Website Aids Texas Wesleyan Faculty in Fight Against Plagiarism
Website Aids Texas Wesleyan Faculty in Fight Against Plagiarism
Plagiarism detection has conventionally relied upon the knowledge base of university faculty members and their ability to identify improperly or incompletely cited source material. As the international body of academic work grows at an astonishing rate, facilitated by the increasing use of web hosting publication platforms for scholarly material, professors are picking up more modern methods in an effort to combat plagiarism.
While internet-based plagiarism checking company iParadigm has been available for more than a decade, their easy-to-use online "academic integrity" tool available at Turnitin.com, has seen an influx of faculty users since the beginning of the academic year. The website can be used to scan academic papers submitted in word format, and software compares essays, theses and the like to extant academic content posted all over the web.
Additionally, iParadigm sites boast numerous features that enable professors and teaching assistants to review and grade submitted work with greater speed and accuracy than conventional methods. According to a student run paper at the Wesleyan University in Texas, professors have started using the plagiarism detection software en masse.
One plagiarism expert from the Wesleyan suggested that "Initially teachers were concerned that the plagiarism detection software was only used as a punitive measure. But after reviewing all of the tools and features, they discovered all the ways it can be used as a powerful instructional tool".
The use of the site as a "powerful instructional tool" alludes to the various teaching applications available on the site that can facilitate communication between students and professors and provide alternate means to conventional classroom-based learning. Students can contact professors from a variety of academic fields without regard for whether those professors are employed by their alma mater. Research interests can be more easily pursued and respected university fellows sought out through more relaxed communication channels than those offered by the hallowed academic halls of many international institutions.
The plagiarism checker itself uses a vast collection of academic materials available in the public domain hosting more than 130 million student papers with access to hundreds of thousands of previously published scholarly and critical volumes.