submit your paper, and it will compare it with Billions of documents over the Internet. The Software will NOT save your paper onto the site (SITE Citation).
Method/s used to detect plagiarism: Accessed through the Internet
Advantages / Disadvantages: This will not save your project so that other people can use it, this is considered as an advantages. The down side is you have to pay for a year subscription.
Usability: "Easy to Use"(http://turnitin.com/static/products.html)
Plagiarism Tools 2
Name of tool / application /service: Plagiarism-detector(2TC)(2 Text Compare)
Type of software (open source / free-ware / proprietary / etc.): Proprietary
Licensing requirements: Onetime payment no subscription fees
Number of licenses: 1 Computer
Costs: Order via Plimus: $39.99
Order via Google Checkout $49.99
Service offered: Compares many kinds of document formats, Compare large sizes of files, Provide Advance reports, Automatic Highlight the problem areas, Include an TF-IDF comparator.
Method/s used to detect plagiarism: This version slow the plagiarism detection speed. This limitation relates to the number of working treads.
Advantages / Disadvantages: It can support Windows 7, Vista, XP. Some of the disadvantages is it does not support PDF and MS office integration.
Usability: Juniad (2009) implied that he bought your services almost a month ago, and it's been an absolute delight! The software has been working marvelously for me". Sunsun (2009) said that it is a Great program".
Plagiarism Tools 3
Name of tool / application /service: Viper
Type of software (open source / free-ware / proprietary / etc.): Free-ware
Licensing requirements: None
Costs: None
Service offered: Check your essay against 10 billon source, Scan against essays on your computer, Scan again essays published on the internet, Easy side by side highlighted comparison, Free unlike most other scanners, 100% accurate
Method/s used to detect plagiarism: Viper does compare to Turnitin's writeCheck, 10billion resource scanned, unlimited document length, unlimited resubmitting, and side by side comparison, links to plagiarized work.( http://www.scanmyessay.com)
Advantages / Disadvantages: This is free-ware; you don't have to pay to get a reliable recourse.
Usability: Very easy to use. It is very user friendly you do not get confused easily.
Plagiarism Tools 4
Name of tool / application /service: Dubli Checker
Type of software (open source / free-ware / proprietary / etc.): Online checker
Licensing requirements: None(2008 Dulichecker All right reserved)
Costs: None
Service offered: It has different search engine to get the maximum resources as possible.
Method/s used to detect plagiarism: It uses an online searching method.
Advantages / Disadvantages: This does not want any attachments it is quick and easy to use, don't have to install any software or register for anything.
Usability: Just copy and paste your work onto the side and the search will begin, easy to use. "Hi, I really appreciate the fact that you have revamped the site so well. You have a really good tool and it works really well for me. Thanks you for keeping it free". (Hazel, n.d.)
Plagiarism Tools 5
Name of tool / application /service: DOC Cop
Type of software (open source / free-ware / proprietary / etc.): Free-ware
Licensing requirements: Term of use
Use DOC Cop for unlawful or prohibited purpose
Submit inappropriate, profane, defamatory, obscene, indecent or unlawful martial
Costs: None
Service offered: Check .doc, .docx and .pdf files, Comprehensive FAQ, Detailed report, Detect plagiarism and collusion, Easy to use, fast turnaround.( http://www.doccop.com/web_check.html)
Method/s used to detect plagiarism: DOC Cop detection tools creates reports displaying the correlation and matches between documents or a document on the web, DOC Cop does not retain your material beyond the time the report has been generated.
Advantages / Disadvantages: The use of your e-mail is a good idea it is very private.
Usability: The online tool is easy to use, it is very reliable and it is private, communicates through e-mail.
Plagiarism Tools 6
Name of tool / application /service: WriteCheck (Turnitin)
Type of software (open source / free-ware / proprietary / etc.): Proprietary
Licensing requirements:
Costs: Single Paper $4.95, Basic Package $19.95, Volume Package $49.95
Service offered: (Single Paper $4.95)1 Paper Credit, 1 Resubmission,(Basic Package $19.95)5 Paper Credits, 5 Resubmissions,(Volume Package)1 document up to 200.000 words,1 Resubmission per document
Method/s used to detect plagiarism: While WriteCheck search through a large amount of data, There aim is to search through every document ever written(https://www.writecheck.com/static/faq.html)
Advantages / Disadvantages: You have to pay for each time you upload your assignment is a disadvantage.
Usability: Copy and paste your text in the window provided, simple to use.
