Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
News
Plagiarism Tool Scans 1 Million Papers
5/19/2008
CMS/LMS provider Blackboard reported Monday that its plagiarism detection service, SafeAssign, has now been used to scan more than 1 million student papers. Blackboard debuted SafeAssign about nine months ago.
SafeAssign is designed to eliminate plagiarism in student assignments. The service detects plagiarized works in student papers and delivers reports on such incidents through the Blackboard Learning System.
It checks assignments against databases of published articles and also scans the Internet for materials that might have been plagiarized. The databases the system uses include ProQuest ABI/Inform database, which includes more than 2.6 million articles and is updated weekly; archives of papers submitted to SafeAssign by users; and Global Reference Database of papers submitted by students and faculty.
According to Blackboard, "The proliferation of Web-based 'paper mills' and several high profile instances of cheating have drawn significant attention to the issue of plagiarism. In 2003, a Rutgers University study found that nearly four in 10 college students--38 percent--had engaged in online plagiarism. Many students have also expressed uncertainty over what exactly constitutes plagiarism."
"SafeAssign is a very powerful tool," said Marvin H. O'Neal III, undergraduate biology professor at Stony Brook University, in a statement released today. "Because of the size of our laboratories, we have many sections teaching the same material each week. SafeAssign creates a common filtering point for all of the assignments, even from students who have different instructors or who are taking the same course during a different semester."
SafeAssign has been available as a stand-alone tool since August 2007 and a component integrated into Blackboard Academic Suite 8 since February 2008.
About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.
Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Sun, Stanford Working To Archive History
In May in San Francisco, experts from leading universities, libraries, and research institutions around the world met as part of an ongoing effort to address a pressing issue: archiving the world's history, right up to today.
- The Quilt Coalition Rolls Out XO Communications for High-Capacity Network Services
The Quilt, a coalition of 28 regional network organizations, has added XO Communications Services to its authorized vendor list. The Quilt represents 200 universities and thousands of other educational institutions across the United States. With this new relationship, Quilt members can purchase XO's high-speed IP transit and network transport services at competitive rates.
- Wimba Classroom 5.2 Expands Classroom Capture Support, Adds MP3 Downloads
At the NECC 2008 conference in Texas this week, Wimba launched a new version of Wimba Classroom, the virtual classroom component of the company's Collaboration Suite. The new 5.2 release expands options for classroom capture and adds a variety of other functional and ease of use features.
- Automation Chimera: Education Is Not Management
The lure of automating workflow online so human intervention is minimized is continually reinforced in the minds of higher education administrators by examples of automated campus systems such as financials, student information systems, and other enterprise systems. But what's good for management is not always good for learning.
- Cognos Releases BI Software for Linux-based IBM System z Mainframe
Cognos, which IBM acquired in January, has released an update to its business intelligence software that will run on the Linux operating system on IBM System z mainframes. IBM Cognos 8 BI was being developed by the two companies prior to the acquisition, but assimilation of Cognos into IBM accelerated development.
- Facebook and Collegiality: A Serendipitous Social Niche
Facebook is a way to greet a colleague as if she or he is on your own campus: a wave at a distance, a hello at the corner burrito place, a honk as you both leave the campus parking lot. Informal collegiality has been extended over the miles.
