Plagiarism software: no magic bullet!

Abstract

The ready availability of Internet resources has made it easier than ever for students to plagiarize and many higher education institutions have resorted to checking essays with plagiarism detection software. Student behaviour is likely to change in response to this increased scrutiny but not necessarily in the desired direction. Internet technology facilitates a ‘cut and paste’ assembly‐line approach to essay writing that will persist despite the use of plagiarism software. It is predicted that students will resort to increased use of paraphrase in order to drop below the radar of the detection software. To illustrate this trend, samples of student essays are analysed and limitations of plagiarism software discussed. The paper concludes with suggestions for developing a coordinated institutional policy on plagiarism, and recommends that policy encompass training and educational initiatives to complement any enforcement strategy using plagiarism software.

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