Strategies for Detecting Plagiarism
Considerations
GRC subscribes to Turnitin Plagiarism Checker, which is a helpful tool for assessing if student work has been plagiarized.
That said, Turnitin doesn't catch everything, and it does not generally work as a tool for detecting work generated by an AI tool. Therefore, the strategies outlined below are still helpful.
In addition, keep in mind that AI tools can fabricate sources, scholars, and quotes. Therefore, an additional key tool for testing student work is to look up authors, articles, and journals to see if they actually exist. Google, Google Scholar, Worldcat, and the Holman Library One Search (all linked below) are useful tools for this.
- Detection method 1: Identify a phrase that seems unlike the students' narrative/writing style and search the exact string, with quotes around it, in Google. It's best to select something with unique wording or perhaps a misspelling.
- Detection method 2: Search the same string of text in Google Scholar. If you have the Google Scholar preferences set for Green River, you will also be able to search our proprietary databases (Such as ProQuest, JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, etc.) through Google Scholar.
- Detection method 3: Search the same string of text from within some of the library's proprietary databases.
- Detection method 4: Check commonly available online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia or Britannica Online Encyclopedia.
- Detection method 5: Look at commercial term paper services, with names such a www.schoolsucks.com. (Really. That is not made up.) A Google search for the phrase "term paper" (in quotes) yields 2.5 million matches -- for "research paper" 5 million.
- Detection method 6: Use a student's source list to replicate the research for the paper by tracing the subject, author(s), title(s) online.
- Detection method 7: Use the "homework helper" facility of AOL, Scholastic, pbworks.com, and comparable sites.
- Detection method 8: For text that seems like it's been poorly translated from another language into English, try reverse translating it with Google Translate then running the translated text through a Google web search.
Detecting plagiarism section adapted from: R. Jensen (link below)
