Dear students,

Which is why I would only allow students to do their own topic if they come discuss it well in advance. Everyone else has to do one of the provided topics, which are narrow and specific enough that it'll be hard to find appropriate copy-paste material online.

For some it's an issue of unwillingness to work or basic dishonesty, but I think for a lot of students it may be an issue of time management and organization. The most surefire way to promote plagiarism is to have a policy that late papers are an automatic zero.

 

Is this an assertion, or is there data about this? I guess I don't see the correlation. For example, the two plagiarized final essays I received this semester were both submitted two days early. I don't think that shows a pattern, but it is directly at odds with what you posted.

I don't consder students who plagiarize as less likely to do so if they can submit late with a penalty. I usually offer a descending scale that letrs later papers come in up to two class periods following the due date - and still have students plagiarize on the late papers. For some, extending the due date for late submissions just delays the procrastination.

But again, I'd love to see data if you have it, for I might adjust accordingly.

 

Just an assertion, and no real data. It's my sense based on general experience, and a basic cost-benefit analysis. If a student realizes they won't be able to finish a paper by the deadline, and not making the deadline means failing the course, the risks of turning in a plagiarized paper become a lot more tolerable.

Like I said, I wouldn't expect that kind of policy to prevent all (or even most) plagiarism, but it'll probably weed out some.

 

One of my old philosophy profs has an interesting discussion of cheating on his blog http://pblosser.blogspot.com/ Scroll down to Dec. 7, it's under "White Flight from Intellectual Rigor."

Today's level of intellectual laziness does astound me (granted, I say this while I'm playing on the internet at work), and the attitude affects all levels of academia. Frequently while writing papers in law school, I would come across poorly cited law review articles written by eminent profs that had little or no original material. Unfortunately, I fear that the problem is going to get much worse before it improves.

 

Just as a heads up, my school (and the whole county from what I hear) has run into a popular new tool for plagiarizing papers. If you have a paper that looks plagierized, check it against the site: www.123helpme.com

We've busted 7 students using this site so far.

 

Their FAQ seems to be missing a crucial topic.

Plus the plagiarism page seems completely out of place. These essays are for?

I also note they ask for essays to be donated. They must be making a tidy profit on this.

 

From the FAQ section {right after they tell you how to copy and paste a paper into your word porcessing program } -

Can I use an essay from 123HelpMe to satisfy my course requirements?

It is legal and permissable for you to use any essay on this website while performing your research. These essays, speeches, term papers, and research papers are provided for research use only. Each work must be properly cited as a source in any essay or paper that you write. This website does not advocate or condone any form of whole or partial plagiarism.

You should carefully consider the choices you make in life, as the Danish proverb clearly states, "He is most cheated who cheats himself."

These essays, speeches, term papers, and research papers represent original work. All intellectual property rights are maintained by the original author of each work. Neither the authors, nor 123HelpMe.com, assumes responsibility for errors, inaccuraces, omissions, or any inconsistency therein. Any slights of people, places, or organizations are unintentional.

 

We now have a university-wide subscription to turnitin.com, which is a similar site. Some professors/instructors require their students to run their papers through the site themselves and staple the "no plagiarism" verification to the paper. It basically checks against other papers from people who use the site and known paper mills.

RE: accepting no late papers.

I would be happy to see data indicating that no late policy professors get more plagiarized papers than professors who accept late papers. It would be difficult, though not impossible, to verify. My guess is that the data doesn't exist, as I can't imagine the topic being interesting enough to lead to tenure anywhere.

I don't accept late papers. I do have a statement in the syllabus that I will arrange a new assignment schedule in extreme circumstances. About once a semester a student asks for an extension, and I usually give it if seems at all reasonable.

I've had a few plagiarized papers since I've been in graduate school, but I never thought that I get anymore than colleagues who have a late paper policy.

 

Just been thinking (and I'm assuming paper means essay here, and not what a paper means to me), why is there so much emphasis upon these in university courses.

Went through my four year degree with two essays plus one extended project. Can't the number be cut down.

BTW, anyone with tips for removing the red wine I managed to spill over my keyboard in making this post?

