Teachers are so overworked, it can be difficult to get everything you need done finished in a day. Between grading papers, planning lessons and dealing with students, parents and administrators it can be a challenge to keep it all together. One problem many teachers have is trying to detect plagiarism. Sometimes you read a student's paper and just know that it isn't their work, but if you were to try to double check that one, you would have to check all of them. There isn't enough time in the day.
However, there are some free websites that can help you both with detecting plagiarism and with teaching better writing skills.
Some of the best site are-
The Plagiarism Checker- This site allows you to copy and paste large amounts of text and checks to see if the content is original. It was developed by the University of Maryland. Although they offer a more extensive paid version, the free version checks random parts of the text, which is all you really need in most cases.
Doc Cop- Doc Cop offers a free service that can detect plagiarism in word documents. The service also included a document comparison service. The offer a paid service that check larger documents and does a more intense check.
Purdue Online Writing Lab- While this site doesn't offer a plagiarism detector, it does offer some valuable resources on how to prevent plagiarism and answers questions about proper source citing. The site was put together as a reference tool by Purdue University for their students. It is a wonderful site to give to your students to consult for guidelines about what constitutes plagiarism.
Paper Rater- This is one of my personal favorites. Not only does scan text for potential plagiarism, it also alerts students to common grammar errors and word repetition. This is site is perfect to recommend to students as a way to fine tune their paper before handing it in.
Plagiarism Checker.com- While it only allows you to check a small amount of text, it can be a useful tool when you want to check a few sentences. The results are similar to using other services, although they do a complete scan each time and allow you to set a Google Alert for certain phrases.
These sites should be able to help you spot plagiarism and also give you some resources for instructing your students in how to use an idea without copying someone's work.
Do you have a site that you use frequently? If so, please share it in the comments section.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a freelance writer and regular contributor to several websites and other publications, a volunteer, a full time mom and an active job seeker.
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