Detecting plagiarism

[angels_trap]

From fpwatchers.

Googling - A Few Tips

• Placing quotation marks at the beginning and end of each phrase you search will force Google to keep the words together. Example: Instead of searching through my cabinets and find some, search "through my cabinets and find some"
• Choose the right phrase. Ask yourself, "Would anyone word this phrase in that manner?" If the answer is yes, find another phrase. If the answer is no, Google it.
• Make sure the phrase is around five to seven words long. While you don't want the phrase to be too small (since, in all probability, it will generate more useless search results), you don't want the phrase to be a long sentence. Plagiarizers often change a word or two, here and there, in some sentences. If you Google a smaller phrase, you can sort of circumvent this problem.
• Don't Google a phrase from a prologue. Prologues are often left out entirely by the plagiarizer in hopes that this will fool anyone suspicious of the plagiarizer. You'd do much better if you Googled a phrase from the first or even better the second chapter (preferably not from the first few sentences). After the first chapter the probability of the plagiarizer getting sloppy with editing a bit increases.
• Avoid Googling punctuation, especially quotation marks and apostrophes.
• Avoid Googling numbers. Numbers are easy to change, especially if the number represents an age. A seventeen-year-old protagonist can end up being a thirty-six-year-old in the plagiarizer's story.
• Avoid colors. Same deal as numbers.
• Avoid anything regionally- and culturally-specific. Like numbers, the plagiarizers are likely to change these objects to fit within a different setting.
• Avoid gender (if you can of course, if it's obviously gay porn then it doesn't matter). Don't Google phrases with "her," "him," "he," "she," etc. Keep it gender neutral. Plagiarizers oftentimes change the gender of characters they're ripping off.
• Avoid names. Plagiarizers often use the old "Find-Replace" trick to change character names.

After You've Found a Phrase

• Google, of course.
• IMPORTANT: After you've gotten your search results, make sure to click on the link at the bottom of the page that states "repeat the search with the omitted results included." This is where most of the plagiarism cases are found.
• After you've found a search result that is not a link to the writer's own work, do not automatically assume it is plagiarism. Investigate the other results. Check timestamps, compare stories, etc.
• After you've confirmed that what you found is indeed plagiarism, take the necessary action to get the story removed/account terminated.
• Make screencaps and collect evidence (links that will show you the easiest ways to do it are in my sidebar).
• Make a post in stop_plagiarism.
• Make sure to check out the other stories posted by the plagiarizers. They are oftentimes the stories of other users. Finding one account name can lead you to a whole pocket of plagiarism. Follow the string of plagiarism and keep other authors informed.
• Google often, especially your own stories.
• It doesn't matter if you've gotten hundreds of comments or just one or two. Don't be stupid and think plagiarism can't happen to you.