Internet plagiarism on the rise

The Guardian newspaper reports that more and more UK schools are implementing plagiarism-detecting computer software to catch A-level students cheating.

A growing chorus of school Heads believe that scholars must be taught how to credit and reference sources properly. They must also be taught not to cut and paste chunks of information off the Internet into an assignment, passing the research off as their own.

A recent three-day international conference on plagiarism held at Northumbria University also revealed that increasing numbers of university students are prepared to
submit essays bought for more than £300 from online sites. More than 90 UK-based schools and 130 colleges now use the Turnitin database, which allows educators to crosscheck pupils’ work with online information.