Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

PLAGIARISM DETECTION SOFTWARE 
Electronic plagiarism detection software is seen by many schools and universities as a way to combat and 
deter instances of overt student plagiarism. What an electronic detection software program can and cannot do to 
prevent plagiarism is widely debated. The discovery of “unfair practices” is the intended purpose of such software 
programs. However, many times it is a case of “poor scholarship” with students unaware of how to properly place a 
citation or give due credit to an outside source (Evans, 2006). Other methods used to detect plagiarism are the use 
of a Boolean search in which specific phrases are entered for comparison in works found on the internet (Barlow., 
2006). The use of software, which can compare key phrases and “styleometrics” a method of studying literary style, 
frequency of word use and statistical analysis of a text, aided by software, is becoming increasingly popular.
Turnitin.com, 
an internet electronic plagiarism detection service developed by John Barrie, has become a 
popular method to detect “digital fingerprints” of papers in three different databases (Barlow, 2006). Many schools 
and universities have subscribed to the service and have resorted to checking student essays with the plagiarism 

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