Preventing Plagiarism

Schools and teachers should try to instill pride and honesty in their students from a young age. Children also need to be taught what cheating and plagiarism is from an equally young age. If students do not know or understand what plagiarism is, they will not know how to prevent doing it. Teaching students to cite sources as they begin to learn and use research skills is the best time to teach citation. Teaching students that using another person’s work without giving them credit for the work they did is cheating and stealing; most students would not like for this to be done to them. By providing students with concept maps or graphic organizers as they research, this can help prevent students from using full sentences or paragraphs of other’s work. It may be beneficial to encourage younger elementary students to concentrate on the basics of citation and work towards a specific style as they get older. By teaching students these skills slowly and at an age appropriate level, it should become habit by the time they are out of elementary school.

Works Cited:

Mitchell, S. (2007, April/May). Penguins and Plagiarism: Stemming the Tide of Plagiarism in Elementary School. Library Media Connection , 47.
http://libproxy.nau.edu:8724/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=102&sid=9a486bbf-f968-4c7d-983c-1e90fc8a8895%40sessionmgr110&vid=7

Royce, J. (2010). Detecting Plagiarism. Retrieved February 28, 2011, from Robert College of Istanbul: http://portal.robcol.k12.tr/Default.aspx?pgID=130