Plagiarism Tools 7
Name of tool / application /service: Turnitin (WriteCycle)
Type of software (open source / free-ware / proprietary / etc.):Proprietary
Licensing requirements: When registering you have access to the complete version
Costs: None
Service offered: Encourages proper citation, Over 12 Billon Web page Crawled & Archived, Over 100 million Students papers, 80.000 Major Newspapers, Magazines & Scholarly Journals, Side by Side comparison.( http://turnitin.com/static/products.html)
Method/s used to detect plagiarism: The student papers will be match against a database of pre-existing sources. This will include Newspapers, Magazines and scholarly journals.( http://turnitin.com/static/products.html)
Advantages / Disadvantages: This will scan through Newspapers and Magazines not most utilities will give you this features.
Usability: This will serve as an add-on to a bigger version of WriteCycle.
Plagiarism Tools 8
Name of tool / application /service: CheckForPlagiarism.net
Type of software (open source / free-ware / proprietary / etc.): Proprietary
Licensing requirements: Account limited to one user, Unlimited number of CheckForplagiarism.net reports(limitation of 10-document submission per any 24 hrs period), No setup free, No hidden charges, rapid turnaround time for CheckForPlagiarism.net reports(depending on the priority level chosen)( http://www.checkforplagiarism.net )
Costs: Student Edition Package $20.00, monthly Edition Package $65.00, Year Edition Package $ 150.00
Service offered: Database checking, Internet Checking, Publication checking, synonym & sentence structure checking, multiple document comparison, Multiple Languages.
Method/s used to detect plagiarism: Submit your document then the software will scan the internet, databases and publications afterwards to give you your results.
Advantages / Disadvantages: This tool will allow you to hand in your project in your mother tong.
Usability: 3 step to get your result of your assignment.
Plagiarism Tools 9
Name of tool / application /service: EVE2 (Essays Verification Engine)
Type of software (open source / free-ware / proprietary / etc.): Proprietary and Free-ware
Licensing requirements: "Each professor or teacher must purchase their own copy of EVE. A copy of EVE may be used by one teacher for all of the essays submitted in all of the classes they teach. It may not be used to check essays for another teacher unless that teacher purchases a license as well".( http://www.canexus.com)
Costs: Full package unlimited use $ 29.99.( http://www.canexus.com)
Service offered: "Testing four papers in 15 minutes" reverencing done on home page.(http://www.canexus.com )
Method/s used to detect plagiarism: This program does reliable checks on the internet, it also converts your project into a .txt format
Advantages / Disadvantages: you can get your money back will be considered as an advantage. It will also run on the following operating systems Window 95/98/ME/NT/2000 and XP
Usability: Won't recommended it looks fake
Plagiarism Tools 10
Name of tool / application /service: Grammarly
Type of software (open source / free-ware / proprietary / etc.): Free-ware but you can also get a registered version
Licensing requirements: You get a free 7 day trial version
Costs: None this is free-ware
Service offered: Plagiarism detection, 150+ Grammer Checks, Vocabulary Enhancements, Contextual spell checks.
Method/s used to detect plagiarism: First it detects if there is any plagiarism secondly the spelling of your document thirdly your grammer then your punctuation and lastly the style and word choice.
Advantages / Disadvantages: This program has been tested by TRUST(verified), VeriSign(Secured), McAfee(Secured). Referencing tips found on the web (http://www.grammarly.com) this is used for comments
Usability: "Grammarly has really helped me and my grades have improved. I have a severe back injury and lately my grades have fallen a few points. Grammarly has helped me pick up my grades and retain a fair 3.0 GPA". Referencing tips found on the web (http://www.grammarly.com) this is used for comments
Conclusion
In the above paper we discussed what plagiarism is, the different types of plagiarism. There are different tools to prevent plagiarism; viper, EVE2, DOC Cop and much more. These tools are often free ware and easy to use. We have said that plagiarism is a form of cheating and stealing someone else's intellectual ideas, published or unpublished and presenting it as your own and not referencing or citing the information. Plagiarism can be seen as a major crime punishable as "theft of intellectual property." "It is a serious act of stealing." (Joan vogelsang,1997). Some students will lack honesty and in regard to their need for information, commit plagiarism. Why do people commit plagiarism? Some problems that students encounter are: access the information efficiently and effectively; Evaluate information critically; to incorporate the selected information as your own; Accomplish a specific goal with the information that you have; Evaluate and understand the economic, legal and social issues that goes about the use of information;"Access and use information ethically and legally".
(K DEJAGER, M NASSIMBENI, 2002)
