Being the victim of plagiarism can be a devastating experience for an author. Having one’s creative work stolen and reused under another’s name without acknowledgment or attribution is akin to robbery or identity theft. Unfortunately, plagiarism is a fact of life in the digital age, where copying and sharing others’ work is a breeze, thanks to computers and the internet. This means that anyone who has access to an author’s material can easily copy it and pass it off as their own. Protecting original essays, term papers, creative work, or research from plagiarism is a significant challenge that many writers and researchers struggle with. In writing, as in many other things, imitation is not always the sincerest (or most welcome) form of flattery.
1. Restricting Access
Many people believe that restricting access to their work can fob off plagiarists. They never post their work online unless there is a good reason to do so and refuse to share their work outside a trusted circle. Many also avoid running their work through unreliable online plagiarism checkers that might steal their work on behalf of websites that facilitate plagiarism.
This may not be an ideal or practical solution since writers often need to post their work publicly in order to reach a larger audience. Refusing to share content online can be detrimental to a writer’s career. Besides, there are better ways of deterring plagiarists.
2. Saving and Dating Original Work
The first thing all savvy authors do is save their work across multiple locations – cloud, personal computer, external hard drive, etc. They also ensure that the original version is properly dated and saved on their computer. It is also a good idea to print out the original and get it notarized and then mail the work to oneself so that it has a postmark date. These actions will help if a writer needs to prove that someone stole their work. However, on their own, these measures are certainly not enough to discourage plagiarists. The only evidence of plagiarism that will hold up in a court of law is official copyright registration.
3. Registering with the U.S. Copyright Office
In the United States, an author automatically and immediately becomes the owner of the work they have created; infringement of copyright occurs if someone else tries to copy and distribute the work without permission. Nevertheless, it is important to register copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office for extra protection. This can be done online or by filling out a paper registration form and submitting it. Once a piece of work has been registered, the author is entitled to use copyright notices on blogs or websites – or any place where the work may be published. A copyright notice has the advantage of staving off most would-be plagiarists, if not all of them. It also ensures that an author’s original work has a public record and gives the author the right to sue someone for copyright infringement.
4. Using Plagiarism Detection Tools
Most authors catch wind of plagiarism only when they see their work published on another platform (a website or blog, for instance) without permission or attribution. Since plagiarism must be nipped in the bud, it is important for writers to regularly check if their material has appeared anywhere else. Here are some useful plagiarism detection and prevention tools:
- Bartleby Write – This is an excellent tool that aids students and professionals alike submit well-written, plagiarism-free academic papers. Once the writer uploads their paper on it, the tool scans several million web pages to identify any instances of copied text or missing citations. In the event that the paper or parts of it have been plagiarized, the tool gives the user exhaustive details about the copied sections. This works extremely well when the user has knowingly or unknowingly copied content from elsewhere, when another website has reproduced information from the user’s original paper, or even in cases of self-plagiarism. The great part about bartleby write is that it also doubles as a grammar and spelling checker to ensure the writer submits a top notch essay/paper. It even provides writers with an initial score for their essays/papers after assessing several others using AI. This is particularly helpful for students as it helps them understand how to improve their papers before turning them in.
- Plagiarism Checker Plugins – Blogging platforms and websites have plugins that can be downloaded and installed for protection against plagiarism. Plugins link back to the original work when a section of the website or blog post is copied; this is a great way for writers to get credit for their material.
- Google Alerts – This is a free plagiarism monitoring system that can be set up to send email prompts to authors when it discovers possible plagiarism of their work online. Google Alerts uses a special algorithm that can track and monitor websites that display similar keyword combinations and compare the content to the original. Upon receiving the notification, authors can ask for removal of the copied material or for proper attribution.
5. Disabling Download or Copy File Functions
Authors with work published online can choose to discourage people from simply copying and pasting their material without permission. This involves embedding a JavaScript or HTML code in web pages to prevent users from copying or downloading the content. This method does not eliminate plagiarism entirely, but it certainly ensures difficulty in reusing large portions of content.
An extension of the above method is to restrict the right-click function in order to block actions like copying, downloading, and sharing of images, videos, and audio. The CTRL+C keyboard shortcut can also be disabled to cut off any attempt at copy-pasting.
6. Using a Permanent Attribution Code
Another method of protecting online content from plagiarism is to add the author’s name-brand onto all web pages and files as part of the web page code. This allows users to copy the material but the name-brand details will appear every time the material is pasted or transferred onto a local file. The details are permanent and cannot be deleted without deleting all of the copied material.
While the above tips can help authors protect their work from plagiarism and/or receive credit when their work is referenced, it is necessary to keep in mind that two or more creative people can stumble upon the same ideas, themes, or stories without necessarily stealing from someone. Every writer strives to break new ground in their writing, but originality is hard to come by when writers are up against traditions of creativity that are centuries old. It is important to thoroughly investigate and compare material before leveling accusations of plagiarism that might ultimately turn out to be baseless. Nobody wants to waste time and money fighting a lawsuit that a judge is likely to rule against or throw out.