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Common Indicators of Plagiarism:

Indicators in the Content of the Paper:

• voice in the paper is inconsistent with the student’s voice in previous papers

• content of the paper is beyond the student’s normal research and writing abilities

• writing style is more professional or scholarly than the student’s previous writing

• quality of writing is inconsistent throughout the research paper. For instance, the body of the paper may be stronger than the introduction or conclusion (“Detecting Plagiarism”)

• topic is inconsistent with the assigned paper topic

• does not reflect the course material, class discussions, or other class assignments

• contains complex terminology or jargon that the student does not normally use or is beyond the student’s capabilities

• contains little or no explanation or transitions between sources

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Indicators in the Format of the Paper:

• does not follow the appropriate format guidelines. The title page, font, bibliography page, margins, etc. are inconsistent with the expected format

• odd components integrated into the paper, such as incorrect page numbers, irregular page breaks, or Internet links (“Detecting Plagiarism”)

• bibliography may be in a style different from the one used in class, the sources in the bibliography might be outdated, or few or none of the sources can be found in the UAH library (“Detecting Plagiarism”)

• web addresses (URLs) or links at the top or bottom of the paper, which could indicate that the paper was taken from the Internet (“Detecting Plagiarism”)

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Tracking Down Suspect Student Papers:

Online Detection Services

  • Fortunately, now there are a variety of online detection services that can aid faculty in tracking down suspect papers. UAH has a subscription to Turnitin.com, but the other services might be useful as well.

Internet Search Engines

  • There are a variety of search engines for the Internet that can be useful to faculty members who suspect a paper of being plagiarized.

Online Databases

  • In addition to checking search engines, faculty can also check online databases, which can be accessed through the UAH library web page: http://www.uah.edu/.library.

Paper Mills

  • There are also a variety of paper mills that faculty can use to look for suspect papers. Paper mills are online databases that provide research papers on a variety of topics (“Paper Mills”).
 
 
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