New York Times article on internet plagiarism

The New York Times examines cyberplagiarism. I wanted to see whether the online atmosphere made cheating easier. I was also curious about what exactly these little Internet elves wrote about and if the papers were any good. I bought a couple of book reports, those three-to-five-page papers students write for introductory English classes, from...

Newcastle scandal revisited

The University of Newcastle (AU) has apparently overcome its recent plagiarism troubles by adopting the recommendations of the St James Ethics Centre. According to the uni's Chancellor: "'We went from being behind the ball to international leaders.

Weighing detection options in NZ

"The University of Otago is taking a 'serious look' at the possible use of computer software tools to detect student plagiarism, as part of a wider academic review." Other NZ universities have already pursued detection services. Massey University is trialling Turnitin.com. During the first semester trial, "943 assignments were tested" and only "two instances of apparent plagiarism" were detected.

Cheating at U of Washington

Daily Student Online reports "UW prosecuted 36 cases of cheating on exams," but that no students found guilty of cheating were expelled or suspended.

Beijing Uni prof sacked for plagiarism

An associate professor English at China's Beijing University was fired for plagiarism. Described as "enthusiastic about public welfare and praised by his colleagues as 'behaving very well,'" the professor had nonetheless plagiarized "other scholars' ideas and expressions in his own academic works from 1999 to 2003, including literary books and academic papers.

University of Texas Austin unrolls its first honor code

The Houston Chronicle reports on UT Austin's adoption of an honor code. Student leaders at UT say they've wanted an honor code for years. But school officials began pushing for one as well in 2001 after five students were caught cheating on exams and essays within a two-week period.

A student's perspective

Instructors must rethink their approaches to plagiarism according to student opinion piece in the PSU Vanguard.

Copyscape: An anti-plagiarism tool?

Driven by GoogleAlert, Google's automated search service, "Copyscape finds copies of your content on the Web. You can use Copyscape to identify sites that have copied your content without permission. Copyscape will also show you who is quoting your site."

Dissertation plagiarized, perp punished

The Chronicle describes a dissertation's wholesale plagiarizing, and its detection and punishment.

Academic dishonesty @ Colorado

Colorado's Daily Camera reports that the increase in reported instances of academic dishonesty is a result of increased awareness.