Does anyone have access to Turnitin?

[emilyj]

My school ditched our access this year, and I have a highly suspicious paper.  I'd like to not Google every sentence if I don't have to...

Thanks! 

[gpw]

That's a subscription?

I wonder if we have it...I shall look.

[gpw]

Looks like I'd have to request a login from an instructor. Sorry.

NewOrleans maybe?

[emilyj]

Yes, it's a subscription, and you have to have a code. I even tried the free trial today, and it won't let me do it.

Grr.

[thejackpot]

I can't remember my login but I can get it tomorrow at work. Let me know if you don't hear from anyone else.

[jaybird]

Yes, I have one if you need something

Eta: the new "trendy" way of cheating at my school is to plagiarize from the dissertation database since it's often not indexed in Turnitin. I had a paper last year that I was certain was copied, but couldn't find proof. After hearing this I looked up the topic and there it was.

[bimbi284]

I have it too

[erbear]

Can you send it to me? I can check.

[maybebabiesrus]

I've found one or two highly suspicious sentences usually get me what I'm looking for on google. Good luck!

[jsillyfun]

Just found 3 plagiarized papers in my class

[LoveTrains]

Dec 7, 2014 23:56:58 GMT -5 jsillyfun said:

Just found 3 plagiarized papers in my class

How do you find this? Is it obvious or do you have to use a service like turnitin?

[5thofjuly]

Dec 8, 2014 7:21:43 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Dec 7, 2014 23:56:58 GMT -5 jsillyfun said:

Just found 3 plagiarized papers in my class

How do you find this? Is it obvious or do you have to use a service like turnitin?

emilyj - I have access if you still need it.

I can  find blatant plagiarism without the service easily. Sections of the paper have absolutely no relevance to the assignment (even if the introduction does,) they leave the hyperlinks in from cutting and pasting or cut and paste in a different font (seriously,) or the writing is better than anything I write. When I suddenly have to look up half of the words that Suzie D+ is using, it's time to Google one of her more "impressive" sentences.

Improper paraphrasing (still plagiarism, but I consider it more of a teaching moment than a "bring down the hammer" kind of plagiarism) is harder to spot. I actually have students check their own turnitin reports ahead of time to make sure they've paraphrased appropriately.

[Saudade]

Dec 8, 2014 7:21:43 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Dec 7, 2014 23:56:58 GMT -5 jsillyfun said:

Just found 3 plagiarized papers in my class

How do you find this? Is it obvious or do you have to use a service like turnitin?

We submit our papers through Moodle which has a Turnitin plugin that automatically scans the paper and gives you a percentage. It's pretty impressive, but can be misleading. For example, if you have direct quotes, cited appropriately, it will flag that as plagiarism. 

[SwimDeep]

I don't have access to Turnitin...I just wanted to comment on plagiarism. It blows my mind that some students are so flippant about it. Every paper I write, I get extremely nervous that the prof is going to accuse me of plagiarism (I think it's more to do with imposter syndrome than a lack of ability on my part). I cite everything, even when I paraphrase something.

[sunshine608]

Dec 7, 2014 23:56:58 GMT -5 jsillyfun said:

Just found 3 plagiarized papers in my class

Sorry . I have a few as well. I teach and I do judicial so this was a personal blow this semester.

I have access as well if OP still needs it.

[SwimDeep]

Saudade - my school has something like that too! Every time I turn in a paper it flags every.single.one of my direct quotes. Freaks me out!

[Saudade]

Dec 8, 2014 9:20:27 GMT -5 SwimDeep said:

Saudade - my school has something like that too! Every time I turn in a paper it flags every.single.one of my direct quotes. Freaks me out!

argh me too! I turned in one and it said 15% and I had a mini panic attack even though we can "submit" it as many times as we want before the deadline. So I removed all of the direct quotes to test it and had a 1%, but still. My perfection can get the best of me sometimes. 

