The demand for programming in different fields has led to plagiarism in coding. It is no more limited to copying and borrowing someone else’s work. The seriousness of source code plagiarism is far extended, and it is harmful to many programmers who have spent their time and labor in the creation of the code.
Plagiarism of Source Code is a significant issue the computer science classrooms are facing. According to one published article in the New York Times, at Brown University, more than half of the academic code violation cases involved cheating in computer science classes.
The report also says that 20% of one computer science class at Stanford University was identified for cheating. The students can use code similarity checkers to avoid code plagiarism.
Plagiarism in Coding
In coding, the common sort of plagiarism seen in the classroom is source code plagiarism. When a programmer copies or reproduces the code without permission from the original creator of the code, it becomes an instance of plagiarism in coding.
It also involves partial, minimal, or unlimited usage of source code in the programmer’s code. If the programmer converts the code into a different programming language, it is an instance of plagiarism.
Coding in plagiarism is a severe issue in the classroom. Therefore, many institutions take plagiarism in computer science classrooms seriously. For graded projects, if a student uses a code generator, it falls under plagiarism. The institution, based on its educational policy, can take steps against the student.
Getting help from the instructor
The students and programmers can produce plagiarism-free code. To learn about coding, the students can take the instructor’s help in every programming stage.
The instructors can guide the student to get the task done without any issue of plagiarism. The instructors can also recommend ways to stay away from plagiarism while working on a particular code.
Steps to Ensure Plagiarism-free Code
The computer science students need to do thorough research to avoid plagiarism in coding. The students can produce a plagiarism-free code by specific steps.
Here are some steps the students can follow to stay away from plagiarism in coding –
- The students should properly learn when to use outside code, which is the best way to avoid plagiarism. The students must keep in mind the limitations of using outside sources.
- If the students are not sure about code similarity, they can check online tools to detect plagiarism in coding.
- The students need to learn the rules of collaboration if they partner with someone else for a project. Following the guidelines, the students can stay away from cheating or plagiarism.
- The students need to learn how to comment on their codes. Continuous commenting can help them in creating an original code all by themselves.
- The students need to embrace their creativity to create their code. It will help them to be prepared for the future. It is always better to learn about the college classes’ codes before getting pointed out for plagiarism.
How to Use Plagiarism Checker to Check Source-Code
The students can find the copied code by using a code similarity checker. The measuring of software can be a standard way of finding out the similarity of two programs.
The students need to use a code similarity checker for finding similarities in two codes. The tool compares the original file with other files available online and helps in detecting source code plagiarism.
The student can submit the file and the automated examination option of the tool searcher for the copied code and finds out the similarity between them. The plagiarism checker retrieves a result that can help the student to stay away from plagiarism.
