Top tips to prevent plagiarism

* Explain the nature of the exercise clearly to students

* Specify particular books or websites that must be used as some of the source materials

* Require the submission of a rough draft

* Require an oral presentation on the same topic

* Educate students about good note-taking styles

* Model good practice in course handouts and other material

* Educate about appropriate referencing

* Educate about the boundaries of acceptable practice

* Stress that writing exercises are not just about the final product but about the skills developed along the way

* Carry out some meta-learning activity such as asking students how they found their sources.

Chris Willmott, Tackling Plagiarism in Biology , 2004