Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

I've written about Google Classroom's originality reports in the past. I've also posted tutorials on looking for matching documents via Google Drive. This week, thanks to Mike Tholfsen, I learned that my Microsoft-using friends have a similar feature available to them via the online version of Microsoft Word. 

Plagiarism seems like a clear-cut crime: if the words of another author appear in one’s writing without appropriate attribution, that writer has “stolen” those words. U.S. higher education institutions take the offense seriously: minor cases often result in probation, suspension, or expulsion. This black-and-white perspective toward plagiarism, however, does not effectively identify, prevent, or resolve writing issues.

Plagiarism may flag instances of knowledge gaps or poor writing skills rather than malicious intent. In order to avoid academic conduct hearings involving your students, consider how the design of writing assignments can detect writing issues before they evolve into serious academic conduct issues. Consider these four strategies to help “plagiarize-proof” your course.

Think you can identify plagiarism like a pro? See if you can beat this quiz by our citation expert and prove that you're as plagiarism savvy as you say.

At its core, plagiarism is the unauthorized use of information from another person’s work without crediting that person correctly.  Committing plagiarism in your paper, whether intentionally or accidentally, can lead to serious consequences for your grade and academic career. By backing up your ideas with credible sources, you can easily avoid the trap of plagiarism, and promote further research on your topic. To help people find your unique perspective and to create consistency throughout your work, it is always a good idea to use a specific, standardized citation style (for example, APA format and MLA style).