Is it possible to commit involuntary plagiarism? Heather Scott would say it is. In fact, she estimates that only half of the plagiarizing she sees in her English classes at Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs, CO, is the result of students "trying to be tricky," as she says, while the other 50 percent may simply be an indication that students don't understand the difference between plagiarizing and paraphrasing, or how and when to use quotes or cite credits and resources. That may seem an unnecessary consideration—what more knowledge of plagiarism do they need other than the understanding that they better not do it? Yet Scott's notion that many student plagiarists are either uninformed or unaware, rather than calculating cheaters, doesn't lack support, including new research concluding that the more effective anti-plagiarism strategy is to increase knowledge on the subject rather than instill the fear of being caught.
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