JISC

The JISC Electronic Plagiarism Detection project was established to review electronic solutions to the issue of plagiarism. However, it became clear that, as with most things in life, technology can only assist us, it will never replace the expertise of humans and that the answer to problems usually lies in process and procedures not technology alone.

Executive summary

Electronic detection has its place in institutions but the real solutions lie in appropriate assessment mechanisms, supportive institutional culture, clear definitions of plagiarism and policies for dealing with it and adequate training for staff and students. If these areas are improved, the need, desire, and appeal of plagiarism can be taken away for most students.

The JISC project was split into 4 strands each examining a different aspect of plagiarism. The 4 strands included: a technical review of free-text and source code plagiarism detection software, a small pilot of free-text detection software and a good practice guide to plagiarism prevention. Each strand was carried out by institutions from the Higher and Further educational sectors under the central management of JISC.

The project produced a ‘Which’ styles report on 5 products available for ‘freetext’ detection, a report on the current use of source code detection software and a review of 2 products available in this area. In addition to these technical reports, a report on good practice in the area of plagiarism prevention has been produced, which includes recommendations for both institutions and academics. Finally, a summary report on the pilot project has been produced, this includes details of the problems experienced, reaction from staff and students and recommendations on useful software facilities.

At the end of the project, a series of workshops were held around the country where delegates were given an opportunity to hear the results from all the strands, to comment on these and to provide suggestions to the JISC on what further work needed to be carried out.

This report provides a summary of the projects, the subsequent dissemination workshops and recommendations for future work. These recommendations include setting up a Plagiarism Advisory Service to act as a source of information for staff and institutions on issues such as writing an institutional policy, implementing procedures and how to set assignments that make plagiarism harder. This service may also provide services to students to assist in the development of their study skills and advise on how to avoid plagiarism. Further to this, it was recommended that the Advisory Service should run a national electronic plagiarism detection service, if implemented. Before this could happen, the report recommends that a number of studies into organisational processes and technical requirements for suitable detection software are carried out to ensure that the services meets the needs of the community.

Other recommendations include the funding of a series of workshops to improve understanding about plagiarism in the community. A number of recommendations are made to other JISC committees to fund studies into student attitudes and into detection of plagiarism of graphical material.

JISC is also recommended to involve other organisations in setting up and running the service, in particular the Generic Centre of the LTSN.

Download the full report and project reports below