Turnitin.com detects student plagiarism
By CAITLIN EARLY
News Writer
In a recent e-mail sent to the entire student body, the Honor Code Committee addressed several points of concern surrounding the University's use of Turnitin.com, an online plagiarism-detection company.
Turnitin.com enables professors and faculty members to submit a student's paper and to receive a set of "Originality Reports" within 24 hours, revealing if any Internet documents or resources are used in the student's work.
The most contested aspect of Turnitin.com, however, is the direct submission of students' work without any prior indication of plagiarism.
The Honor Code Committee's official response to the use of Turnitin.com recommends, "A student's work be submitted to Turnitin.com only if the instructor of the course believes there are reasonable grounds for suspecting academic dishonesty on the part of the student."
As it currently stands, only about five professors are submitting all students' papers to Turnitin.com.
"With regard to Turnitin.com, the Honor Code Committee feels that automatic submission of papers without prior suspicion of plagiarism expresses a degree of distrust that is at odds with the very spirit of the Honor Code," said Thomas Flint, faculty Honor Code officer.
Students' reactions towards the use ofTurnitin.com continue to be mixed.
"We found that most students were initially weary when they were informed about Turnitin.com. Some students feel that the plagiarism service is beneficial because it ensures that their peers will be more honest. Others, however, are concerned that use of Turnitin.com undermines the whole idea of honor," said Maura Kelly, a student member of the University Academic Honor Code Committee.
The University decided to contract the services of Turnitin.com for this academic year in response to the overwhelming problem of computer-related cheating that continues to plague Notre Dame, as well as many other colleges throughout the country.
"In the past few years, many professors have been looking for a tool, like Turnitin.com, to deal with the rising problem of online plagiarism. The University has a yearly contract with Turnitin.com and we will continue to re-evaluate the use of its services in the years to come," said Flint.
All News Stories for Thursday, December 5, 2002
