Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Legal Issues Plagiarism on the Internet The Growth of Paper Mills Plagiarism on the Internet The Growth of Paper Mills Plagiarism is known as a form of literary dishonesty, otherwise known to college students as cheating. It is looked down upon highly by academics and it carries with it many serious consequences. Over the past five years, the Internet has emerged as a cheater’s dream and a professor’s worst nightmare. It’s because of a variety of web sites that give students access to entire papers for a nominal fee and sometimes even for free. As a result of the widening accessibility of the Internet, as well as the new medium’s lack of regulation, a student can click a few computer buttons and in a matter of minutes, they can download a well-crafted term paper without having to pick up a single book. It seems as though the Internet has totally changed the meaning of the word ‘research.’ Plagiarism can formally be defined as: repeating the author’s sentences as your own; adopting a particularly apt phrase as your own; paraphrasing someone else’s argument as your own; presenting someone else’s link of thinking in the development of a thesis as though it were your own (Modern Language Association). Although a writer may use another’s words and thoughts, they must be acknowledged as such. The act of plagiarism in school is nothing new. In the days before the Internet, plagiarism occurred in colleges and universities across the country in the form of Cliffs Notes. Cliffs Notes, formed in 1958 by a Lincoln, Nebraska Company presents summaries of many works of literature (The Associated Press). Professors found that students were often reading these summaries instead of reading the entire works. Students then plagiarized these summaries to prepare term papers. Some universities, such as Villanova, have even decided to ban Cliffs Notes from being used within the University. However, Cliffs Notes were not as easily accessible as the Internet is. Now all the work of research and even Cliffs Notes has been replaced with simple online search engines and cut-and-paste word-processing tools. Previously, a large number of people were able to resist the temptation. Now the Internet is everywhere. Students can find themselves easily signing online at 2am to buy term papers. It’s much harder to resist the temptation because it is far more convenient than going to the book store. Ready-made term papers have become enticing to students seeking a lazy alternative to real school work. Sadly, many students do not feel the same sense of guilt when they obtain papers from the Internet (Cina). We are raising a generation of students who think that anything on the Internet is free and they should not give a thought to documenting them (Renard). It seems as though the “free stuff” attitude of Internet users has made students think that stealing research is more acceptable. Internet plagiarism has simply evolved into an institution, a pillar of education, a big study group and an endless archive of cut-and-paste essay components (Fritz). We are now faced with three types of Internet cheaters. The first, the unintentional cheater never learned how to properly use and document resources. These cheaters will usually admit their wrongdoing because they don’t understand the alternative. A second type of cheater is the sneaky cheater. These students know what plagiarism is and that it is wrong, but they also know how to get away with it, so they plagiarize portions from research sites and portions from other student papers online. The all-or-nothing cheaters are students who wait too long before starting term papers and panic at the last minutes. These students often find the whole paper on the Internet, add their names, print it, and turn it in for a grade. This is the laziest form of Internet cheating and it is the easiest to detect (Renard). Term paper “mills” are nothing new, but their growth has exploded on the Internet. Perhaps this is due to the “Term Paper Blues” ads that are being run in the back of Rolling Stone magazine by “Research Assistance” (Wice). This new way to take credit for someone else’s work is particularly alarming because of the ease of which they can be obtained (Byrd). There is a rapid growth of sites operated by money-hungry entrepreneurs willing to make a quick buck by promoting plagiarism. Countless sites offer papers from anywhere from no cost to as high as $100 for a custom written paper complete with bibliography (Raphael). Unfortunately, the experience gained from the struggle to research and write a well-developed paper is an extremely valuable component of a solid education and is lost when obtaining papers from the Internet. Students who submit recycled papers are not only plagiarizing the words and ideas of others, but they are also robbing themselves of their own intellect. In