Office of the Provost

UK Adopts Program to Detect E-Plagiarism

This article published January 9, 2003 by The Guardian Newspaper Thousands of students handing in coursework this month will face tests for cheating following the introduction of a national computer system that spots plagiarised work. Academics at all British universities and colleges can now test students' work for cheating using the program, aimed at combating the growing problem of internet plagiarism. Continued

"Sniffing out" Copyrighted Files and Copyrighted Software

The November 30, 2001 issue of Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i14/14a02901.htm) carries a report on "NetPD, a London-based company that has begun using sophisticated technology to sniff out people who share copyrighted files and to send letters of complaint to university and other officials asking them to take file sharers off their networks." (Desktop computers that are not set up for Internet file sharing cannot be accessed by surveillance companies like NetPD.) Continue

IIE.Interactive: Open Doors and the National Interest -- A Letter from Allan E. Goodman

From Allan Goodman, IIE President:

On behalf of all of us at the Institute of International Education, I'd like to wish you a safe, happy and successful New Year.

As we look back at the frenzied national debate and press coverage on international education and student visas that has followed the tragic events of September 11, one thing stands out to me. Few people outside of our profession are aware of the diligent work that is being done - and has been done year-round, even before recent events - by the nationwide network of foreign student advisors to ensure that the 547,867 foreign students in this country are in legal visa status and engaged in the studies and research they came here to pursue. Continue

As student cheating incidents continue to make headlines, many colleges are beginning to equip all of their professors with high-tech tools designed to detect plagiarism. Some professors say that checking papers for cheating may soon become a routine part of grading. Continue

When I first read Chip's essay last year, I was ecstatic. Chip (an alias) had clearly absorbed class lessons on specificity, readership, and organization in writing. In fact, he had gone further. He had shown that he could write a clever thesis and select examples perfectly suited to the topic. My enthusiasm darkened to suspicion upon a second reading, however. Chip was an A student in the course, but his essay seemed a bit too mature in content and focus, compared with his previous work. His rhetorical voice was deeper than what I had come to expect of his prose. Continue

The Clinton administration has published a new policy that defines scientific misconduct and describes how universities should investigate it. The policy offers clarifications but no major changes from an earlier draft, which many researchers had praised, but some had called inadequate. Continue

Trinity International University dismissed the dean of its law school on Friday after investigating allegations that he had plagiarized portions of an article published in its law-review journal. Continue

A professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University who had accused two junior colleagues of plagiarizing her work has herself been fired on charges of plagiarism and trying to cover it up. Continue