A store clerk may think it unnecessary to watch out for shoplifters because antitheft technology does the job for them. Now that the plagiarism-detection software Turnitin is ubiquitous in higher education, professors could adopt the same mentality when it comes to actively fighting cheating, argues David E. Harrington, a professor of economics at Kenyon College.
And that’s problematic because Turnitin is an imperfect tool for hunting plagiarists, Mr. Harrington says in a new essay on his Web site.
Turnitin works by taking uploaded student papers and checking them against various databases to pinpoint unoriginal content. Its Web site quotes one satisfied academic saying, “I used to spend hours on Google searching for unusual wording when I suspected that the paper was not written by the student. Now, I can search quickly with Turnitin!” In his essay, though, Mr. Harrington describes in detail how Turnitin failed to detect unoriginal phrases in one case involving a history book that contains what he believes is plagiarized material from The New York Times.
“Turnitin needed my help to find the original sources of the plagiarized phrases, making it a poor substitute for instructors who are willing to ‘spend hours on Google searching for unusual wording,’” Mr. Harrington concludes. “It needs the help of instructors who are willing to investigate suspicious papers; otherwise, greater reliance on Turnitin could lead to more plagiarism.”
The professor also criticizes another product from the makers of Turnitin, called WriteCheck, that enables students to “check [their work against the same database as Turnitin.” As Mr. Harrington puts it, “Turnitin is playing both sides of the fence, helping instructors identify plagiarists while helping plagiarists avoid detection. It is akin to selling security systems to stores while allowing shoplifters to test whether putting tagged goods into bags lined with aluminum thwart the detectors.”
Asked for a reaction, a Turnitin spokeswoman defended the product in a written statement:
“Turnitin helps instructors discover unoriginal work in student writing and engage students in a conversation about using and citing proper sources. It is intended to be a complement, not a substitute, to the teaching of proper writing and citation practices in the classroom. If used properly, Turnitin has been shown to reduce instances of plagiarism in student writing by 50 to 75 percent.”
