Plagarism is defined as turning in the work of someone else as though it were your own. While this is clearly immoral and dishonorable, it happens on college campuses worldwide every single day, semester after semester, year after year. So from an educational standpoint, a key question is: "how can professors tell when a student is obviously plagarizing a paper?" There are several ways, and you can bet most professors are using them to evaluate every paper that crosses their desks. So let's examine five obvious signs that someone plagarized a paper and learn a little more about how professors scrutinize your work.

1) Your writing style in the plagarized paper is markedly different from all your other papers

Perhaps the most obvious tip-off to plagarism is turning in a paper that looks and feels drastically different from how you normally write. This is especially true if you struggle with writing (or are just flat out bad at it.) Professors make note of who writes well and who doesn't. Therefore, an awesome paper from someone who normally can't write to save his life sets off the plagarism alarms almost instantly. However, even good writers can trigger plagarism concerns if they adopt a very different writing style than what a professor has grown accustomed to seeing.

2) You use more quotes than actual written-by-you content

Some students seem to think packing a paper with quotes is the surefire way to a good grade. "After all", they figure, "if I fill enough space with enough intelligent-sounding quotes from famous or historic figures, and it seems to be on-topic, how can I get a bad grade?" In fact, doing this almost guarentees that you will get a bad grade and be accused of plagarism. It's even more risky if you don't cite the quotes, making it seem as though you wrote them. To avoid this, make sure you never use more quotes than actual, written-by-you content and that you do not falsely claim (by not citing them) to have written other people's quotes.

3) You take a strong stance in the plagarized paper but weak or no stances in all your other papers

Just as professors note who the good and bad writers are, they also note who the passionate, position-taking writers and wishy-washy, fence-sitting writers are. This is important, because if your plagarized paper is different from your normal distinction - say, if you normally take no strong positions in your papers but turn in a paper with fiercely passionate views - it will be obvious that someone else wrote it. And since virtually all papers worth plagarizing take strong positions, you stand a high risk of getting caught unless you usually take strong positions too (and if you're thinking of turning in someone else's work as your own, you probably don't.)

4) Grossly outdated statements, figures, or data

Another unmistakable sign of plagarism is the use of clearly outdated research or figures. For example, a fall 2008 paper that referred to "Newt Gingrich, speaker of the predominantly Republican House of Representatives" is very likely plagarized. Non-plagarized papers generally contain current research and descriptions, while plagarized papers often use only years or decades-old sources in their works cited page.

5) Your paper shows excellent writing ability but is not on topic

Finally, it is common for plagarized papers to be vaguely on-topic but not fully on-topic. For example, let's say your assignment was to write about Abraham Lincoln's role in the Civil War. A brilliantly written, plagarized paper might cover the Civil War in general, but devote little or no time to Lincoln's role in it, which is the heart of the assignment. But if you think the easy way to an A is to find a well-written but generic paper, turn it in and hope for the best, think again! It's an obvious red flag that any qualified professor knows to look for.