Structuring Research Assignments

Plagiarism-Free Strategies

Plagiarism has always been the bane of education. The Internet has both vastly improved information access and increased opportunities for plagiarism. The following suggestions may prove useful when making assignments for your students and are based on the book, The Plagiarism Handbook, strategies for preventing, detecting, and dealing with plagiarism by Robert A. Harris. This book is available through the Alaska State Library. The call number is: PN/167/.H37/2001.

In preparing students for research…

Educate students about the various types of plagiarism and give examples. Plagiarism goes beyond the failure to correctly cite a quote. Educate students about the purpose of a research paper. Research is used to support critical-thinking skills. As such a research paper should do more than regurgitate information, it should support personal opinion and arguments. Educate students as to the process of research: how to construct a thesis statement, what types of sources to use, how to analyze information, how to take notes, how to outline a paper, how to present original arguments, etc. Make sure students know how much you value learning and stress the concept that plagiarism incorporates both stealing (another person’s work and ideas) and lying (presenting them as their own). Make sure students know what the consequences will be for plagiarizing.

When making research assignments for students…

  • Do not make any assignment worth more than 25% of the course grade. "Make or break" assignments may tempt students to plagiarize in order to relieve pressure for a grade.
  • Assign all students the same topic. Chances are that many of the resources used will be the same and one can easily spot any plagiarism—and any originality.
  • On the flip side to the above suggestion, present a list of unusual, creative or narrowly defined topics from which students have to select a topic to research. Do not allow substitution of a student’s own topic or a last-minute change of topic. This may help to preclude the possibility of using previously published material or presenting a "cut and paste" paper.
  • Break down the process of the assignment into components with varying due dates for each part. A research paper may be broken down into the components of a topic sentence (or thesis statement), information gathering, note-taking, outline, draft, bibliography and final paper. This allows students to clearly follow the process with the ultimate goal of a paper without the fear and stress of a major paper being due on one specific date.
  • Differentiate the points assigned for each component of the research assignment. Students should be able to see the accumulation of points towards a final tally with missing components translating into missing points.
  • Require a variety of sources including printed magazines and books and interviews so that the students won’t rely just on the Internet.
  • Require photocopies of relevant pages from the cited sources, especially any pages from which students quote material.
  • Allow for some in-class writing time so that a teacher can assess individual work and offer assistance.
  • Instead of just requiring a bibliography have students write an annotated bibliography. The summarization of each source used should also include a personal evaluation of the source and a statement as to its credibility and usefulness.
  • Utilize peer or parent editing of the drafts that include written comments and suggestions in the margins.
  • Have students turn in papers with a signed form that certifies that the paper is their own work and free of plagiarism to the best of the students’ knowledge. The form could also include the consequences of plagiarism.
  • Make oral presentations part of the research assignment. Each student should be expected to answer comments and questions from other students or the teacher. This will help ensure the students concentrate on learning their topic rather than just putting together information.