How to Report Plagiarism
Electronic media has opened new opportunities for plagiarism in an environment where it has become difficult to track down and punish offenders. Many forms of online publishing such as blogs, personal websites and social media bypass the editing process, which is responsible for curtailing offenses of plagiarism. Traditional reporting methods still work, but the Internet also provides other options for having the offending material swiftly removed, the offending website targeted, and the individual responsible marked as an offending plagiarist.
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Instructions
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Take screen shots of both your original material and the plagiarized material. Then copy and paste both into a word file, along with the URL. Any information may be helpful. The screen shots are your evidence that the material was on the web at the date and time of your discovery. The word file will help you recopy the material in future steps. Outside of the Internet environment, contact an authority figure such as a teacher or supervisor if you suspect that someone has plagiarized your work. You can request this meeting in a private environment if you fear backlash.
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Enter the website address into the WHOIS database to retrieve information regarding the webmaster for the site. The "Name Server" lists the web host. Check with the host website for contact information for the webmaster responsible for the website.
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Contact the webmaster responsible for hosting the offending website. Some webmasters prefer email contact while others provide their phone numbers on their host pages. Provide as much information as you can regarding when you placed the original content on the Internet and when you located the plagiarized content. Copy and paste the word file of information into an email to the webmaster, says the Report Plagiarism Now Website. Inform them of your intention to formally report the offense if the material is not removed within a few days. If the offense is causing you financial problems such as a loss of business or theft of your product for income, inform the webmaster of your intent to report the offense immediately.
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Report the offending website to Google and other popular search engines. They will move quickly to evaluate the legitimacy of your claims and remove offending content from their search engine. Provide copies of the information you have on the offending website, as well as the URL, for these search engines. Use your word file to copy and paste your collected information into an email to each search engine.
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Contact your attorney with all of the information you received about the offending website, as well as copies of your original work, says the Master New Media Organization. Print out your word file and include it with your information. Your attorney can initiate criminal and civil proceedings. Contacting your attorney is crucial if the plagiarism resulted in a loss of income or theft of income. Your attorney is also your best option if you believe that your work has been plagiarized in a publication such as a book or magazine.
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