| This page was created on 2 December 1999 and last
updated on 23 March 2005
Browsing the Internet
Using Internet browsers
to find plagiarized papers is perhaps the easiest and most popular
way, and according to Satterwhite and Gerein, is nearly as productive
as a detection service. (Obviously it's easy since that's
the way many students found the papers to begin with!) Try the following:
- Use an uncommon or
jargon-filled phrase, or a misspelled word, with your favorite
browser, and be sure to try several browsers, since they
each "index" a different group of sites. Google has
the best retrieval rate, but limits a phrase search to ten words.
Search
full-text databases, another source of plagiarism material.
Try searching the full-text databases in the Library, again using
unusual phrases or jargon. Some databases to try: Academic Search Elite, JSTOR, Lexis/Nexis, H.W. Wilson Select Full-Text, General BusinessFile ASAP. Any database that provides abstracts
(which is most of them) is also a source of material.
Deep or invisible
Web resources (databases or directories) will not be retrieved
with a search engine, nor will full-text databases or online journals,
in most cases. An excellent source of information about the deep
Web can be found at the SUNY
Albany Library web site. On this page you will find suggestions
for searching, as well as information about the deep web in general.
Another source of information and guidance on this topic (and
my personal favorite) is Gary Price's site at http://www.freepint.com/gary/direct.htm
Some students still resort to copying from books and articles,
rather than the faster and easier cut-and-paste method. Check
the materials mentioned in the bibliography to see if information
was copied word for word. However, material may have been taken
from sources not listed in the bibliography, so try other books
and articles as well. One student made it easy: material was lifted
from an article written by the professor!
Ask a librarian for
assistance. Librarians treat these requests with full confidentiality.
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