Plagiarism Guide for Faculty

Keep in mind that papers may be plagiarized unintentionally because students are unaware of just how inclusive plagiarism is. Detecting plagirarism can present an opportunity for instruction and correction. Writing in one's own words is particularly difficult for ESL students who may understand the content but whose English vocabulary is not robust enough to re-word an idea.

1. Include a statement about plagiarism in your syllabus.  Make it clear that you’ll check for plagiarism and enforce the College’s Academic Dishonesty Policy No. 2-7.
2. Teach students how to avoid plagiarism.  You can schedule a library instruction session for your students and specify that we cover how to avoid plagiarism. Check out our Plagiarism resource page from our Research @ Reynolds Libraries guide which includes tips for avoiding plagiarism.
3. Teach students how to cite and make it a requirement for students to cite their resources in their research papers. Check out our citation style guides for APA and MLA.
4. Require that students select from a specific list of resources to cite in their assignment.
5. Consider asking students to submit a draft of their paper for you to review before you accept their final assignment.
6. Assign research assignments such as: annotated blbliographies, research proposals, research papers, and oral reports that require students to cite the resources they find and use.
7. Use Turnitin, a plagiarism detection tool, in your Canvas course sections.

Plagiarism: Understand It and Avoid It (youtube video) by Reynolds Libraries