Plagiarism Design

The design of an assignment can reduce the risk of plagiarism. Consider these suggestions.

• The temptation to plagiarize increases as an assignment deadline approaches. Help procrastinators by requiring an outline, bibliography and rough draft prior to the final due date.
  
• require an oral presentation to accompany the assignment.
  
• require a meeting to discuss progress prior to an assignment due date.
  
• focus the assignment on a specific, local issue that requires new research.
• specify a unique audience for the paper, (e.g. write a proposal for the Manchester Board of Education).
• avoid using the same assignment year after year
• ensure that the topic is relevant and meaningful for the student.
• require a section that evaluates several different sources.
• search the web for additional anti-plagiarism strategies, for example plagiarism.org