Writing essays always seems challenging to most students. This can be attributed to lack of time and inadequate creative writing skills. As result, there is always high temptation of students presenting essays that has been done by a different person before. This is an act of plagiarism. In reality, this happens because of little knowledge on plagiarism or the knowledge they have is mismatched. The fact that students have now become lazy and are not bothered by presenting works done by other students cannot be doubted.
Other than presenting copied essays, students who submit original assignments have disappointingly failed to cite sources from which the information was picked at. In order avoid plagiarism, it is vital that students are reminded about not only concentrating on how they will finish writing essays but also on ways to avoid submitting plagiarized papers.
Clear definition of the concept
In attempts to avoid plagiarism, instructors at the beginning of the semester should include a clear definition of what constitutes plagiarism in the syllabus or introduce it verbally. In as much as definitions may differ from one instructor to the other or in courses. It is important to have students know what is expected of them clearly before teaching begins. This is a very effective way to prevent issues of plagiarism.
Plagiarism offense penalties awareness
Plagiarism is an academic offense. Hence, institutions should not only tell what should be expected from students. However, inform them of the penalities given to students upon committing the offense. Indeed, ideas only become better when they are tested against other people’s ideas. As part of course work, instructors can ensure plagiarism is limited by having students know the punishments awaiting them when found guilty of plagiarism. Some of the penalties could include; expulsion and repeat of the whole course
Teach Proper Citation methods
Another effective way to minimize plagiarism is by teaching learners how to cite well. Besides, providing clear examples of well-cited materials. For instance, instructors can give students instances of how they should credit the work of other authors while developing their compositions. In giving examples, learners will have tangible cases that they could refer to in the event a question arises.
Have original assignments as examples
Instructors can avoid plagiarism by presenting learners with assignments that need them to take a different perspective of a question. Through this, students are likely not to find anything from other authors on the internet. This instance helps reduce submitting copied work.
Insist of submission of drafts before main assignment
Another milestone to help students write original essays is to request for drafts. Students should a preliminary draft of what they have done by a particular time. Submitting drafts of original work helps to spread the plagiarism risk. The students is likely to know whether he/she is writing an original paper in good time or fix plagiarism issues at early stage. In addition, It encourages students to take some time to engage in writing the essay rather than looking for an essay writing service as an easy way out to submitting original papers.
Have final copies of assignments passed through plagiarism checkers
In as much the widespread of information on the internet has caused students to be lazy. The internet has come with a solution of checking whether a submission is copied from another source. This software’s are called plagiarism checkers. Before submitting assignments, instructors can show students how to check for plagiarism in their own compositions from internet software. In the event certain parts of a document are highlighted, learners can revise these words accordingly before submitting the papers. Plagiarism detection tools helps educate students on what is appropriate for submission and what is not.
Have students submit electronic copies
It is not easy to tell whether work is plagiarized or not with hand copies. An effective way of minimizing submission of copied essay is by having students submit electronic copies. Because it is easier to find plagiarism in electronic copies, students might not be inclined to skipping some research steps and would avoid all ways that would lead to plagiarism.
Provide Student support service in institutions
The presence of academic development as support services allow students to be more effective in what they submit as academic work. Having students supported by this kind of development can help them focus on doing that which is right.
Because students and learning institutions are different, these options for reducing plagiarism can be applied in different measures depending with the culture, opinion and views of the school and views about plagiarism. Above all, instructors should make sure that learners are informed on what is expected of them. Going deeper in instruction and information about the concept could effective give students a broad perspective on the issue.
