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Online Plagiarism: How to Prevent It, How to Detect Itby Kathleen Turner and Betsey Carter, Daniel Library, The Citadel.Introduction Internet Paper Sites Preventing Online Plagiarism Detecting Online Plagiarism Is There Any Way to Combat the Term Paper Mills? For Further Reading IntroductionPlagiarism is certainly not a new issue for the academic world. There have always been methods for individuals to obtain papers to pass off as their own work. From back room files at fraternity houses to back pages of Rolling Stone, unscrupulous people have not lacked opportunities for cheating. What is new and different is the greatly expanded opportunity the Internet provides. Cheating has come out of the closet and is very openly marketed by a growing number of web sites, often called "term paper mills". The proliferation of these sites suggests that this is a growth industry. Now that this formerly clandestine business is more available, it is also more visible to educators. In addition to term paper mills, the vast number of reports and papers posted on the web by government agencies, universities, think tanks, and other organizations, along with papers from individual and course web sites provide almost limitless opportunities for plagiarism. This online seminar is designed to equip faculty with information and skills to combat this new format of an age-old problem. It is advisable to pay attention to what is only a click away. These sites offer term papers ranging from high school level, to college,
to graduate school. It is even possible to purchase dissertations on-line.
As one of these sites, School Sucks, puts it: "Download your workload."
These papers are euphemistically called "pre-written."
Sites have search engines that enable users to find a "pre-written" paper on a particular subject. For example at one site, FastPapers, 27 papers were available on the topic "Lenin and Stalin." Each has a short abstract, the number of pages, and how many sources the bibliography contains. If the "pre-written" papers are not exactly on-target, then a customer
may buy a "custom-written" one. FastPaperss has a clickable link to "Get
a brand new paper written from scratch according to your exact specifications."
Some sites are free while others, particularly those that "customize,"
charge for their services. Those that charge offer secure on-line credit
card billing for hassle-free payment. (However, unscrupulous begets unscrupulous.
One provider has been known to overcharge customers, then threaten to
report them to the school when the students complain.)
It is obvious to most of us that good students do not give away their papers. Consequently, the quality of most Internet papers is pretty poor, often containing spelling and grammatical errors, in addition to being poorly written. The disclaimer from one site neatly sums this up: "School Sucks doesn't rate the papers. A student could (even likely) be turning in garbage."
The sites recognize their own liability, so they clearly state that the
papers are for "research only." Most note the illegality of plagiarism.
One site, Cheater.com, oxymoronically states, "Plagiarism is illegal and
Cheater.com does not support it in any way." They propose the papers be
used as models or as sources. It is far-fetched to think that a person
would cite CheatHouse as a source.
Gallant, Tricia Bertram and Patrick Drinan, "Organizational Theory and Student Cheating: Explanation Responses, and Strategies," Journal of Higher Education, no. 5 (September/October 2006): 839-860. Academic Search Premier Database, EBSCOhost (July 26, 2006). Ritter, Kelly, "Buying in, Selling Short: a Pedagogy against the Rhetoric of Online Paper Mills," Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching, Literature, Composition, and Culture, no. 1 (2006): 25-51. Academic Search Premier Database, EBSCOhost (July 26, 2006). Last updated July 31, 2006. to top of page |
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