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Overviewby Eva Maria Guerrero (Dr. Susan Garza’s graduate seminar, Spring 2007, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi) Questions to consider related to Plagiarism Detection Services and Online Paper Mills What topics of discussions about plagiarism can teachers use to help students avoid plagiarism impulses? Teachers and Students must have open communication about what they know about plagiarism. Teachers know that students sometimes resort to seeking help from undocumented sources in order to complete assignments, and teachers must therefore utilize teaching strategies that will help minimize or eliminate the student’s impulse to plagiarize. What are suggested teacher strategies that will help students avoid plagiarizing? Many academic sources agree on specific strategies that steer students away from plagiarizing. Some of the most common are found in the following essays and websites.
Gallant and Drinan study the problem of plagiarism from the instructional perspective. They state that because the educational institutions is so complex, layered with many organizations within the institution, that its main goal is to “survive” and is therefore placed in the position of reacting to problems which often leads to misdiagnosing the situation (841). They discuss the organizational need to define the problems accurately and to identify solutions. They have studied the nature of student cheating and what drives some students to cheat. In addition, Gallant and Drinan provide some helpful strategies for academic integrity such as; acknowledging cheating as corruption, embracing vulnerability, and highlighting expectations and mutual interests in order to defer cheating
Lipson and Reindl seek to categorize plagiarism into three levels; outright dishonesty, carelessness, or ignorance of how to prepare a well cited document. They assert that most students do not set out to intentionally plagiarize and they offer teachers techniques that will help students write using their “own voice.” Lipson and Reindl recognize that any reader who engages with written material becomes a community with the author and that the student also forms a relationship with the material. Teachers must bring out the student’s thinking in response to the material they read. Their article offers ideas about what teachers can do to help students recognize their role as scholars and as being part of the learning community.
Sterngold asserts that the digital revolution makes it easy for students to plagiarize but that most students still write their own papers because they either are knowledgeable on how to properly cite a paper, are afraid to get caught, or they feel confident about their writing skills. However, he says that digital accessibility is making online plagiarism more prevalent and he suggests that teachers need to reevaluate conventional teaching methods and how they might invite cheating. His article recommends improved student learning skills that develop research and writing skills, clearly designed assignments, in-class guidance, “authentic voice” writing assignments and learning-centered teaching practices. What resources do teacher have to help them detect plagiarism? Students should be aware that teachers have access to technology that can identify a paper that has been plagiarized and can detect essays and reports that have plagiarized sentences or phrases in the document. The following software is some of the kinds of technology available for educators that facilitate the recognition of plagiarism Turn It In, Eve2, and Plagiarism Guru, are a few of the plagiarism detection software that some colleges and universities have been purchasing in order to detect plagiarized papers. Educators are able to submit students papers to the service and the service will detect phrases or sentences that have been plagiarized. Or the school will simply ask the student to turn their paper in through the detection company’s software and the detection company will send the teacher a report about the status of the paper, i.e. plagiarized of not plagiarized.
Villano says that the rise of the internet has brought about an epidemic of “cut and paste” plagiarism. Villano discusses who plagiarizes and why they plagiarize and how they can be caught. He identifies Turnitin.com as a major service that schools utilize in order to catch cheaters. He also offers ideas and strategies to help educate students on the distinctions between citing a primary source and copying it. Who is using plagiarism detection technology and how is its use currently perceived? Both businesses that sell essays to students and schools that are trying to detect plagiarized papers use software that scans papers for plagiarized phrases and sentences. Businesses that sell essays for pay to students use plagiarism detection software to “clear” essays to avoid plagiarism detection by schools. A student can buy an essay or thesis paper that is “guaranteed” to have been cleared of plagiarized sentences or phrases by the essay seller. The software they claim to use is sometimes the same software that is sold to educational institutions. What are some online Essay / Thesis Writing Services for pay that are available for students attempting to plagiarize? There are several online businesses that offer essays and thesis papers for sale. Some guarantee plagiarized proof papers and some do not. They charge a fee per page and by the type of paper ordered.
Are Essay / Thesis Writing Services for pay reliable? Should Students trust them? The language used to sell for pay essays and thesis papers can be read as contradictory therefore unreliable. One service advertises “Say “no” to plagiarism…we condemn this act and provide completely original work to our customers.” A proclaimed retired Rochville University professor claiming a Ph.D and offering to sell essays says, “I am not a businessman. I merely like to lend a hand…through the insight and experience that I have.” His university and his credentials have been refuted by a new report on Cable Network News (CNN). The news story reports that Rochville University does not, in fact, exist and that academic degrees are sold by Rochville University online to individuals who may have ties to politically subversive groups. The Rochville degrees are obtained in order to gain entry into the United States under the guise of professional necessity. Students must be made aware that the offers that appear legitimate online are not, and that the student can not trust the quality of work that these web sites propose.
A “buyers beware” is issued by John Barrie, president of iParadigms LLC. (qtd in Ainsworth-Vincze). He asks the reader to think of the ethics of the people selling papers to students. His company Turnitin.com helps schools “catch cheats.” while Christiansen Hughes (qtd in Ainsworth-Vincze), president of the Society for Teaching, says that to resolve the problem, administrators and faculty need to discuss viable policies and educate students about the topic. How does the academic community view software that detects plagiarism? In 2001, several colleges and universities began to buy the plagiarism detection software; however, in ensuing years colleges and universities have begun to decline renewal of contracts with companies that provide plagiarism detection. They cite that the use of the software interferes with teacher / student relationships.
Dames’s article shows how sensitive an accusation of plagiarism can become. He discusses how copyright and plagiarism sometimes intersect and how ideas can be plagiarized but not copyrighted. Plagiarism may involve an accuser’s questionable motive without safeguards to protect the accused and that because of lack of standards it is virtually impossible to defend against false accusations of plagiarism.
Mac Millan reports that turnitin.com is used by over 9000 schools and has enjoyed growth and is expected to grow to 100,000 clients in the next 10 years according to John Barrie Chief Executive of iParadigms. Mac Millan says that turnitin.com has now hit some bumps and is facing a backlash from parents and now some schools have cut back its use. Several discrepancies have shown up in the program and it promotes mistrust between students, teachers and administrators.
Young reports that because cheating was becoming a greater problem in 2001, teachers were becoming frustrated by the amount of time they spent researching papers they felt may have been plagiarized. A significant number of college and universities looked at services that would help teachers with this problem. Some schools however, were already foreseeing that plagiarism checks like turnitin.com could breed an atmosphere of mistrust. Some schools, says Young, have already let contracts expire, saying they prefer to focus on face-to-face attention and prefer to treat things on an individual basis. By 2006, the Caucus of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) was in the process of finalizing their position on the use of plagiarism detection software. They agreed that that the use of plagiarism detection services and software compromises academic integrity and effective teaching. Further, in 2007, the Council of Writing Program Administrators has written a statement on best practices to avoid plagiarism. In 2007, the academic writing community has weighed in with their proposed resolutions regarding plagiarism policy recommendations.
What is my academic institution’s position on plagiarism detection devices? The Global Ethics Consortium an online blog space has an article written by Ars Technica and is conducting a conversation about the ethics of and student rights that may be infringed on by turnitin.com. The article shows my academy as a subscriber to the plagiarism detection service. Open communication between teachers and students is the first step in helping students to understand the pitfalls of offers that propose to sell students essays or thesis papers. Teachers can help students become confident writers by defining plagiarism, helping students avoid unethical online offers, and by using strategies to help students to use their own voice to write. The best learning relationship must be based on mutual understanding and trust. |