September 20, 2006
Stopping Cheats Ain't Cheap
Professors and administrators generally agree that policing student plagiarism is a worthy goal, but it’s not one that can be achieved cheaply. For a three-semester subscription to Turnitin, the most popular tool for identifying plagiarized material, the University of Arizona recently forked over $36,000, reports the Arizona Daily Wildcat.
Turnitin’s price tag has, in fact, prompted at least one institution to think twice about renewing its subscription. Administrators at the University of Kansas have told professors that they will let the university’s license to use the site lapse in October, according to The Lawrence Journal-World. The university paid $6,000 several years ago for its first year of Turnitin, but the annual expenditure for the service has since ballooned to $22,000.
Several professors told the Journal-World that it would be a mistake for Kansas to abandon the antiplagiarism tool. But Lynn Bretz, director of university communications, says Kansas is simply considering several plagiarism-detection services in order to get the most bang for its buck.
In an era of tight budgets, that seems reasonable enough. But it raises a question: Are officials at other colleges worried about the rising cost of antiplagiarism software? —Brock Read
Comments
Commenting is closed for this article.
Previous: Napster Heads Toward the Auction Block
Next: Rupert Got a Good Deal
Yes, students plagiarize, both intentionally and unintentionally. Much plagiarism is the result of poorly designed assignments. Plagiarism could be reduced significantly if faculty put more effort into creating writing assignments that are difficult to plagiarize.
— judy Sep 20, 06:23 PM #
The direction toward higher and higher prices for all software and many services are serious issues for higher education. Whether we are talking about ERP systems, Learning Management Systems, or Plagiarism Services. The marketplace is all too quickly limiting itself to only the “richest” among us – not exactly a growing group. At the same time, the marketplace of products is shrinking largely from mergers – an ominous direction if we are interested in innovation and reasonable costs.
— B Vieweg Sep 21, 06:53 AM #