procedures
1. Check open sources (sources that are not protected by passwords). A good spot is locate.com. Another is altavista. Most plagiarized papers will have stolen substantially from open sources. You may not need to go to step two. By the way, don't forget to enclose your suspect phrase in quotations (e.g. search for "an exemplary manifestation of ideology" rather than an+exemplary+manifestation+of+ideology). Some good search engines:

2. Check closed sources. They are listed below. I have secured access to one of the more popular sites. Please feel free to use my username and password to access this site. All closed sites have search engines. You can search by suspect phrase or by subject. Some sites ask you to preorder papers. In these cases, you may have to email the webmaster and ask for assistance in tracking down a paper (help which may not be offered).

3. Mike Grant can provide you with information on what to do next, as can Melanie Cook at the Office of Student Life. Student Life handles the appeals before the Dean gets them, and they are familiar with students' rights. I have a set of forms I use which I'd be happy to pass on. If you are failing a student from the class or assigning a permanent "F," then:

    You need to inform the student in writing that you have discovered plagiarism. Also inform the student that he or she has 15 calendar days to respond to you concerning the charge. If the student admits to plagiarism, then he or she must sign a written statement to that effect.

    After 15 calendar days, you then have 5 days to assign the "F." Again, inform the student of this in writing.

    Make and keep copies of all plagiarized work, the sources (if you can find them), and all correspondence.

    The requirements are outlined in The Mountie.

If you are assigning an "F" only on an assignment, then you need merely to inform the student in writing that he or she has plagiarized. You then allow the student to respond to the charge. You may want to inform the student that he or she is entitled to appeal the grade, and that Student Life will provide information on the procedures.
links

open sources

closed sources

  • Student U (very hard to navigate: class notes for WVU available)
  • Cheater dot Com (id=sharri13@wvu.edu / pw=globglob13)
  • A-1 Termpapers (less than $50 per paper, topics and titles can be browsed)
  • Paperwriters (all via telephone, nothing available on-line, papers can be pre-ordered)
  • Genius Papers ($9.00 annual charge for access, samples available)
  • Jungle Page ($20.00 charge per paper, two-sentence samples available)
  • Paper Sure ($15 per page via e-mail. Can't be searched)

others

  • Research Papers (doesn't offer papers, but directs students to resources)