New guide to help students avoid being labelled cheats » Education » 24dash.com

A guide to help students avoid plagiarism when using the internet for their coursework is published today.

The guide, which can be downloaded, is being launched at the same time as a conference on student plagiarism takes place in London.

Titled Avoid Plagiarism like the Plague, the guide has the backing of Boris Johnson, the Tory MP who has been an outspoken critic of students copying essays to pass their GCSEs and A-levels.

He writes in the guide: "We are eroding the distinction in a child's mind  between what is their own intellectual achievement and what is a rip-off.

"I am fairly sure that this is one of the reasons why there has been such an increase in plagiarism at all levels of education. Pupils are used to seeing  stuff come off the web, and thinking of it as "theirs".

The guide has been published by Coursework. Info, the UK's largest coursework library and it is aimed at young people to help combat the growing levels of plagiarism. 

The guide shows students how to use Internet essays as a learning resource to help them pass their exams without cheating.

Pete Taylor, Coursework.Info's Operations Director, said: "We searched for a guide to help avoid plagiarism for young-people we looked to the QCA  (Qualifications & Curriculum Authority), JCQ (Joint Council for Qualifications) etc, and we also checked the three largest examination boards.

"We found that none of these bodies have a guide for students on  referencing other people's work and how to avoid plagiarism.  This is ironic  since the QCA is changing the coursework elements of qualifications because of plagiarism - but strangely no-one advises students how to avoid it."

The guide is written by a secondary school teacher, and has a foreword by Boris Johnson MP. 

Avoid Plagiarism like the Plague costs £3.99 but is available free to Coursework.

Today's conference held by the QCA and JISCPAS (Joint Information Systems  Committee Plagiarism Advisory Service) is due to discuss  'Has increasing  technology led to a rise in dishonesty by students and what can be done about the dishonest use of technology in exams and assessments.