Using the Web as a Resource      
 

Using Google to Detect Plagiarism
 

  
 

Did you know that you can use Google to search
for specific phrases by putting searches within "quotes"? This Google function is a great way
to detect plagiarism from the Internet:

  
  Let's take an example of a student's essay that
I suspect has plagiarized content:		  
  In particular, I'm suspicious of one particular
paragraph (highlighted red for emphasis) as the language seems too advanced for my student.		  
 

Step-by-step instructions:
 

  
 

1  To confirm my suspicions, I'll choose a phrase
    that I suspect has been plagiarized.
2  I'll then visit Google's website at
    www.google.ca
3  I'll write out the suspicious phrase, exactly
    as it appears in the essay, within quotation
    marks, i.e.:

"modified form of Muay Thai called Lerdrit"

  
                Don't forget to include "quotation" marks, as it indicates to Google that we're searching for an exact match of this particular phrase!  
 

I'll receive some results from Google, but it's still
too soon to see if this is a coincidence. To dig
deeper (and see if we have a match) I'll browse
the first one or two websites that Google has
listed for me:

  

Once we follow each link, we can compare the content of the website with our student's essay:
                           
                 
     
                 

Upon closer inspection, we have a match! Note the student's essay compared to the website:
 

 

Student essay, with plagiarized passage (highlighted in red for emphasis)
                           
 

 

Website, with original passage (highlighted in red for emphasis)

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  Note: It is important for teachers to randomly check "various sections" of a student's document.

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