Stop AI Plagiarism in Its Tracks: How Scrible Keeps Student Work Original

As AI-generated content becomes more accessible, concerns about academic integrity have grown. According to the Pew Research Center, about 1 in 5 U.S. teens who know about ChatGPT have used it for schoolwork, with 24% of upper-level high school students reporting similar use. 

Experts agree that educators should assess not just the final product but the entire research and writing process to prevent plagiarism and encourage meaningful learning. At Scrible, we make the research and writing process visible to educators and help them track student progress across key checkpoints. Scrible does for writing what's done in math: Show Your Work. 

The Four Key Phases of Research and Writing

Scrible divides the research and writing process into four key phases:

1. Research (Saving sources)

2. Analysis (Annotating sources)

3. Synthesis (Working in an outline)

4. Writing (Writing in a document)

Each phase plays a crucial role in producing original work, offering educators clear insights into student effort across an assignment's lifespan.

How To Use Scrible to Combat AI Plagiarism

Scrible’s time tracking feature records student time spent on each key phase in 5-minute intervals, offering educators a clear view of whether students put in the effort required to complete the assignment. Learn more! 

• Research: Scrible logs every saved source, providing a record of credible materials that form the foundation of the student’s work.
• Analysis: Students can annotate sources, demonstrating active engagement. AI plagiarism is easier to detect when there's a mismatch between detailed analysis and simplistic writing.
• Synthesis: Outlining helps students structure their thoughts. Scrible tracks this activity, helping to ensure that students are building original arguments rather than relying on pre-generated content.
• Writing: By monitoring the actual drafting process, Scrible helps flag sudden, unexplained blocks of text, raising red flags for potential AI use.

Educators can instantly see class-wide and individual student analytics related to these key phases. Are you curious about how many sources students have saved, cited, and used in their papers? Want to know how many words students have written so far? Check out our analytics!

Scrible scaffolds the research and writing process across all key phases so that students feel supported and are less likely to resort to AI to plagiarize. Share How to Use Colors when Annotating with your students or give them feedback at key junctures!

What’s Coming Next?

We're excited to announce that new developments are on the horizon that will make the research and writing process even more relevant and valuable in classrooms! These upcoming features will support the responsible use of AI through our new Research Assistant. This tool will allow students to explore AI-generated content responsibly, ensuring they engage in ethical research practices without risking plagiarism. Please stay tuned as Scrible continues evolving to meet modern classrooms' needs.