JOIN USTo plagiarise or not seems to be the question on the minds of most students today.
These days, even a simple assignment is copied off the Internet.
PDF files, online books and websites like Wikipedia seem to be a regular source of information for students.
Nowadays, even kids copy their homework off the internet and present it without rewriting or putting in any idea of their own.
Teachers feel it is alright as long as the work is not completely copied. “It is expected that the students give an assignment after referring to a couple of sources.
There is nothing wrong in having a few lines or paragraphs taken off the internet or books if the information is properly citied,” says Sneha Naidu, a lecturer of Mount Carmel College.
“Copying the entire chapter word by word and claiming it as their own is not appreciated by any academic institution,” she adds.
Online softwares such as iThenticate and Scanmyessay are being used by many colleges and schools.
And from the last academic year, almost every other college is installing softwares and asking students to send soft copies of the assignments.
Though this is tough on students, it helps them be more original.
In fact, many colleges are even willing to publish these works in the form of a paper or book.
“I would love to have a software that checks for the authenticity of a project. Even though we are tempted to meet the deadline by copying information from the net, we are forced to read up and present original content,” says Navya Shree, a student of Wiztoonz College of Media and Design.
“Since everyone spends time researching on projects, it’s unfair to use articles from the internet in the assignments. It also doesn’t help the students learn anything. A plagiarism software in college will make them more cautious,” says Spoorthi, a student of Jain College.
“We have a plagiarism software in our college to check the percentage of plagiarism in each copy. Based on that and the time constraints, we decide if we should ask the student to re-do an assignment,” says Kiran Jeevan, HOD, department of MSW, St Joseph’s College of Arts & Science.
“It’s a huge issue for the students but at the same time, it enables us to be independent and not copy as our lectures run our soft copies in the software,” says Sampurna Senguta, a student of St Joseph’s College of Arts & Science.