(WICHITA, Kan.) — Technological advancements can make it easier for students to cheat on their work. But technology is also making it easier to catch cheaters. Many schools and universities across Kansas and the country use websites to catch plagiarism.
Essentially, here's how it works: a student will write a paper, and email it to the professor through a website like turnitin.com. Then the website will pick out every passage that was lifted, highlight them, and tell the professor how much of the paper came from other sources.
It will also provide the professor copies of those sources. Then, the professor can decide if it constitutes as cheating or not.
Professors with Butler Community College, which uses turnitin.com, said sometimes students will accidentally fail to cite a source, or do so incorrectly. They also say that the service catches about two students a semester who cheated on purpose.