 

I cannot help with the red wine, but as for the papers/essays, their prevalence really depends on the type of school and the course of study. Generally the humanities require much more writing, and as a general rule, smaller schools require more writing. I think the same is true in the UK. I usually had to write one per term, per class at Edinburgh Uni, which is about the same I did in the States. That is considerably more than some of my peers, but I was studying history and theology/philosophy, so it seemed to fit.

 

Had a management professor use this my last semester of school. Heard that it was adopted by the Business school the next year. I assume it's probably gone university-wide by now.

 

I'm a h-uge fan of essays, as they are a great life-skill that is transferable outside of the classroom.

1. In an essay, students much present their ideas in concise, relevant and interesting ways. In professional meetings or in manuals or any other written or oral communique, this is a necessary skill.

2. Having great writing skills comes in handy in many occasions, especially now w/ the proliferation of emails. Say a higher-up or a client continue to make impossible demands, a well-constructed, clear and concise retort written in a professional, respectful manner goes a long way in providing for a desired result.

3. Poor attention to detail (re. grammar, spelling) reflects badly on the writer

4. Each professor is different; hence, essays force students to "ppl read" in order to take an educated guess as the target audience for the essay. "Knowing your audience": great life skill.

5. Essays force students to use their brain. It makes them smarter, better thinkers. Lord knows the planet needs that.

6. Problem solving. Writing an essay is a problem that you have to solve and then rearticulate your findings to another person.

I could go on and on.

Vivan los ensayos!!

 

Forza Montaigne!

 

One of my college professors had a foolproof way of avoiding plagarism while ensuring we did the reading. All essays were written in class.

Sachin

 

Dear students,

Believe it or not, most professors have used computer word processing programs before, and know what a normally formatted paper looks like. Many even know the complicated ways that the page length of papers can be manipulated. So forget about the 2 inch margins, the use of courier, the 13 point fonts, the extra spaces between letters, the extra line returns between paragraphs, the paper that starts 3/4 down the first page because of the double spaced name, date, professor's name and course number.

We're far less impressed with these tricks that yield a paper of the assigned length than with a paper that is half a page short, which, in a sense, means we have less work to do.

 

Something I've always wondered about teachers - can you really tell the difference between 2.0 spacing and 2.2 spacing?

 

On it's own? Probably not. In a stack of twenty, thirty, forty? Definitely.

That's what students never take into account, we almost never experience your papers as individual things. They're always part of a stack, a stack that makes funny spacing tricks jump out at you.

One more thing, after grading for four or five hours, we're grumpy enough. Don't antagonize us by making us think you're trying to pull something.

 

How'd you get a copy of my syllabi? I honestly go over this and I let students know that it pisses me off.

Students that ignore that and do it anyway... end up dropping the class b/c their grades are so poor and their work so half-assed that they see the writing on the wall. And it's in 12 font, Times New Roman.

 

maybe he is illiterate or doesnt know how to spell.

my teacher always use to say if you know how to read and write,you end up with the best knowledge you can ever have.

my suggestion is read alot of books you vast of knowledge for words will make you smarter.i

know alot of rappers that do it.

 

I also take off if I get the dog-eared, corner-bent-down, I'm-too-stupid-or-lazy-to-get-a-stapler papers.

 

I had one class where we studied different types of plagiarism and used TurnItIn online.
At least twice in my life one of my fellow students has asked what if she writes something so good the teacher/professor thinks it must be plagiarized.

 

personally, I think anyone who uses Wikipedia as a source for a college paper should be shot on the spot

my freshman comp professor told us if we cited it, plagerized or not, we'd receive no higher than a D on that paper

 

Question. In high school and college, on more than I few occasions I found myself too verbose when writing on certain topics. I would actually shrink text and shorten the spacing between paragraphs to meet page requirements. Do you have anything against Times New Roman 8 or 9pt and 3/4 spacing?

 

I've had two engineering professors to tell me Wikipedia is a good source for information and to use it, as it is growing in knowledge.

Now whether that applies to paper I know not.

OTOH, one of the profs told us that he knew when someone had cut and paste from Wikipedia about a certain type of structural engineering because they used the word.. well it escapes me now, but needless to say it is one of those words that can be a general word, but in the context the students he was teaching wouldn't know how it applied to the assignment, if you get what I'm saying.