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Unfortunately, I have to rely on the Google to check for plaigiarism. I've seen your work, kid. You're functionally illiterate. Don't come at me with this deep profundity at the end of the term.

[Deleted]

DH always gets a few kids (at the high school level) plagiarizing programming.

They're usually too dumb to do it very well, and leave all the original commenting and sometimes the header that credits someone else. I feel like if you're a slacker who cheats, at least read what you're cheating with?

His methodology to deal with them varies by the severity (copied it all vs. copied part) and the point in the class (final vs. assignment).

[smock]

Plagiarism is also pretty obvious in cases where the student's paper is only tangentially related to the assignment. I try to write paper prompts that are not easily plagiarized (i.e. referencing things covered in lecture), and so if a paper suddenly contains a strange (and well-written) off-topic paragraph, it's a pretty solid clue.

In non-graduate level classes, I also require advance approval for the use of any outside sources. I frame the papers as a close analysis of a primary source, and stress that I want their interpretation, not someone else's. I think that helps cut down on the tendency to plagiarize.

[secretlyevil]

Get 'em emilyj, get 'em.

For you professors, is it an automatic failure for plagiarism?

[5thofjuly]

Dec 8, 2014 9:22:16 GMT -5 Saudade said:

Dec 8, 2014 9:20:27 GMT -5 SwimDeep said:

Saudade - my school has something like that too! Every time I turn in a paper it flags every.single.one of my direct quotes. Freaks me out!

argh me too! I turned in one and it said 15% and I had a mini panic attack even though we can "submit" it as many times as we want before the deadline. So I removed all of the direct quotes to test it and had a 1%, but still. My perfection can get the best of me sometimes. 

That's the default, but the professor can go in and tell it to ignore direct quotes. Still, if you do something like use a " on the front end and just a ' on the back end of the quote, it won't recognize that. I always tell students that I have to go in and check every single time regardless if their percentage is 20% or 2%. It's a tool, but can't replace the human instructor.

[chw57]

I teach middle school and we use turnitin. It's appalling how many kids lift whole paragraphs right from Wikipedia even though we've practiced finding reliable sources, citing, and paraphrasing numerous times. I give them a zero with the option to do it over for partial credit (school policy)

[emilyj]

Dec 8, 2014 9:48:16 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

Get 'em emilyj, get 'em.

For you professors, is it an automatic failure for plagiarism?

For my undergrads, yes.  Fail the assignment usually.  I did have one undergrad plagiarize in back to back classes with me, so I recommended they be removed from the major.  

For a grad student, I will recommend removal from the program (especially since said student is busted in another class already). 

ETA: I have always taken plagiarism cases to Academic Dishonesty for a hearing.  I tell them at the beginning of the semester I don't play.  

[5thofjuly]

Dec 8, 2014 9:48:16 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

Get 'em emilyj, get 'em.

For you professors, is it an automatic failure for plagiarism?

Mine is an automatic failure on that section of the paper, which usually means an automatic failure (but not necessarily a zero) on the paper as a whole (since there are only 2-3 sections.) Since I've started doing turnitin workshops I've only had one complete cut and paste job. I also had one person turn in their roommate's paper (I know this because I changed the assignment between last year and this year, and know who the student's roommate is.) That got a zero and a report to the academic misconduct committee.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Dec 8, 2014 9:48:16 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

Get 'em emilyj, get 'em.

For you professors, is it an automatic failure for plagiarism?

I fail the assignment. If it's a major paper, I send it to honor board and follow their recommendation. Usually I would assign a full re-write with a maximum possible grade of 80.

[smock]

Dec 8, 2014 9:48:16 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

Get 'em emilyj, get 'em.

For you professors, is it an automatic failure for plagiarism?

It's an automatic zero on the assignment, and I send a report over to Academic Dishonesty. 

[secretlyevil]

My print journalism professor put the fear of god in us at the beginning of Journalism 101 about plagiarism. That's why I asked.

[iammalcolmx]

This entire thread just blew my mind.