GS Writing and literature professors expressed the ways they reduce plagiarism incidents within their classes.

Why it matters: Many students seek homework help from online sources when they are stressed from work overload or maybe because of bad time management. Regardless of the circumstances, academic dishonesty is inexcusable.

• “I try to do more free writing in class which limits the tools they have access to,” said senior writing and linguistics lecturer, Sheila Neilson. 
• “In short writing assignments when students use a few sentences from an outside source, it’s not fair to treat it as plagiarism on the first occurrence,” said principal lecturer, Dr. Bradley Edwards. “So in the first incident for lower level courses I assign a zero and email them explaining plagiarism and the future consequences.”

What we know: Professors study their students’ choice of language and dialect which makes catching plagiarism a lot easier.

• “I don’t immediately jump to the conclusion that it’s plagiarism, but it makes me stop and look closely,” said Neilson.
• “I encounter plagiarism every semester,” said Edwards. “I noticed a cultural shift in the last 10 years where students don’t realize they are plagiarizing since they are so used to getting answers from google.”