Article #3: TIME (supporting details from the article): This piece states that there are "hundreds of online paper mills" [i.e., web sites that produce research papers] which cater to "all the stressed-out, disaffected or just plain lazy students" who have credit cards and Internet access. And the Time article asserts that according to Rutgers professor Donald McCabe's research (a survey of 13,248 students), some 67% admitted to having cheated "at least once on a paper or test." That having been said, it is also true that colleges and universities are fighting back against the tidal wave of cheating by purchasing the services of www.turnitin.com, a Web site that reportedly has a database of "billions of Web pages, tens of thousands of journals and periodicals" and an estimated 40 million student papers. Turnitin.com claims 7,000 educational institutions use its services, and an estimated 100,000 student papers are fed into www.turnitin.com daily.
Hence, if a plagiarized paper is run through Turnitin's software, it should show up as a fraud, a copy of someone else's original work. Not every university has signed on to this service. And some students object to having a for-profit company making money (87 cents per student per year is charged to universities who use (www.turnitin.com) off their work. Some student protests have resulted in campuses canceling their contracts with www.turnitin.com students claim it creates a "...culture of mistrust, a culture of guilt." Duke University recently cancelled Turnitin. How do you reconcile this [service] with a place that's trying to presume honor?" asked Duke's vice provost for undergraduate education.
As for www.turnitin.com, their Web site claims that they are run by "...a group of dedicated...
That effort may not bear fruit, but you can't blame institutions of higher learning for trying.
OUTLINE:
Plagiarism is a problem and universities and colleges seek solutions
1. Many surveys indicate that a high percentage of students cheat on papers
2. This cheating begins in middle school, and continues into college
Www.Turnitin.com offers professors and instructors the chance to catch cheaters
1. While many colleges embrace www.turnitin.com, others like Duke have cancelled
2. Whether students agree or not, knowing they might get caught keeps them more honest
Works Cited
Carter, Stacy L.; Punyanunt-Carter, Narissra Maria. Acceptability of Treatments for Plagiarism. College Student Journal, 41(2), 336-341.
Rawe, Julie. (2007). A Question of Honor. Time, 169(22), 59-60.
Strom, Peter S.; & Strom, Robert D. Curbing Cheating, Raising Integrity. Education Digest,
Turnitin.com (2007). Digital Assessment Suite. Plagiarism Prevention. Peer Review.
Retrieved July 22, 2007, at http://www.turnitin.com/static/index.html.
