Helen Keller was accused of plagiarism when she was 11 years old. She had written “The Frost King,” a short story, and it was published and celebrated as an example of what disabled people can do if they are educated. Unfortunately, it was very similar to “The Frost Fairies” by Margaret Canby, which her teacher had read to her a few years earlier. Keller had done it unintentionally, but she had, in fact, plagiarized.

There’s not much we can do about students who plagiarize on purpose. For those who, like Keller, are trying to do the right thing and sometimes just slip up, new help has arrived. Jeffrey Smith, a recent college graduate, offers Plagiarism Detect. He writes on his home page, “I was having BIG problems with plagiarism in my papers.” This site shares his solution, which he describes as a “a great opportunity to check essays, term papers, research papers and other written documents at no cost.”

Smith says his site works by comparing a submitted text to resources indexed by Google. A recent upgrade also checks PDF files, online books, and blogs.

The site’s primary purpose is “to help students prevent plagiarism in their academic papers,” Smith says, adding, “It can be a useful tool for those who want to be original in writing.” Smith does not charge for this service — it is free.

I tested it by submitting a couple of my own blog posts and a blurb from my newsletter. While it returned several false positives, these were easily identifiable. It also identified the correct sources.

I’m thinking of adding it to my classroom procedures and making it almost part of the writing process — “Submit your paper to Plagiarism Detect and deal appropriately with any issues it flags before you hand your paper in to me.”

The site accepts donations but does not charge a fee.

Posted Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:01:58 and filed under Strategies, Teaching, Web 2.0, Writing. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.