the long run, those who choose the more challenging path will reap the greater reward. Even a superficial search of the Internet reveals dozens of sites that offer “term paper assistance” (Byrd). It was alarming to see how many paper plagiarism sites were found within just a few short minutes of searching through google.com. Sites like “papersunlimited.com”, “cheater.com”, and “screwschool.com” offer easy-to-download papers on thousands of research topics (google.com). Chuck Mullins, chief executive officer and creator of CollegeTermPapers.com which launched in 1999, has reported that his site receives approximately 175,000 hits per day (Cina). This is an astonishing figure. A major problem is that anyone with a major credit card can access and download research papers. They’re so easily available. For a reasonable price, they can buy a paper, revise it to fit their own needs and turn it in as their own. It’s a natural combination: students have computers, credit cards and a desire to avoid having to write their own term papers (Cassino). As a result, many students now equate research paper assignments with a monetary value as opposed to long hours of research. Donald McCabe, a Rutgers University professor who studies cheating, has conducted studies indicating that nearly 70% of students plagiarized in college (Fritz). Cheaters are rarely ever even caught. Professors only catch on if they have seen the paper before or if two students are unlucky enough to hand in the same paper. Unfortunately, most professors rarely take the time to check the credibility of the sources or the uniqueness of the paper (Cassino). They are reluctant to put the effort into researching whether a paper’s been plagiarized. As a result, academically, there is not a lot of plagiarism reported because by nature, academics are nonconfrontational. A 1999 survey of students on 21 campuses nationwide found that of schools with stringent honor codes, 45% had committed at least one of the four serious cheating offenses (plagiarism, falsifying a bibliography, turning in someone else’s work or omitting footnotes and citations). Schools without these honor codes reported 56%, the highest proportion (Karasik). Some states have begun to pass legislation aimed at prohibiting the marketing or sale of prefabricated term papers. In fact, seventeen states, including Texas and Massachusetts, have recently passed laws making it illegal to sell papers that students may pass off as their own work. Colleges and universities are also beginning to fight back, and rightfully so. With greater student reliance on computers in academia, many colleges and universities are challenged to keep pace with the dishonest, who have found new ways to plagiarize their course work. Educators must implement proactive approaches in the teaching and prevention of such behavior. The University of Pennsylvania is currently educating its faculty, teaching assistants, and instructors to recognize plagiarism. They have circulated memos to train faculty how to search for key terms to verify that sources came from other sources than students’ own words. Professors at Yale University are also being given training on how to detect computer-aided plagiarism (Boas). These incidents usually occur among Computer Science (CS) majors in which they copy large portions of programs, or even programs in their entireties, and then pass them off as their own work. In 1997, Boston University (BU) encountered its first computer-based cheating scandal. During a summer session, it was discovered that several students attempted to pass off papers downloaded from the Internet as their own. As a result, BU hired a paralegal to pose as a university student and requested a term paper on Toni Morrison’s Beloved from multiple Internet sites (Boas). Several of these Internet paper mills sent neatly printed papers that were ready to be turned in. One company even offered to put the student’s name, professor’s name and course number on the cover sheet. Upon receipt, BU filed a federal lawsuit against eight Internet term paper companies in seven different states. They claimed that these companies devalue the university’s degree programs. The lawsuit alleges wire fraud, mail fraud and racketeering. It seeks a court order barring the companies from doing business in Massachusetts (USA Today). Luckily for professors, just as the Internet has made it possible for students to buy ready-made term papers online, it is now being used by universities to help rat out these plagiarizers. Professors and other academics are now turning to anti-plagiarism web sites such as “plagiarism.org” and “findsame.com” that promise to analyze a term paper and deduce whether parts of it or all of it have been lifted from a previously written work (Karasik). These sites are in direct response to Internet paper mills. The only problem is that at a cost of up to $1 per