2008 Woodie Awards
Yeshiva Turns to Turnitin.com
Combats Copycats with Plagiarism Site
Ariel Schwartz
Issue date: 4/18/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
In a move initiated by the Academic Integrity Force, a task force designed to combat dishonest academic behavior, Yeshiva has taken up the services of Turnitin.com to combat plagiarism and foster academic originality. Turnitin.com is a program developed by researchers at UC Berkeley in 1996, "in order to monitor the recycling of research papers," according to its website.
"It basically works like a fancy search engine," said Dr. David Rettinger, co-chair of the Academic Integrity Force and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yeshiva. Every paper submitted to the program is compared to other sources to determine its legitimacy. The program searches the internet, library journal articles, and even has access to the infamous paper mills, web sites that write students' papers for a fee.
As competition in the world of academia rises, students are taking more and more shortcuts to get a step ahead. The more rewarding the ends, it seems, the more justifiable the means. The 'means' range from caffeine pills to attention-enhancing drugs to stealing tests. Plagiarism is perhaps the most common shortcut that students employ. Roughly defined, plagiarism is the use of someone else's work without proper credit allocated to them. However, plagiarism is not limited to the morally delinquent; almost any student can be guilty of plagiarizing if he/she misquotes material or does not accredit sources.
Preempting the inquiry as to why Yeshiva sees a need for Turnitin.com, a program contracted by few notable universities, Dr. Rettinger explained, "It's all about teaching, and not about policing. Writing is all about communication and every person needs to be able to stand on the shoulders of giants. They just need to make sure to give credit."
According to Rettinger, the program will not only be able to catch plagiarism, but will also be able to prevent it. Student will be able to submit papers to the program, which will in turn tell them if there is anything wrong, from an entire copied essay, to an incorrect footnote. The point of the program, says Rettinger, is "to teach students how to write using sources appropriately."
One YC junior expressed skepticism about the proposition, saying, "I don't see a need for the program unless there is a serious plagiarism problem. And if there is, by allowing the students to check their papers beforehand, they can keep altering the language of the source until it passes the program 'plagiarism-free.'"
While Turnitin.com will also be used for composition papers, the program's primary use will be to check research papers, which students often "spice up," according to Rettinger, with information that is not rightfully theirs.
"It basically works like a fancy search engine," said Dr. David Rettinger, co-chair of the Academic Integrity Force and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yeshiva. Every paper submitted to the program is compared to other sources to determine its legitimacy. The program searches the internet, library journal articles, and even has access to the infamous paper mills, web sites that write students' papers for a fee.
As competition in the world of academia rises, students are taking more and more shortcuts to get a step ahead. The more rewarding the ends, it seems, the more justifiable the means. The 'means' range from caffeine pills to attention-enhancing drugs to stealing tests. Plagiarism is perhaps the most common shortcut that students employ. Roughly defined, plagiarism is the use of someone else's work without proper credit allocated to them. However, plagiarism is not limited to the morally delinquent; almost any student can be guilty of plagiarizing if he/she misquotes material or does not accredit sources.
Preempting the inquiry as to why Yeshiva sees a need for Turnitin.com, a program contracted by few notable universities, Dr. Rettinger explained, "It's all about teaching, and not about policing. Writing is all about communication and every person needs to be able to stand on the shoulders of giants. They just need to make sure to give credit."
According to Rettinger, the program will not only be able to catch plagiarism, but will also be able to prevent it. Student will be able to submit papers to the program, which will in turn tell them if there is anything wrong, from an entire copied essay, to an incorrect footnote. The point of the program, says Rettinger, is "to teach students how to write using sources appropriately."
One YC junior expressed skepticism about the proposition, saying, "I don't see a need for the program unless there is a serious plagiarism problem. And if there is, by allowing the students to check their papers beforehand, they can keep altering the language of the source until it passes the program 'plagiarism-free.'"
While Turnitin.com will also be used for composition papers, the program's primary use will be to check research papers, which students often "spice up," according to Rettinger, with information that is not rightfully theirs.