Teachers are the key persons who have the capacity to lessen if not eliminate plagiarism. They have the greater opportunity to directly influence their students and the issue on preventing intellectual dishonesty is one area where teachers can exercise their inherent authority over the pupils. Teachers can also give motivations and incentives to students to refrain from doing plagiarism. Duplichecker software which detects repetition of data can help the teachers in checking the work of the students. But this software has limitations since plagiarism also occurs in another form aside from the copy-paste type. Class instructors also have the option to give students specific and limited sources so as to easily trace any form of plagiarism. Teachers also have the authority to tell the students to properly cite references which serve as support to their own ideas and to provide correct format of making citations. Consultations with teachers should be made available for students so that they can ask about matters concerning their research topic and other sources. Students tend to live up to the expectation and high standards of some teachers and these may push them to copy the ideas of those experts on the subject matter. In response to these, there should be an well-established just system of grading and students should be given an appropriate duration to accomplish their tasks. The burden of preventing plagiarism should not only be placed in the shoulders of the teachers but also on the Office of Student Affairs and on the students themselves. The students must slowly take into account the effects of plagiarism when doing their tasks so as not to suffer from these consequences.
Helpful Means to Avoid Plagiarism
Copyright laws should be efficiently promulgated so that the public especially the students would be aware of the consequences of a violation to the certain law. In the corporate world, brands and trademarks have copyright to prevent the stealing of ideas. One violation to the copyright law in the business sector is imitation like replication of brand names. Though we can put the blame on the fast advancement of information technology, the information technology in particular, the fault is still in the part of the people for the unwise use of such sophisticated technology. To lessen plagiarism, it is emphasized to target its roots, plagiarism itself, the consequences of doing it and of course, the ways to prevent it.
