Tools for rooting out Web plagiarism, copyright violations

Some misguided souls in the Internet publishing world still consider all online material as being in the public domain. A recent example of this cluelessness is the editor of a food journal who stole an article that included a recipe for apple pie and then claimed to be doing the article's author a favor by reprinting it without the author's permission or any remuneration, as described by Helen A.S. Popkin on the MSNBC.com TechnoLog.

For the record, copyrights do indeed extend to material created for and posted to the Internet. Online publisher Brad Templeton's article, 10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained, actually covers 11 misapprehensions about online copyrights. The article was originally written in 1994 and was updated in October 2008. The page includes a succinct description of fair use and points out the importance of intent and potential damage to the original work.

Schools have been at the forefront of plagiarism prevention. By scanning student papers via services such as Turnitin, schools can determine the originality of the material. Turnitin also provides a peer review and assistance with grading. Students can check their own work by using Turnitin's WriteCheck service, which costs from $5 for one paper up to 5,000 words to $50 for one paper up to 200,000 words or 40 single-paper credits.

According to a study released last January by the National Bureau of Economic Research (PDF), fear of detection may not be the best approach to preventing plagiarism among students. The results of the study indicate that educating students about the importance of academic integrity and what constitutes plagiarism is the most effective deterrent.

In an interview on the Inside Higher Ed site, Swarthmore College Associate Professor of Economics Thomas S. Dee says the educational approach to plagiarism prevention is more effective than either the "moral suasion approach" or the "law-and-order approach." However, Dee points out that few teachers currently consider educating students about plagiarism to be one of their "core responsibilities."