paper, in a class of 100-200 students, this cost can get very high pretty quickly. Even when professors do decide to use this method, unfortunately sometimes the detection procedure is not very accurate. Users must be very careful and cautious before charging a student with plagiarizing. In some cases, these sites may detect plagiarism in cases where it is clearly the student’s own thoughts and thinking. This is true as in the case of Andy Dehnart who tested his 30-page thesis on one of these sites and found that it stated his entire paper was plagiarized when in fact it was all unique. Andy realized that the service had discovered a copy of his own thesis online. Instead of realizing that it was his own work and ignoring it, the service had accused him of plagiarizing (Dehnart). Although he took the time to investigate the report’s charges, what if a professor hadn’t? Professors must be very cautious when using such services. Perhaps professors should place more emphasis on teaching students about academic dishonesty instead of punishing them for doing so. They should explain the importance of learning. If professors are going to be given the edge by using anti-plagiarism websites, students should also have the ability to make corrections when they inadvertently plagiarize. It seems as though the best way to correct this problem of Internet plagiarism is to have students hand in a few steps of the research process along the way, such as an outline, a thesis statement, rough drafts, or an annotated bibliography. However, with the Internet growing at such high speeds, unfortunately these may soon be available on the world wide web as well. Bibliography: Annotated Works Cited: Boas, Katherine. “As computers become cheating devices, colleges crack down.” Online Posting. The Brown Daily Herald. 19 Oct. 1998. Retrieved 26 Feb. 2001.. -This article explains the rules colleges such as Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania are putting into effect to make it harder for students to plagiarize their papers off the Internet. It explains that BU has hired a paralegal and UPenn is currently educating its faculty, teaching assistants, and instructors on plagiarism prevention. “BU sues over online term papers.” Online Posting. USA Today Tech Report. 26 Jan. 1999 Retrieved 10 Mar. 2001. -This article again discusses in detail the federal court case in which Boston University sued paper mills for selling term papers over the Internet to a law clerk posing as a student. Article discusses both sides of the issue. Byrd, Robert C. “Byrd’s-Eye View: Pulling the Plug on Term-Paper Mills.” Online Posting. 7 Jan. 1998. Retrieved 2 Apr. 2001. -Written by a U.S. Senator in an attempt to encourage educators to be vigilant and take a strong position against the fraudulent policy of Internet plagiarism in colleges and universities. States that students should be more willing and able to resist the temptation. Discusses the rewards of writing your own papers. Cassino, Dan. “Deep problems: term papers and social policy.” Online Posting. Arizona Daily Wildcat. 27 Sept. 1999. Retrieved 10 Mar. 2001. -The author of this article feels that buying term papers off the Internet is a serious offense and that students who are capable of doing so should not be accepted to universities. He suggests that trade schools are more suited for these types of students. Cina, Mark. “Internet Makes Stealing Term Papers Easy as Copy and Paste.” Online Posting. Daily Kent Stater. Kent State University. 11 Sept. 2000. Retrieved 10 Mar. 2001. -Author states that there are a new breed of cheaters, not only at Kent State University, but across the nation. Discusses the actions of the Kent State University Judicial Affairs in cases of academic dishonesty. Fears that students feel absolutely no guilt when copying straight off the Internet. Stresses the importance of teaching students how to write papers properly so they don’t have to resort to such measures. Clayton, Mark. “Term papers at the click of a mouse.” Online Posting. Christian Science Monitor. 27 Oct. 1997. Retrieved 7 Mar. 2001. . -Defines the term “term-paper mills”. Explains in detail the recent lawsuit involving BU and the use of the internet as a means of plagiarism. Dehnart, Andy. “The Web’s plagiarism police.” Online Posting. Salon.com Site. 14 June 1999. Retrieved 26 Feb. 2001. . -This article is written by a graduate student who noticed that when running his own thesis through Plagiarism.com (anti-plagiarism website), it accused him of plagiarizing. He goes on to discuss the inaccuracies of using such sites, and the importance of being very careful before accusing a student of plagiarism. Discusses the faults and kinks with detection software currently available. Fritz, Mark. “Plagiarism via Internet now a staple of college life.” Online Posting. Seattle Times Site. 4 Mar. 1999. Retrieved 6 Mar. 2001.. -Provides