Internet cheats
These days lots of students use the Internet for help with their homework and assignments, and there is no doubt that the Web has become a valuable academic tool. But now that cutting and pasting is so easy, there can often be a fine dividing line between using the Net for research and plagiarising material directly from it. There are even some unscrupulous sites (often called paper mills') that offer students ready-made downloadable essays on a number of popular topics - usually for a payment. But most teachers are now aware of Internet plagiarism, and there is even a variety of software that schools can use to detect it. But teachers can often spot plagiarists simply by following their own suspicions. For example:
- a high-school student oturns in an essay using language and ideas more suitable for a university student.
- a weak student suddenly turns in an outstanding essay. the same work occurs in a number of different students' assignments.
- the essay doesn't quite fit the question or title that the teacher has set the class.
- American students produce essays written in British English or vice versa.