Table of Contents

* CCA Libraries Guide to Plagiarism Detection and Prevention compiled by Nensi Brailo (Fall 2004); updated by Lia Thomas (Fall 2006)

What is Plagiarism? printer icon

California College of the Arts Academic Integrity Code
CCA's own definition of plagiarism and policies regarding academic honesty from the CCA Student Handbook

The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing, by Michael Harvey
Definition of plagiarism which emphasizes the importance of citing sources ethically and effectively

Plagiarism, by Earl Babbie (The author's site at Chapman University)
An essay by the noted sociologist, currently at Chapman University

What is plagiarism? (Turnitin.com)
Free research resources from the no-cost section of the site

Plagiarism Detection Sites

Plagiarism.org [for purchase]
This extensive online resource for educators explains how Turnitin.com is being used to fight plagiarism. Different type of licenses are offered for purchase as individual instructor, department, or unlimited campus license

Glatt Plagiarism Services [for purchase]
Several types of software are available for purchase on CD-ROM, such as the Glatt plagiarism screening program for faculty and the Glatt plagiarism teaching program, which includes avoiding plagiarism, self-detection for students, and practice exercises on rewriting

Essay Verification Engine (EVE) Plagiarism Detection System [low cost]This inexpensive software determines if students have plagiarized material from the Internet and returns links to web pages from which student may have plagiarized. The full plagiarism report includes the percent of the essay plagiarized as well as highlighted plagiarized passages

Internet Paper Sites

Directories of Internet paper sites

Cheating 101: Internet Paper Mills(Coastal Carolina University)
An extensive list of links to over 250 general paper sites, updated every six months; includes a link to subject-specific paper mills

Free Essay Network
Links to numerous free essay sites

Top 50 Free Essay Sites
Links to sites with categorized and searchable term papers, essays, and book reports

Sample paper sites

Academic Term Papers
A fee-based site with papers categorized by subjects, including architecture, art, literature, etc.

Cheathouse.com
A fee-based essay and paper site for students that includes essays on artists, design arts, works of art, etc.

CollegeTermPapers.com
Free term papers in over fifty categories; also includes links to additional paper sites

Coshe.com
An online library of articles, essays, term papers, book reports and researched works by students and for students

DueNow.com
A fee-based paper site that claims to have high quality papers on many subjects

MyTermPapers.com
Free essays on many subjects as well as links to other essay sites

Additional Resources on Plagiarism

Teaching-oriented sites

Anti-Plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers
Offers clear guidelines for designing assignments that impede and discourage plagiarism. Strategies for plagiarism awareness, prevention, and detection from an experienced professor

The Bedford/St. Martin's Workshop on Plagiarism
"This online faculty workshop distills the materials that Nick Carbone, Director of New Media at Bedford/St. Martin's, has developed for his live workshops on preventing plagiarism. They are free for instructors to use and print out as needed." Includes a list of recommended readings and downloadable handouts for students. For assignment design and preventing plagiarism, see also the college TechNote site

Electronic Plagiarism Seminar (Le Moyne College)
Annotated bibliographies of articles and guides on plagiarism for faculty and students as well as strategies for preventing plagiarism

Plagiarism and Anti-Plagiarism (Rutgers University)
Information for instructors who have dilemmas about how to handle plagiarism, includes possible countermeasures as well as a list of methods for using the Internet to detect plagiarism

Plagiarism and the Web (Western Illinois University)
Includes suggestions for assignment design

Plagiarism: Defining, Detecting, & Preventing (Bowling Green State University) Includes suggestions for promoting academic integrity, clues to detecting a plagiarized paper, a bibliography of guides to help educators prevent and detect plagiarism, and guides that can be given to students

Plagiarism.org (Turnitin.com)
The Research Resources section has links to free information such as suggestions for integrating plagiarism education into lesson plans, tips for creating assignments, and a selection of printable handouts for students on plagiarism, proper citation, and paper writing

Resources for students

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, by Joseph Gibaldi
Meyer and Simpson Libraries - LB2369 G53 1999
Defines plagiarism and shows several examples of plagiarized material listed next to the original source, pp. 30-34

Plagiarism Interactive Tutorial (San Jose State University)
A highly recommended interactive plagiarism tutorial that will improve students' understanding of plagiarism

Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It (Indiana University) Examples of acceptable and unacceptable paraphrases and strategies for avoiding plagiarism

Turnitin Research Resource
Free links for students with definitions of plagiarism, tips on avoiding plagiarism, guidelines for proper citing and citation styles, and suggestions for developing good research and writing skills

Using Sources (Hamilton College)
A student guide on correct and effective use of sources, with good examples of proper quoting and paraphrasing (in PDF format)

Citation Styles and Style Manuals

These are some of the writing manuals and guides available at CCA libraries along with some websites that contain online guides to citation styles. NOTE: A handy selection of writing manuals and guides are shelved on the Writing Resources Shelf in Meyer Library.

Books that explain citation styles

The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press, 2003) Meyer & Simpson Libraries - PN147 U69 2003
The most comprehensive source for writers, editors, and publishers

Looking and Writing: a Guide for Art History Students, by Marilyn Wyman (Prentice Hall, 2003)
Meyer Library - N5303 W97 2003
Information on MLA and Chicago Manual of Style as well as a chapter on using the Internet to look at art, and downloading and printing digital images

A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertation, by Kate L. Turabian (University of Chicago Press, 1996)
Meyer & Simpson Libraries - LB2369 T8 1996
Footnote, endnote, and parenthetical reference forms as well as the corresponding bibliography and reference list formats

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, by Joseph Gibaldi (Modern Language Association of America, 1999)
Meyer & Simpson Libraries - LB2369 G53 1999
Chapter on citing electronic publications as well as a chapter on plagiarism

A Short Guide to Writing about Art, by Sylvan Barnet (Longman, 2000)
Meyer & Simpson Libraries - N7476 B36 2000
Chapters on Chicago Manual and Art Bulletin Style as well as information on critical approaches to writing and art-historical research

The Bedford Handbook, by Diana Hacker (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002)
Meyer Library - PE1408 H277 2002
Chapters on writing process, and avoiding plagiarism in MLA, APA, and Chicago documentation styles

The Rowman & Littlefield Guide to Writing with Sources, by James Davis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004)
Meyer Library - PE1478 D37 2004
Chapters on acknowledging sources, paraphrasing, quoting, and selecting and citing electronic and Internet sources

Online guide to citation styles

Citations Styles Online! (Bedford/St. Martins)
Good examples of quoting online materials such as professional websites, online books, articles in an electronic journal, scholarly projects or information databases, material from a subscription service, etc. in MLA, APA, Chicago and other styles

Frequently Asked Questions about MLA Style (Modern Language Association) The official site of the Modern Language Association of America; includes answers to frequently asked questions about MLA style

The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing, by Michael Harvey
Information on essay structure, research & the Internet, plagiarism, and effective quoting in MLA, APA, CHICAGO, and CBE styles

Style Sheets for Citing Resources (Print & Electronic): Examples & General Rules for MLA, APA, & Chicago & Turabian Styles
Good examples of citation styles, style guides, and avoiding plagiarism

Online Guides For Using and Citing Images

Find Images on the Internet (CSU Monterey Bay)
Links for locating images on the Internet, in encyclopedias and books, copyright and fair use information, and citing images and video clips from the Internet

Finding and Using Images (University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire)
Information on finding images and links to online image collections as well as some basic information on copyright, fair use, and citing images

How to Cite Film, Video, and Online Media (UC Berkeley)
Good examples for citing film, video, TV, radio, web sites, and online media files

How To Verify Sources

Do you want to find out if a work cited in a paper is authentic and not made up? Look for the citation in these types of bibliographic resources:

  • Check the CCA Libraries Catalog at library.cca.edu to see if the book or journal is available in the CCA Libraries
  • Check magazine indexes and databases available at CCA Libraries to verify citations to articles
  • Check the online catalogs and databases available at other Bay Area Libraries, starting with the Bay Area Libraries link on the CCA Libraries homepage
  • Check the Library of Congress catalog or BookFinder.com for more obscure titles

To see if a student has found a pre-written paper on a specific topic, use a search engine like Google to identify possible sources; search under keywords that a student might use e.g. "math in art" or "student papers"

If you need additional assistance, please ask one of the CCA librarians. Contact information is on the library staff page at library.cca.edu