results of studies on Internet cheating. The author gives reasons as to why Internet plagiarism is so common and easily accessible. Mentions that several states have laws against selling term papers. Google Search Engine. Keywords: “Online Paper Mills”, “Internet Plagiarism”, “Term Papers”, “College Papers”, “Research Paper”. Retrieved 15 Mar. 2001. essaydepot.com termpapers.com papermasters.com lazystudents.com collegetermpapers.com geniuspapers.com cyberessays.com schoolsucks.com bignerds.com fastpapers.com netessays.com paperwriters.com advantagepapers.com bestpapers.com papers4less.com freeessay.com papers911.com orderanypaper.com essayexpert.com writingguru.com paperdoctors.com getapaper.com givemenotes.com dontcopy.com paperwizards.com 1millionpapers.com spring-break-party.com 24hourtermpapers.com papersunlimited.com papercampus.com ivyessays.com cheater.com essayboy.com essayworld.com schoolpaper.com helpinschool.com thepaperstore.com reportfinders.com cheathouse.com academictermpapers.com papergeeks.com termpapers4u.com papercamp.com nocheaters.com papershighway.com papertutors.com 123helpme.com ezwrite.com screwschool.com academicintegrity.com Google Search Engine. Keywords: “Anti-Plagiarism”, “Anti-Internet Plagiarism”, “Anti Paper Mills”. Retrieved 15 Mar. 2001. findsame.com howoriginal.com plagiarism.com plagiarism.org copycatch.com integriguard.com turnitin.com paperbin.com -I found it quite interesting to note that compared to the hundreds of Internet plagiarism sites that appeared in my search almost immediately, there were only a handful of sites available to combat Internet plagiarism in colleges and universities, and they were difficult to find. It was also interesting that far more anti-plagiarism sites charged for their services than did the sites that contributed to plagiarism. Karasik, Sherry. “Battling Plagiarism Through the Internet.” Online Posting. APBnews.com Site. 3 Mar. 2000. Retrieved 26 Feb. 2001. . -This article explains the growing phenomenon of anti-plagiarism websites created in a direct response to paper mills. Discusses the lack of reports by professors to proper authorities in cases of suspected plagiarism. Suggests that college students might be turning to Internet paper mills because they don’t have the skills to write papers themselves. Pinpoints specific “fingerprinting” sites and their level of accuracy. Modern Language Association. MLA Handbook for Writer’s of Research Papers. New York, NY: Modern Language Association, (1984): 20. -Provides the official definition of plagiarism as follows: repeating author’s sentences as your own, adopting a particularly apt phrase as your own, paraphrasing someone else’s argument as your own, or presenting someone else’s line of thinking in the development of a thesis as though it were your own. The book goes on to explain the penalties for plagiarism, also. Raphael, Jason. “Using Term Papers on Web Constitutes Plagiarism, USC Officials Say.” Online Posting. Daily Trojan. University of Southern California. 8 Oct. 1999. Retrieved 10 Mar. 2001. -Discusses the punishments the University forces upon students having been found to have purchased term papers. Defines the term as it is used by the university. Claims that although the idea of purchased papers is nothing new; the Internet makes it much easier to do. Renard, Lisa. “Cut and Paste 101: Plagiarism and the Net.” Online Posting. Educational Leadership Journal 57.4 Dec. 1999/Jan. 2000. Retrieved 26 Feb. 2001. . -Addresses the growing opportunities for dishonest use of technology in education. The author characterizes Internet cheaters into three types: unintentional cheaters, sneaky cheaters, and all-or-nothing cheaters. The author also makes suggestions to professors on how to revise writing assignments to make them less vulnerable to Internet cheating. Also lists and explains several key elements of cheat-resistant papers. Rocklin, Tom. “Downloadable Term Papers: What’s a Prof. To Do?” Online Posting. Center for Teaching Site. U of Iowa. Retrieved 15 Mar. 2001. . -Professor from the University of Iowa discusses the mentality of students selling term papers via the Internet. Defines the kinds of term paper sources on the web. Explains how downloadable papers threaten education. The author gives suggestions to faculty members do minimize the threat of Internet plagiarism. Gives possible solutions to put downloading term papers to legitimate educational use. Wice, Nathaniel. “Copy & Paste: Term Paper Mills on the Web.” Online Posting. Yahoo! Internet Life. Retrieved 30 Mar. 2001. -Refers to Internet plagiarism as a “frat boy’s fantasy.” Claims that his random sampling of common plagiarism websites did not turn up any A+ work. He warns that students must be weary that although the papers are fast and easy, they are far from quality work. Word Count: 1841
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