The most serious limitation of turnitin.com is that it does not check scientific references - that is journal articles (at least it didn't use to). I think one common source of plagiarism is lifiting sentences directly from published articles (that are never cited in the paper).
Marie
John W. Nichols, M.A. wrote:
BTW, I did not intend to demean or offend any individual with my "... is guilty of dereliction of duty." comment. If I did, I apologize. The Prof is could be guilty if the service is available and s/he fails to use it. I feel justified in charging that the institution is guilty if the service is not provided.
I realized that the possibility existed when Rick Adams, in this message, wrote: "True--but since JCC doesn't subscribe to TurnItIn anyway ...". TCC does not, either.
TurnItIn is a tad pricey for most of us to have to pay out of our pocket. Certainly the school (or the department) should pay for the service. They will surely counter with "Are you nuts? We are in the midst of a budget crunch!!" (When are they not?)
I am going to campaign on the argument that:
1. Everyone knows that plagiarism is widespread (30-70%, depending on
the source of the figures).
2. We have a student code of conduct that prohibits plagiarism.
3. It is our institutional obligation to enforce the code the
institution established.
4. Failure to enforce the prohibition on plagiarism, constitutes
condoning it, and results in encouraging the practice.
5. Using the service (or a similar one), and publicizing the fact that
we are using it on a regular basis, may by itself go a long way in
reducing the incidence of plagiarism and promoting academic integrity.
6. The cost of using such a service should be viewed as a "cost of doing
business", just like providing electricity and libraries.
7. We are going to be increasing tuition and fees, in any case, for a
host of other reasons -- some of which are less justifiable and less
central to our institutional mission than this reason. Adding a dollar
or two to the fees is not unreasonable. It is the students as a group
who, after all, who created the need for the expense. They, or their
parents, ought to be the ones who pay for the solution.
I agree with Rick's position that it would be "an option I'll only exercise if I'm certain of cheating and need absolute proof to cover myself before reporting it." I so hate the thought of them walking away thinking they had "pulled the wool over my eyes", that I would be willing to pop for the cost on occasions when I am reasonably suspicious or convinced the offense has occurred. (I wonder if — if the plagiarism is clear — we could find a way to make the offender pay the cost?)
-- ********************************************* Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773 Carlisle, PA 17013 Office: (717) 245-1562, Fax: (717) 245-1971 Webpage: www.dickinson.edu/~helwegm *********************************************
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